With so much comment recently about technology increasing the level of stress in people’s lives, we’ve been keen to look at whether, on the other side, it can be used as a route to help reduce stress.
Stress and burnout has been around for years but historically was seen as a hazard for high-achievers. However, in recent years, with life becoming more hectic for everyone, stress is now a much more common ailment, especially amongst business owners – so many of us are working exceptionally long hours, taking on exceedingly heavy workloads, and putting enormous pressure on ourselves — all of which makes us ripe for burnout.
Recently, we became aware of a prime example of modern day life causing these issues. One of our clients came to us struggling with the day to day running of his business. Although successful, he was drowning under the demands of admin and clients, which was causing him increased stress. Running the business was taking all his time – the day job was stretching to 12 or 14 hours a day, before adding on clients’ queries, sales calls and general admin. Increased irritability, insomnia and reducing productivity made him realise he needed to take action. Without a solution, he knew he was heading in the direction of a full burnout.
Luckily, at this trigger point, he came across Cloud Construct. We supported him in moving his business on to a system where everything is now on-line and streamlined. Clients can place bookings directly, reducing telephone queries, visits are streamlined, saving time day to day, admin tasks are simplified and productivity has increased. He is now able to expand his business without the stress levels he was hitting previously.
Speaking to Dan, he confirmed ‘Life was pretty tough before I found Cloud Construct. I was working 14 hour days, 7 days a week and coming home to more admin in the evenings. The system the team put in place has reduced my admin workload massively, my clients are receiving a better level of service which has led to increased business and I’ve been able to get on with the work I need to focus on. Stress levels are down and my work-life balance is now…. more of a balance’
On asking Dan for his advice to others, he said ‘Burnout doesn’t happen overnight. It creeps up on you overtime. The key is recognising it before it’s too late. And doing something about it. I’m just glad I found Cloud Construct when I did’
If you are facing some of the issues Dan faced, its key to take some time to honestly assess the amount of stress in your life and find ways to reduce it before it’s too late. High levels of stress and burnout aren’t like a cold; it will only go away if you make some changes in your life. And those changes can sometimes be made through technology.
So the answer to our original question? Although evidence seems to show that technology can impact stress levels, there are cases when technology can definitely help to improve it. Making a few small changes now, can help your business to continue to grow without the associated negatives.
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If you think Cloud Construct might be able to help your business and fix your technology nightmares, please get in touch .
