As notifications, instant messages, and multiple work apps flood the day, research reviewed in 2026 links tech overload to worse well-being, exhaustion, and diminished life satisfaction—while studies also show interruptions can consume more than two hours of w
Right now. there are 628 unread emails waiting in one work inbox—each one another ping in a routine that never seems to empty. That load sits alongside seven unread Signal messages. a few unopened Telegrams. dozens of texts (both personal and professional). and a separate Google work suite for another professional project. where comments appear daily in a separate stream of attention.
Then there are the other work apps required to keep up—Asana, Slack, and Gusto. Add the two-factor authenticators needed just to log into them, and the day starts to resemble a constant barrage of notifications rather than a sequence of tasks.
For some knowledge workers, the digital noise is even heavier than this. Yet the underlying problem is familiar: the weight of layered. always-on technology is pushing professionals toward a breaking point—while the 24-hour news cycle and endless social media scrolls keep cognitive demands high even outside working hours.
A 2026 review of research on technology-related stress at work found that tech overload “damages overall well-being. engagement. and life satisfaction” for employees. One 2024 survey that asked 142 workers about “the dark side of digital working effects” pointed to fear of missing out on information as a risk factor for employee mental health. The same survey found that information overload was linked to increased exhaustion, along with “elevated digital workplace stress.”.
The interruption itself doesn’t give workers a clean break. A 2024 study on “interruptions of office workers” found that instant messages and emails—and sometimes chatting colleagues—took up more than two hours of employees’ workdays.
The editor’s reaction captured what the numbers can’t fully show. Assigning the story, the editor said, “It makes me feel like I’m in a trance and just fries my brain, and it also never ends!”
Experts describe this strain through a term that’s increasingly common in the language of workplaces: technostress. According to information technologies professor Stefan Tam of HEC Montreal business school. technostress includes interruptions—like notifications that cut in mid-email—and “Zoom fatigue. ” described as burnout from communicating by screens all day. Tam says the effects span all ages and demographics.
“We all feel the same way—that sense of not being able to keep up,” said Melissa Perry, dean of the College of Public Health at George Mason University in Virginia. Perry adds that it’s especially normal when people spend “six to 12 hours a day on screens.”
Tam explains that the brain’s limits don’t match the way modern work asks people to operate. “The human brain is not meant to process information simultaneously,” Tam says, so it shifts into task-switching. He notes that this is different from what people think of as multitasking. Research shows humans aren’t truly capable of multitasking the way they imagine; what’s happening is rapid alternation between tasks that still wears the mind down.
Task-switching can be “extremely stressful,” Tam adds, and it can also lead to “information overload,” leaving workers unable to attend to one task with deep concentration.
But the pull toward constant checking isn’t only a managerial problem—it’s also built into the psychology of modern attention. Perry frames it through the idea that the brain is pleasure-seeking and that novelty is a form of pleasure. New messages popping up across screens activate the brain’s reward system, pulling people toward what’s new.
“I use that to explain the paradox of an overflowing inbox, where you’ve got 200 read but unanswered messages,” Perry said. “But that doesn’t stop you from still opening that next brand-new message.”
There’s a chemical rhythm to that pull. While new messages can spike dopamine. a reward-oriented neurotransmitter. they can also trigger “a sudden jolt of cortisol. ” a stress-associated hormone. according to Alane Daugherty. a professor focused on wellbeing at California State Polytechnic University-Pomona.
Daugherty describes the pattern in plain terms: each ping signals another task to attend to. The unpredictability—and how regularly it arrives—keeps people on edge. and it piles new stress on top of lingering anxiety from unanswered emails. “We’re primed to respond to our environment,” Daugherty said. “And yet?. Our bodies are made to have that response—but then come back to calm.”.
For many knowledge workers, that calm never comes.
Workplaces also create a dangerous illusion: because technology can improve productivity, people start believing they can handle the pace indefinitely. Perry says workers—consciously or unconsciously—believe they can keep up with machines. She points to the gratification of a well-organized calendar as an example. Scheduling becomes so smooth that people over-book their days. and project-management software that turns major tasks into neat flowcharts can make work appear easier than it is.
Soon, the gap becomes undeniable. Perry gives the moment she hears in classrooms and conversations: “‘I can’t even keep up with the number of meetings that I’ve just scheduled,’” she said. Or more broadly, “‘the number of digital demands coming my way.’”
That deluge can shape longer-term outcomes, not just short-term frustration. Daugherty says the brain is malleable and adapts to daily experience. “If we’re always distracted by emails or always on high alert because this text is coming in. or we’re upset because we saw something on social media. we’re teaching our brain to respond to that. ” Daugherty said. “We’re losing our capacity to be calm.”.
The damage isn’t only about stress. Daugherty and Perry both connect overload with reduced focus and weaker critical thinking. along with a shrinking ability to connect with others. With attention constantly stripped away by hopping between apps, stress can take a toll on empathy. Virtual communication also isn’t natural for humans.
Perry explains the missing pieces: “Our brains evolved to rely on faces, eye contact, the reassuring tone of another person’s voice to feel connected and at ease,” she said. “It’s super hard to cultivate trust on screen without some of those nonverbal, reassuring cues.”
And even if people try to step back, the technology can make that harder over time. Daugherty says workers can become habit-forming users, describing it bluntly: “We really are addicted to technology, and it’s getting worse.”
She also notes that addiction isn’t only about reward from positive messages. “We get addicted to stress, too,” Daugherty said. “The more we get accustomed to feeling it.” She adds that the brain can grow “kind of lazy” and that it wants what feels familiar—shown in small moments people recognize immediately. like feeling uncomfortable leaving a phone at a desk while walking to grab lunch. even though the notifications would be equally stressful.
Some people look to AI as a way out. Tam says AI can take on tasks that minimize the number of notifications received throughout the day. But Tam also warns that learning to use AI adds another layer of tech overload. There’s also the mental cost of anxiety—stressing about AI “stealing your job if you don’t comply” doesn’t help anyone’s mental state. Daugherty says.
When the question becomes what actually helps. experts point to the same place people often want to skip: managers and the structure of work itself. Tam says leaders should be mindful about what they ask employees to do and make sure they offer the appropriate time and support for tasks to get finished.
Tam also suggests “emotion-focused” coping—reinterpreting pressure to learn a new tech tool as a “challenge and opportunity.” Daugherty frames something more practical alongside that mindset: time management. Dedicate a set amount of time to each platform used at work. and silence notifications from other apps during that block.
Daugherty says people can get agitated because they keep tapping into their nervous system. “So we need to have intentional times built in,” she said—like five minutes away from all screens. Another option is building periodic 15-minute screen breaks into the day. Perry adds that if someone works in an office, taking breaks to circulate and connect with colleagues face-to-face can help. “Knowing that we are in a social world,” Perry said, “makes us feel a lot more natural.”.
Physical reset strategies also matter, even when they sound too small to count. Daugherty recommends deep breaths, making sure to breathe longer out than in. She also suggests relaxing facial muscles—especially around the eyes, which people often strain unconsciously while looking at screens. Dragging fingertips across the forehead is another technique. Daugherty says. and she stresses that the point is to pull attention back into the body.
“They’re really simple things, but they’re very powerful,” Daugherty said. “They situate you in your body instead of inside your multiple devices.”
The goal, Daugherty adds, is “resetting your system.” Otherwise, the mind keeps revving—like “a phone that’s constantly on charge,” unable to stop feeding the cycle of pings.
In a workplace built on constant arrivals, the hardest change may be the one that requires time: creating space where people can do the work without living inside the notification.
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