“We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us even in our soundest sleep. I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavour.” ― Henry David Thoreau, Walden
1 Introduction
Digital Detox |
Digital detox describes a periodic disconnection from IT as well as strategies which help to reduce the engagement with IT (adapted from Syvertsen and Enli 2019) |
2 Technostress in Organizations
2.1 Theoretical Underpinnings of Technostress Literature
Techno-stressor | Description |
---|---|
Techno-overload | Technology urging employees to work more and faster |
Techno-invasion | Constant availability; blurring work/life boundaries |
Techno-complexity | A perceived lack of abilities to meet the demands of IT use |
Techno-insecurity | Fearing to lose one’s job to IT or IT-savvy contenders |
Techno-uncertainty | Uncertainty about changes in existing or new systems |
Techno-unreliability | System malfunctions |
2.2 A Digital Detox Perspective on Technostress
3 The Concept of Digital Detox
3.1 Digital Detox Research and Strategies
Focus | Strategy | Supporting literature |
---|---|---|
Emotion-focused strategies (individual) | Reflecting personal values and mindset | |
Emotion management | Al-Fudail and Mellar (2008) | |
Mindfulness training | Pflügner et al. (2021) | |
Problem-focused strategies (individual) | Non-use, withdrawal, and time-outs | |
Self-regulation of usage behavior | ||
Job transition | Butts et al. (2015) | |
Restricted social media use | ||
Use of digital wellbeing applications | ||
Switching to alternatives and offline behaviors | ||
Segmentation of work and non-work | Sonnentag and Fritz (2015) | |
Problem-focused strategies (organizational) | Top-down regulation of usage behavior (e.g. shut down e-mail servers) | Görland and Kannengießer (2021) |
Organizational digital detox events | Karlsen (2020) | |
Training and support |
3.2 Toward a Conceptualization of Digital Detox in Organizational Contexts
4 Research Agenda and Summary
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What are individual motivators for knowledge workers to conduct digital detox?
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How do individual digital detox strategies differ when motivated by prevention as opposed to coping?
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Which techno-stressors can be mitigated by preventive digital detox strategies?
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How do job characteristics affect the conduct of digital detox?
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How is the technological environment (number and types of devices, software, etc.) interrelated with digital detox?
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To what extent is management responsible for ensuring an organizational environment that appreciates digital detox?
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What are the implications of digital detox for the social environment inside organizations, e.g., in times of social isolation?
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What are digital detox strategies and how do they differ (e.g., from shortest and least interfering to longest and most interfering)?
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What are the implications of digital detox for IT design and the management of IT?