The digital world has become a part of our lives and is inherent in everyday life. Starting from the means to find entertainment, learning, and professional activities. Plus, the pandemic has forced us to do all-digital activities.

In the morning, it has started staring at the screen for online meetings or online school then during breaks scrolling through social media, news ore-commerce. Behind the ease of accessing information, it turns out that the digital world affects the psychological condition. Let's look at the following explanation.

Miscellaneous Digital Stress

1. Information overload

Every day always receives notifications of dozens or even hundreds from emails or social media. A lot of messages received means a lot of information needs to be digested. With too much information received the brain will experience fatigue in digesting information

The ease of accessing various things makes it easy for people to do many activities at the same time or called multitasking. The intention is to do two things in time together to be more efficient, it turns out that the brain is not able to receive a lot of information at the same time.

Too much information then affects the brain's capacity to digest. The brain can experience fatigue which can cause the individual to feel stressed.

2. Anxiety Available

The ever-increasing new information and notifications that appear all the time make us always have to be ready to respond. This leads to demands and pressure to respond to messages as soon as possible.

People are more likely to check for recent notifications and attempt to reply to messages immediately. If you can't reply to the message quickly, you will feel restless. This condition can trigger individuals to experience stress.

3. Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)

FOMO is the fear that he is not left behind and does not experience valuable experiences. It is characterized by the presence of a desire to stay connected with what others do. Plus the digital world that doesn't stop with the latest news makes people want to keep updated with the latest news.

People who experience FOMO have a high frequency of online media use. He tends to hold gadgets and check social media during activities such as eating, lectures, meetings, and others. This will interfere with daily activities and cause mental fatigue or burnout.

4. Approval Anxiety

Social media is a place to share photos, videos, and writings with others. He will get likes or comments from others. The number of likes or comments becomes a form of appreciation.

Individuals who are hungry for validation will feel anxious and stressed when not the desired appreciation does not match expectations. Then there will be questions in yourself such as "my picture is not good well?" or "people don't like my post well?".

How to Deal with Digital Stress

1. Social media detox

Social media detox is to stop the use of social media for a certain time. Doing a social media detox reduces activity to scrolling or giving comments and likes. This can reduce the sense of dependence and addiction to using social media.

For those who are still beginners, they can do it gradually, namely for 7 days then give it a long time. In general, this detox is done for 30 days but if you want more, you can.

2. Work-life balance

Work matters often use WhatsApp. Sometimes, many people still contact their co-workers outside of office hours. Therefore, in order for the work-life balance to be maintained, it is necessary to set the time for using communication media by turning off gadgets or notifications when office hours are over.

3. Be Selective on Social Media

Need to choose whose account to follow. Following too many accounts on social media will receive a lot of information. The choice that can be done is to unfollow or hide accounts that you think are irrelevant.

4. Not using gadgets before going to bed

Usinggadgetswill affects the sleep routine. At first, I felt sleepy but suddenly the sleepiness disappeared due to the anxiety of scrolling through social media. So, it's better if you 15 – 30 minutes before you turn off your phone to sleep better and more comfortably.

5. Do other activities

You can do activities that you like or like to avoid excessive use of gadgets. For example, exercise, reading books, or cleaning the house. Doing other activities can compensate for the excessive use of gadgets.

6. Build meaningful relationships

Digital makes the distance close but sometimes distances the closest people. Often see people sitting at the same time but busy with their respective gadgets. If you run into a situation like this input your gadget and start chatting, telling stories, and giving full attention to those near you.

The digital world is indeed very interesting. Various information and entertainment can be obtained easily. However, keep in mind that all things superfluous will affect the psychological state.