`
Guiding You to Work that FIts
33.png

Work-Life Blog

About Your Work-Life

Worn Out by The Drama? These Changes Will Help

Want to Improve How You Feel? Consider These Changes…

Recent events have many of us feeling stressed, anxious, and like our lives are out of control. What are the practical ways we can find some peace and comfort and protect ourselves from being overwhelmed by the chaos around us?

Too often my clients tell me they’re exhausted, aren’t sleeping well and may have other physical symptoms of stress. When I ask them about their daily habits often they lay out a routine that includes hours on their computers, smart phones or watching television (if only for the news). They aren't to blame, but someone or something is. Consider this:

Television, Social Media and Job Search Engines Are DESIGNED To Hold You Mentally and Emotionally Captive.

All three of these forms of media are intentionally designed to keep you mentally and emotionally engaged. They need to keep you watching so they can make money by selling advertising or selling your viewing habits to other people. If you quit watching or following, then they can’t convince companies to buy advertising on their channel or show.

They do this by following some of the oldest principles of psychology – reinforcing behaviors. One of the first principles we all learn in our high school or college psychology courses is the idea of behavioral conditioning. If those terms are strange, then just think of Pavlov and his dogs. Even the person on the street could tell you that old Ivan range bells before feeding his dogs and eventually got them to salivate when they heard bells, even without their dinner being served.

Social media, television, some websites and video games do this by giving you mentally or emotionally gratifying content on a random schedule OR by programming your brain to want to see that next image.

Studies have shown that our swiping left or right on social media actually forms the same kind of neural pathways in the brain that get set up in addicts. Women and men who spend certain amounts of time on the common social media platforms end up with neural networks that have the same patterns as those found in the brains of alcoholics, narcotics (like opioids) addicts or pornography addicts. In fact, the only distinction between the neural pathways formed by spending time on Instapics (yes, I made that up), video games or pornography websites is the types of images used to form those pathways.

Television news channels do something similar. TV news actually programs us to become emotionally attached to content by giving us a heightened (but false) sense of control in an otherwise chaotic world. They do this by keeping the information sensational – dramatic, horrible and potentially disastrous. (If you don’t believe me then count the number of exaggerated, extravagant or outrageous adverbs they use in every broadcast. Ask yourself how many Armageddon-like weather or political events we’ve lived through in the last ten-fifteen years?)

Unfortunately, for those who are searching for that next job, Job Search Engines can have similar effects. They present the same risks of emotional and mental attachment by convincing us that we have a greater level of control if we continuously dredge for possible job leads, and they reinforce this illusion by sending frequent email updates and prompts.

Time spent on these media has the unintentional effect of causing emotional stress. Your body’s response to stress is to release the hormones adrenaline and cortisol, increasing your heart rate, elevating your blood pressure, and increasing sugar (glucose) in the bloodstream. Cortisol also alters immune system responses and suppresses the digestive, reproductive and growth systems. And if these aren’t bad enough, it also effects the brain regions that control mood, motivation and fear.

Long-term overexposure to cortisol and other stress hormones puts you at increased risk of many health problems, including anxiety, depression, digestive problems, headaches, heart disease, sleep problems, weight gain, and memory and concentration impairment. Sound familiar?

So, what can you do about it?

First, don’t be naïve. Understand that nearly all forms of electronic media have a covert goal of holding you captive. A person held captive is a slave, so a person who is captivated by media is actually a slave to that form of media. Ask yourself if you’re okay with being a slave to something.

Second, protect yourself. If you don’t want your mind or heart and, especially, your body to experience the neurological and physiological effects of media-induced stress, then determine whether you can limit the amount of time you spend interacting with any of them.

I said “determine whether” because some of you, dear friends, may already have those addiction-related neural pathways in your brain, so limiting or quitting your media habits may require something more than simple will-power. In these cases, your brain will actually “crave” the media stimulation and you may need to employ some of the strategies used to help people fight addiction cravings, such as substitution, meditation, and interpersonal support.

I routinely tell my Career Clients to limit their time spent on Job Search Engines to no more than one hour every other day. When a client is struggling with anxiety, depression and the emotional effects of being in a “Career Wilderness” I also recommend limiting the time spent watching television, surfing apps on their smart phones or playing video games. Without exception they will report improved emotional and physical health.

Last, do the next right things. Eat a healthy diet, get at least seven and half hours of sleep, and do some moderate exercise (including taking a walk outside if the weather allows). Good nutrition, rest, movement and exposure to natural light are all keys to good emotional and physical health.

Most of all, take a break from the news. A few years ago, I gave up TV news and sports-radio and news-radio shows during the 40 days of Lent. I was astounded at the improvement in my mood, my energy and my general outlook on life. I’ve seen the same changes in my family and friends who imposed similar limits on their media consumption.

I’d bet your life will be much healthier.

James Bailey