In a business environment these things are a necessity but we all know people who are openly addicted to all sorts of sites – all twitchy fingered and red eyed – from social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to chat rooms and bidding sites such as eBay.

It’s common knowledge that checking your social networking sites on your WMD before going to sleep is bad; the light triggers receptors in our brains that make them go a bit doolally and do not make for a good night’s sleep. According to Dr Larry D. Rosen, author of the book (remember those? Papery things with words printed in them) “iDisorder: Understanding Our Obsession With Technology and Overcoming Its Hold on Us” social networking has lead to cases of teenagers suffering from ‘facebook depression’; people developing ADHD, narcissistic tendencies and compulsive-obsessive disorder from constantly checking our devices.

Think about it. All of that desperate need for affirmation. It’s just not healthy.

And of course this desperate need to check Facebook and other social media sites can become a real problem in the office, affecting concentration and productivity. However, from a business sense we really do need that affirmation – we’re reaching out to customers and want to increase not only site traffic but our connectivity and relationship with our clientele.

So what’s the solution? Well, Dr Larry says we need a sense of restorative balance and self-awareness. In other words take a ‘Tech break’. Common sense really. Spending too much time on your device? Spend less time on it. Make contact with the natural world around you. Talk to humans face to face. Breathe. Set parameters.

In the digital world – and especially in the digital working environment – we have to spend a certain amount of time staring at screens, checking social media and connecting digitally with our customers. However, it’s important to remember that our customers are real non-digital people. Some of them appreciate face to face contact through digital and social media outlets but some of them may just prefer human to human contact.