The ping of diminishing returns
For entrepreneurs and self-employed professionals, it's the sound of a notification that promises connection and opportunity but often delivers distraction and overload. You rely on technology to build your business, connect with clients, and stay productive. But at what point do these essential tools become a source of significant cognitive and emotional drain?
This is the central question behind the concept of technostress, defined as the stress experienced from the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).[1] Researchers have identified a dark side to the technologies that promise to make us more efficient, where they can paradoxically become a major source of stress and burnout.[1,2]
To understand this conflict, we can use the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model. Think of this framework as your mental energy bank account. Demands — such as a relentless stream of notifications — are constant withdrawals. Resources — such as having control over your schedule — are deposits.[3] When withdrawals consistently exceed deposits, you head towards burnout. This article will explore the specific demands that an “always-on” culture places on us and, more importantly, the resources we can build to protect our wellbeing and reclaim our focus.
The hidden costs of constant connection
Researchers have identified several specific “technostress creators” — factors that impose a psychological tax on our wellbeing and performance.[1] These are the hidden costs of our hyper-connected digital work life, each draining our cognitive and emotional reserves in a distinct way.
The overload tax (techno-overload)
Techno-overload is the feeling of being forced to work faster and longer simply to keep up with the sheer volume and pace of information coming from different digital streams.[1] It’s the endless inbox, the constant stream of messages, and the pressure to process it all at once. Research confirms that work overload is one of the most dominant stressors caused by our interaction with technology.[4]
The invasion tax (techno-invasion)
Techno-invasion is the pervasive blurring of boundaries between work and home life. It is driven by the feeling that you can always be reached and, therefore, should be constantly connected.[1,4] This pressure to be perpetually available leads many professionals to work additional, often uncompensated, hours. According to a report from Eurofound, 17% of workers work extra hours specifically because they are contacted outside of their normal schedule, and this type of overtime is the least likely to be financially compensated.[5]
The complexity tax (techno-complexity)
This tax is the stress that arises when you feel your skills are inadequate for the technology you need to use. Instead of focusing on productive work, you are forced to spend valuable time and mental energy learning new interfaces, troubleshooting problems, or navigating complex systems.[1] For freelancers competing in online labor markets, high IT complexity is directly linked to increased work overload and a greater sense of job insecurity.[6]
The insecurity tax (techno-insecurity)
Techno-insecurity is the threat of losing your job — or for an entrepreneur, losing clients or projects — to others with better technology skills or to automation itself.[1] In the modern gig economy, this stress is amplified. It can manifest as the anxiety of being filtered out by platform algorithms or receiving negative feedback that directly threatens your ability to secure future work.[6]
The uncertainty tax (techno-uncertainty)
This tax stems from the unsettling feeling caused by the relentless pace of technological change. Constant updates, new software versions, and hardware upgrades create a continuous need to re-learn and adapt, generating a background hum of anxiety about staying current.[1]
The entrepreneur's autonomy paradox: when freedom isn't free
One of the biggest draws of entrepreneurship and freelance work is the promise of autonomy — the freedom to control your own schedule, projects, and work style. We assume this control acts as a powerful resource against stress. However, recent research reveals a startling paradox, particularly for those working in the gig economy via Online Labour Markets (OLMs).
A 2023 study by Umair et al., based on a survey of 366 gig workers on a popular Online Labour Market, found that job autonomy was not significantly related to reducing either work overload or job insecurity.[6] This finding is counter-intuitive but critical. While gig workers can often choose when and where they work, the highly competitive, algorithm-driven nature of these platforms creates a different kind of pressure. The constant need to find the next gig, meet tight deadlines, and compete with a global workforce negates the psychological benefits of that scheduling freedom.
The study also uncovered an unexpected twist regarding feedback. We typically see feedback as a constructive resource. Yet, in the high-stakes environment of OLMs, negative feedback was found to be positively associated with increased work overload and job insecurity. This transforms a supposedly helpful tool into another significant “Demand”. A single bad rating can threaten a freelancer's future income and visibility on the platform, forcing them to work even harder to secure more tasks and overcome the negative review, amplifying their stress and workload.
Actionable strategies to protect your cognitive engine
Understanding the demands technology places on you is the first step. The second is building a set of protective resources. In the language of the Job Demands-Resources model, the following strategies are powerful “Resources” you can develop to counteract the technological “Demands” and mitigate the taxes on your wellbeing.
Strategy 1: Build your digital literacy
One of the most effective technostress inhibitors is competence. Research consistently shows that “literacy facilitators,” such as proactive training and knowledge sharing, are proven mechanisms for reducing the stress caused by technology.[1] Poor digital literacy can make every interaction with a digital tool more stressful and draining.[2]
To counter the complexity tax, invest dedicated time in mastering your core tools. Think of this as financial literacy for your cognitive capital; investing time to master your tools is how you lower the complexity tax you pay daily in wasted energy. Go beyond the basics to learn the shortcuts, features, and workflows that will make the technology serve you, not the other way around.
