‘I can’t even keep up’: The long-term harms of tech overload at work—and how to avoid them

Right now, I have 628 unread emails in my work inbox. That’s in addition to seven unread Signal messages, a few unopened Telegrams, dozens of texts coming in (both personal and professional), and a whole separate Google work suite to contend with for another professional project, with an impossible number of comments appearing daily within the documents therein. Let’s not forget the various other apps required for work—Asana, Slack, Gusto—not to mention the two-factor authenticators needed to log into them. Together, the cacophony of buzzes and pings these apps elicit constitutes a very normal way of working in 2026. In fact, compared to many, my technological load is probably light. Already at max capacity with the 24-hour news cycle and never-ending scrolls of social media, knowledge workers’ cognitive loads get exponentially heavier each day as they log into their computers. Or, more realistically, those loads remain heavy overnight, as notifications from bosses and colleagues can arrive at any hour. And now? The weight of these layers upon layers of tech has working professionals at a breaking point. A 2026 review of research about technology-related stress at work found that tech overload “damages overall well-being, engagement, and life satisfaction” for employees. For example, one 2024 survey that asked 142 workers about “the dark side of digital working effects” found that “fear of missing out on information” was a “risk factor” for employee mental health, while “information overload” led to increased exhaustion. Both “elevated digital workplace stress.” Meanwhile, the interruptions to this information gathering won’t let up. Per a 2024 study on “interruptions of office workers,” instant messages and emails (and sometimes chatting colleagues) took up more than two hours of employees’ workdays. Not only is this a lot to process for creatures that evolved using tools like sticks and rocks, but, as my editor put it when assigning this story, “It makes me feel l