Nomophobia, Workplace Anxiety, and Motivation
Human behavior is a factor in our workplace every day. Behaviors and habits shape decisions and choices from the moment our eyes open until the moment we sleep. Have you heard of nomophobia?
While I’m not sure, and I’m not confident in the origin of the word, its existence is real. At least as early as 2014, Psychology Today, published an article about nomophobia. In the article it states origins to the year 2010.
Nomophobia
Nomophobia is defined as an anxiety associated with the fear of being without your cellular telephone, or at least without its use.
Many people can probably relate. Forget your phone on your way out the door and you would think you left a pan of bacon cooking unattended on the stove. We impulsively want to run back to change our situation.
Is nomophobia real? Of course it is real. Fear will drive human behavior. Afraid of what we’ll miss, who may call or text, or simply being disconnected from our friends and family will alter our behavior.
As with any phobia, anxiety increases. Desirable performance will likely decrease. What we should be doing shifts, we change. Our human reaction to fear and panic is now in control.
I’ve often wrote about the cautions associated with fear as a driver for motivation.
Do this or get fired.
Sales are down and we’re going to have to cut back.
Next week we are installing a brand new software system.
Fear in the workplace will change performance. It may also change buy-in, communication patterns, and certainly fear will change the end results.
Habits Move Us
People are creatures of habit. The habits that we have every day will drive the outcomes of our performance. Change your habits, you’ll change your performance.
This is true with eating, exercise, and what happens (or doesn’t) for our career.
When something that has become a habit suddenly becomes unavailable, goes away, or changes, there will be a reaction. The ultimate question is, “Will the reaction be productive or counterproductive?”
What you remove may be exactly what was keeping it all together.
-DEG
Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and corporate trainer. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.
