Are You Taking Part in Urgency Culture? 4 Ways to Recognize It + Tips for Opting Out

​Like everything, technology is a double-edged sword. While everyone benefits from being able to instantly get in touch and have endless amounts of information on demand, always being connected through devices also lends itself to other issues, many of which we all personally know too well. From constantly being distracted to forming new addictions, technology has created a whole new subset of problems that we as humans are slowly learning how to counteract (and without throwing our phones and devices away altogether).
 
One of the phenomenons of technology and the instant nature of it is that it’s created a whole new culture: Urgency Culture. Dr. Nicole LePera (also known as the.holistic.psychologist on social media) regularly writes about urgency culture, including how it manifests in our lives and, even more importantly, what we can do about it.
 
Like many cultural subsets present in our society today, urgency culture isn’t something you typically consciously “join” or even know you’re a part of. The habits of the culture become so socially acceptable, that you start taking part just so that you can “keep up” or “fit in”.
 
Urgency culture has become so commonplace in our society that one could argue it’s almost just part of daily modern life. Unfortunately, taking part in it leads you down a rough road, one filled with anxiety, stress, difficulty sleeping, and the inability to be truly present in the moment, both with yourself and your loved ones.
 
Not sure what Urgency Culture looks like?
 
Here are four ways to identify it in your life:
 

1. You find yourself anticipating instant communication, whether via email or text message, and get frustrated or upset when you’re left waiting. This also shows up in you feeling the need to text or respond instantly as soon as you see a message coming in, rather than being able to wait until later.

 

1. Wanting everything to happen instantly and for results to show up quickly is another sign of urgency culture. Rather than being able to calmly wait while contenting to be persistent, people who take part in urgency culture need things to happen quickly, if not instantly, and become impatient and frustrated when that doesn’t happen.

 

1. It’s also common that people living within urgency culture regularly feel like they’re running out of time or always short on time. Because of this, they find it difficult to start things because they are under the impression that there will never be enough time.

 

1. In conversations, people taking part in urgency culture also want instant answers and black-and-white statements or opinions. Rather than giving people time to think, they push others to form a statement even when that person is unwilling or uncomfortable. This can lead to difficulty in all relationships — personal, romantic, and professional.

 
Unless you have a very healthy relationship with technology, there’s a good chance that you are taking part in urgency culture in your daily habits. Thankfully, once you become aware of it, you can start to create healthier habits that take you out of an “always urgent” state.
 
One of the simplest fixes is simply setting a time each day where you are distanced from all of your devices. No matter how many reasons you have about why you can’t, the reality is that you always can at some point during the day — even if it’s just for thirty minutes.
 
The more comfortable you can get living away from your tech, the more you’ll find yourself in a relaxed, calm state.