Dosed therapies

Permanently distracted by chats and constant online presence - addicted to "likes instead of praise, emojis instead of kisses " (quote Anitra Eggler) - scatters our attention in a white noise of search engines and algorithms. It seems that digitalization knows no empathy or pauses, "but the operating system is the human being who has naively internalized the 'new' media, which are now already more than 20 years old," criticizes Anitra Eggler.

According to the book, the German author and speaker treats digital madness and pathological deviations such as the "senseless surf syndrome".

Ms. Eggler, where do you think digital transformation provides a scenario for "madness"?
Anitra Eggler: It becomes critical, for example, when people answer their mobile phones during a meeting to announce that they can't take the call. It also becomes critical when people with serious IQs "get distracted" by completely unimportant things: Suddenly the WhatsApp pet photo, the Viagra spam mail from the day before yesterday becomes more important than one's own family or the company's annual budget. - That is sheer madness.

What do you mean by common sense?
There is an urgent need for an upgrade to common sense. Media literacy is common sense and vice versa. Unfortunately, we are heading towards a kind of digital serfdom. We have to configure our digital media - control our attention. That's why we shouldn't surrender to naively filling out all the terms of use.

How do you recognize the right time for "Digital Detox"?
The right time is always now! It's not about being necessarily less online, but it is about being better online. "Work smarter, not harder", should be our credo, and for that everyone needs to take time to configure computers, software and mobile phones. A small social blessing: there are fabulous tutorials on Youtube, for example.

a) ... with himself?
When you go to bed with your smartphone, when you get up with it, when you pay more attention to the device than to the people you love the most. When you are only reactive and let yourself be driven by digital communication and the daily mobile hullabaloo.

b) ... with employees?
Send a content-less email to your most expensive employees. Those who respond in nanoseconds are probably not the most productive employees, but poor mail junkies who let their inbox tell them what to prioritize next.

The next work interruption lurks in every mailbox. This costs first the ability to concentrate, then the motivation, then the annual result.

Who's coming to you for digital therapy today?
I use this term with a twinkle in my eye. I administer my "therapy" by means of lectures. The lectures are booked by associations and companies. Why does the economy need therapy? Because many people feel trapped in the digital hamster wheel and want to get out again. Paradox: Thanks to digitalization, we could save more time than ever before. We could work so much more productively, efficiently, creatively and also communicate. However, the opposite has happened, we are permanently in a time crunch, working more than ever and achieving worse results. The burnout rate has probably increased fiftyfold because of digitalization. My books give advice to many - from the digital native to the CEO to the WhatsApp granny.

Do you think you can really change our multi-option, post-political society?
At the moment, we are all guinea pigs in the large-scale experiment called "digitization". I was a pioneer in the industry in 1998. At the end of the noughties, I was one of the first to warn of the side effects - but I'm not omniscient, but I've already touched more hot plates digitally through my Internet career than anyone else. I know where it's hot and how to doctor burns through knowledge. I can only give tips to every single person, hold up the mirror and shake people up. - It's like smoking. Everyone has to quit by themselves.

To what extent is the "enslavement" to emails and smartphones also a gender or generational issue - your observations?
In my opinion, young people and WhatsApp grannies alike enslave themselves because mobile phones are dopamine dealers. Maybe men gamble a little more, women chat a little more. In the end, however, the result is equally fatal: permanent distraction. Loss of concentration, life and working time.

Children who are immobilized by tablets and develop their self-image through selfies are subsequently much more influenced by media than 70-plus-year-olds.

How might a typical data processor or page programmer (a leisure time muffin in a gray sweater) break up his digital routine?
He should work in intervals. Pause every 30th minute, get up for five minutes, switch off or chat with colleagues (that's the one with voice). Extremely important: take offline breaks (let go of the phone). Anyway, he should stop his media multitasking. Actually, no one can, not even women (sorry!). Meaning: If you try to do everything at once, you won't do anything right.

Therefore: Do one thing at a time - but never try to be faster than the computer. That's not productive, it's blind actionism. Oh yes, and very important: don't confuse yourself with an e-mail server or a 24/7 hotline. Close your e-mail program sometimes and only open it during fixed e-mail opening hours.

How do you plan to curb all the neurotic behavior that even leading politicians are adopting via social media?
I don't want that at all and I can't do that at all. For that I would have to have a remedy against human ignorance and greed - as already mentioned, I can give impulses that reactivate human understanding, no more and no less.

What do you think about government sites being accessible "anytime/anywhere", is that a benefit to citizens?
I personally chalk that up to the blessing of digitisation. Much more can and must be simplified here. At the same time, the speed of digitalisation is creating a two-tier society: many older people are unable to participate in digital administration. This begins with banking, continues with digital electricity meter reading and extends to travel and passport confirmation, which is now often only available online.

Are there even off-line options for ottonormal consumers when e-commerce, e-banking, or Apple Pay will ultimately impose their pulse on us?
Let's get this straight: I am not anti-digital! I love digital. What I don't like is the naivety of many users and the profiteering of digital monopoly companies. The combination is red hot! Granted, monopoly has reached the point where you are often left with no alternative. If you don't accept the terms of use of Apple or Google, you can't use the services.

Nevertheless, it is important to know what data one is giving away and what consequences this has for our freedom - the freedom of thought and informational self-determination.

Actually, the digital revolution also offers great opportunities - such as the fact that your services as a digital therapist are in high demand. What opportunities have you not yet exploited?
The revolution is over. Believe me, I'd often rather not have to explain how you disable read receipts on WhatsApp, that notorious CC setters are tattletales, etc. I'm working on not having to discuss a lot of things. I'm working on replacing myself. That's a management virtue: make yourself replaceable and then be unavailable because only slaves are always available. Is that what you mean by "playing the odds"? I don't! I don't play the odds: I take them.

How should digital communication be designed to serve positive quality points?
Quality before quantity. Reflection instead of reflex. Less is more than ever, or biblically: He who sows emails (WhatsApp, postings ... ) will reap emails. One phone call saves tens of emails. So simple, but often so hard. - Don't just invest in software, but in the motivation and media competence of the people who are to operate this software.

Finally, what could employers do for more "digital quality"?
Develop clear communication rules. Introduce email opening hours and have them controlled by IT: ideally, only deliver emails three times a day, start the working day with an email-free hour, or even better, start with an offline hour - this gives people time for their own prioritisation.

To have the courage to sometimes pronounce bans: Doing without private mobile phones and private communication at work, using them more sparingly in meetings and on mobiles. Allow employees the happiness of being unreachable on vacation - including charming phrases and out-of-office notes. And, most importantly: more humanity, less email noise. Model media competence instead of prescribing it.