TechnoStress: Coping with Technology @Work @Home @Play - Hardcover

Weil, Michelle M.; Rosen, Larry D.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471177091 ISBN 13: 9780471177098

Publisher: Wiley, 1997

Synopsis

Are you Cyberphobic? Techno-crazed? If so, you're not alone . . .

"If all the hype about the Information Superhighway makes you want to take the next exit off it, you may be one of a growing subpopulation —people who are cyberphobic." —Los Angeles Times

"Technology has taken over, and there is only one way to stop it: take back control of your own life. Follow the suggestions in this book, and banish the TechnoStress from your life." —Donald A. Norman, Ph.D. Senior Technical Advisor, Hewlett-Packard author of Things That Make Us Smart

Nationally acclaimed Technotherapists Michelle Weil and Larry Rosen help you conquer your fears and frustrations. Among the helpful tips they offer . . .

Slow Down

People can't operate at the same speed as machines. "Rethink how you react to the new wizardry," says Larry Rosen. "Just because technology works at lightning speed does not mean you should."

Stay Connected

"Computer use can isolate people," says Michelle Weil. "In the electronic information age, it is particularly important not to rely solely on e-mail, faxes, and voicemail. Live communication enhances relationships."

Modern technology was designed to empower us and set us free. So why do we often feel more like its slaves than its masters? From pagers to Web sites, e-mail to fax machines, each new "technohelper" places greater demands on us.

If you've ever tried to juggle a steering wheel and a cell phone, or accidentally recorded an infomercial rather than the nightly news on your VCR —then you already know what TechnoStress feels like. In this, the first "must-have" book of the information age, psychologist Michelle Weil and educator Larry Rosen explain why technology makes people feel under the gun —and how to preserve your humanity and sanity in a digital world.

The authors draw on their sixteen years of research into the psychology of technology to show exactly how technology affects our bodies and minds, and the impact it has on our lives at home, at work, and at play. The fascinating vignettes they offer explain why we feel we are losing control to technology, or being hopelessly left behind.

But for all of the problems it identifies, TechnoStress is not another polemic against technology. In fact, the authors are proponents for technology. "Techno-therapist" Michelle Weil and researcher Larry Rosen have spent the past two decades showing people how to thrive in the age of high-tech. Rather than teaching you how to avoid technology, they show you how to make it work for you.

The trick is to learn to make technology dance to your tune —not vice versa. Whether you are a technophobe or a technofan, you'll find the proven stress-reducers in this book insightful and empowering.

About this title

Review

Authors Weil and Rosen are concerned about the large number of people--perhaps as much as 30 to 40 percent of the population--who are excluded from the benefits of online life and cyberculture. It's not economics or geography that keeps them away but computerphobia or other aspects of technostress. Weil and Rosen point out how only 10 to 15 percent of people are eager to adopt new technologies. About another 50 to 60 percent need to have its value proven first. The rest are resistant--even fearful--of new technology.

Unfortunately, the means used to attract these people often end up repelling them instead. They are told that things are easy when they are only intuitive for those with related experience. Personal help, whether from classes or friends, almost always comes from the 10 percent who are technophiles and don't know how to communicate with the technophobic. In addition, too many manuals and books are poorly constructed or designed for enthusiasts.

However, Weil's and Rosen's experience is that even computerphobes can become confident computer users in just five hours or less when taught with appropriate techniques. In Technostress, the authors look at where stress due to technological advance comes from and how it can be overcome. They examine the problems caused by conflicting learning styles. They also discuss the stresses computers can cause in the home, where suddenly it's the child rather than the parent who's always right, or in business, when machines that are put in place to aid productivity cause stress-related problems instead. Weil and Rosen offer a variety of solutions to these problems based on realistic approaches to education and training, as well as an understanding that not every new technology is necessary for everyone.

From the Publisher

One of the most vexing dilemmas at work and at home is the dizzying pace of modern technology. Every innovation--from cell phones to e-mail, from faxes to Websites--demands new skills, speedier reaction times, creativity on call 24 hours a day. The result for more than 50% of us, say the authors of this pathbreaking new book, is TechnoStress. Drawing on their work with scores of stressed-out Technophobes and Technofans, they show exactly how technology affects our brains and out bodies--and provides practical and proven strategies for coping with automation anxiety.

About this edition

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0471177091
• ISBN 13: 9780471177098
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 239