Exhausted? The Reason May Be How You’re Using Technology
By Kara Alaimo | Analysis for CNN
Published: October 7, 2025
If you often find yourself feeling drained despite your best efforts to balance work and life, the cause of your exhaustion may be less about the sheer volume of tasks and more about how you interact with technology throughout your day. According to Paul Leonardi, a professor of technology management at the University of California, Santa Barbara, the endless switching between digital platforms significantly contributes to the mental fatigue many of us experience.
Leonardi explores this phenomenon in his recent book, Digital Exhaustion: Simple Rules for Reclaiming Your Life, shedding light on an often overlooked source of modern tiredness.
The Hidden Drain of Digital Switching
“We have to learn the tool we’re using,” Leonardi explains. “When we switch between apps or platforms, our brains must disengage from one set of cognitive tasks and reengage with another, recalibrating our focus. This constant switching is something our brains weren’t evolved to handle efficiently, and it results in exhaustion.”
Whether it’s shifting from Zoom to Microsoft Teams during back-to-back meetings or toggling between emails, texts, and social media, each transition demands mental energy. Small actions such as figuring out how to share your screen on a new video platform might seem trivial, but accumulating over hours or days, these moments drain cognitive resources.
Why We Don’t Realize We’re So Tired
Unlike physical tiredness, which our bodies signal clearly, mental fatigue from technology use can build silently. Leonardi notes, “Our brains evolved to detect physical exhaustion to prevent collapse, but they don’t signal when they’re cognitively overtaxed from digital switching. That’s why this kind of tiredness often hits us suddenly and feels overwhelming.”
As a result, many people underestimate how technology-induced multitasking affects them until they feel completely burnt out.
Three Types of Digital Switches
Leonardi identifies three key types of mental switches that sap our energy:
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Switching between modalities: Moving from one digital tool to another—such as different videoconference platforms or communication apps—requires mental adjustments.
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Switching between tasks: Interruptions forcing you to shift focus from one task to an entirely different one add extra cognitive load.
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Switching between life domains: Receiving urgent work emails in the middle of family time or calls from a plumber during work hours fragments attention and exhausts mental reserves.
Social Media: The Most Exhausting Platform
Among digital tools, social media stands out as particularly draining. Leonardi points to three forces at work:
- Attention demand: Frequent notifications, likes, and ads pull users in various directions, fragmenting focus.
- Making inferences: Users constantly fill in missing information from short posts or images, which requires considerable mental effort.
- Emotional engagement: Social media often triggers complex emotions like jealousy or annoyance due to social comparisons, further wearing down mental stamina.
This combination overloads users, making social media a prime culprit in digital exhaustion.
Why Remote Workers Feel It More Acutely
The shift toward working from home has intensified the problem, says Leonardi. “Remote workers struggle to maintain clear boundaries between work and personal life,” he explains. “They’re always connected and reliant on digital tools without the natural breaks that come from in-person interactions.”
Moreover, remote workers often must consciously project availability and professionalism through digital channels, adding an extra layer of mental effort. The performative aspect of video calls and messaging amplifies the fatigue.
Practical Tips to Reclaim Your Energy
Leonardi offers several strategies to mitigate digital exhaustion:
- Reduce the number of platform switches: Where possible, standardize the tools you use to minimize learning curves and mental resets.
- Limit interruptions: Set designated times for checking emails or messages to avoid constant task-switching.
- Turn off self-view in video meetings: Constantly seeing oneself during video calls can increase self-consciousness and mental strain.
- Create boundaries for work and personal life: Establish clear separations to allow your brain to rest and recover.
Adopting these habits could help alleviate the mental weariness caused not just by our workloads but by the very technologies designed to help us stay connected.
Final Thoughts
The demands of modern digital life extend far beyond managing “too many things.” As technology becomes more embedded in daily routines, understanding and managing how we engage with it is critical to maintaining mental health and well-being.
Paul Leonardi’s insights offer a valuable roadmap for anyone feeling overwhelmed by their digital life, showing that sometimes less switching is the key to more energy.
For more wellness insights and tips on managing digital life, visit CNN’s Life, But Better section.
