The latest book by an Ottawa author and academic offers a cautionary tale of the stress that many people face as technology creates more work instead of more leisure time.
No Time: Stress and the Crisis of Modern Life by Heather Menzies, who has written extensively on the issue, deals with how constantly-improved gadgetry can control the pace of our lives - with no ability to hit the "off" button.
Menzies calls it a social, political, and health problem rolled into one. Hence the new book.
"We are immersed in an environment that is all about speeding up," said Menzies, who teaches at Carleton University. "It distracts us, and it creates stress, and it gets under our skin."
Menzies points to young people living through technology and worries they will absorb and copy the overloaded lives of their parents. Studies show that constant distraction by phones and email and related technology is actually causing a drop in IQ.
"These kids are caught up in the whirl of technology and so the parents may try to slow down and be with their children to read a story, and the kids are trying to speed them up," she said.
A 2008 Nortel survey found nearly 50 per cent of people or moderately heavy to very heavy technology users - including sending text messages from bed or a church pew. Most participants said they would take their laptop over their phone or wallet if they could only take one item from their home.