Strategy 2: Diversify your platform dependence
For many freelancers, a single digital platform is their workplace, creating immense pressure and insecurity. Research identifies “resource control” — the ability to remove yourself from a stressful ICT environment — as a key coping mechanism.
While the research doesn't explicitly say “move clients off-platform,” it strongly supports the principle of resource control — gaining the ability to step away from a stressful digital environment. For a freelancer, diversifying away from a single platform is the ultimate expression of this principle. By building a client base through your own network, website, or other channels, you reduce your dependence on algorithmic control and intense platform competition. This is a powerful, long-term strategy for mitigating the insecurity tax.
Strategy 3: Set mandatory offline hours
This strategy is a direct countermeasure to the invasion tax. Boundary management is a critical coping strategy for preventing the work-home conflict that technology so easily creates.[2] At the same time, it protects you from losing sleep over mobile work after-hours.
To allow for true psychological detachment, you must create clear and impermeable boundaries. Schedule specific, non-negotiable times each day or week when all work devices are turned off and notifications are silenced. No work-related communications are allowed during this time.
This is crucial for psychological detachment, a state in which you mentally disengage from work. Without it, your brain remains in a state of low-grade vigilance, preventing true recovery and restoration. This is your non-negotiable invasion tax deduction. By walling off this time, you are reclaiming personal assets that would otherwise be seized by work.
Strategy 4: Implement a hard stop to your workday
While mandatory offline hours protect you and your collaborators from invading each other's recovery time, a hard stop is a psychological ritual that signals the definitive end of the workday, preventing cognitive residue from bleeding into your personal life. This is a proactive coping behavior designed to manage the overload tax.
With nearly half of all workers regularly working beyond their contracted hours just to finish tasks,[5] it is resonable to assume that work will expand to fill the time available. By creating a clear end-of-day ritual — such as closing all tabs, tidying your desk, and planning the next day's top priorities — you create a psychological boundary that prevents work from bleeding into your personal time. A hard stop prevents scope creep from becoming tax creep, ensuring the overload tax doesn't claim your evenings.
Strategy 5: Use technology to enforce focus
You can strategically use technology against its own distracting nature. Researchers call this "method control" — changing how you use technology to mitigate its negative effects. Instead of being a victim of endless notifications, take control by:
- Using focus apps to block distracting websites during work sessions.
- Scheduling deep work blocks in your calendar and treating them as untouchable appointments.
- Batching your email and message checks into specific times, rather than responding to every alert as it arrives.
These practices protect your executive functions from the constant context-switching demanded by notifications, preserving your capacity for deep, focused work.
It's important to be strategic. Research suggests that simply turning off all notifications can sometimes increase stress by creating a fear of missing out (FOMO), leading you to interrupt yourself even more. A structured approach, like scheduled focus blocks, is often more effective than a total notification ban.[2]
From always on to intelligently engaged
Technology is neither inherently good nor bad; it is a tool. It can function as a powerful resource that amplifies your efforts or a draining demand that depletes your energy. The difference, as research shows, often lies in our approach. [2]
The always-on culture is not a prerequisite for success; it is a tax on your focus, creativity, and long-term wellbeing. By recognizing the hidden costs — the overload, invasion, complexity, insecurity, and uncertainty — and implementing protective strategies, you can shift from being reactive to your technology to being intentional with it. This is the essence of mastering the Job Demands-Resources balance: consciously reducing the demands while strategically building the resources that fuel your success.
Instead of asking “How can I do more with my technology?”, what if you started asking, “How can my technology help me protect what's most important: my focus, my energy, and my wellbeing?”
Reading suggestions
1. Bondanini, G., Giorgi, G., Ariza-Montes, A., Vega-Muñoz, A., & Andreucci-Annunziata, P. (2020). Technostress Dark Side of Technology in the Workplace: A Scientometric Analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(21), 8013. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17218013.
2. Marsh, E., Vallejos, E. P., & Spence, A. (2022). The digital workplace and its dark side: An integrative review. Computers in Human Behavior, 128, 107118. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2021.107118.
3. Dijkhuizen, J., Gorgievski, M., van Veldhoven, M. J. P. M., & Schalk, R. (2016). Feeling successful as an entrepreneur: A job demands — Resources approach. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 12(2), 555-573. doi: 10.1007/s11365-014-0354-z.
4. Ayyagari, R., Grover, V., & Purvis, R. (2011). Technostress: Technological Antecedents and Implications. MIS Quarterly, 35(4), 831–858. doi: 10.2307/41409963.
5. Eurofound (2023). Right to disconnect: Implementation and impact at company level. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. (Authors: Tina Weber, Dragoș Adăscăliței).
6. Umair, A., Conboy, K., & Whelan, E. (2023). Examining technostress and its impact on worker well-being in the digital gig economy. Internet Research, 33(7), 206–242. doi: 10.1108/INTR-03-2022-0214.
