5 Easy Tips to reduce Zoom Fatigue

The advent of COVID-19 has brought about fundamental changes in our work environment. Since last year, many of us have been majorly working from home, sitting in front of a 13-inch screen all day, giving rise to another epidemic – the Zoom Fatigue. 

What is Zoom Fatigue? 

Spending too much time on Zoom or any other online video medium exhausts the brain to the core and debilitates the body of any energy. Simply the thought of being on another video call leads to another loud sigh, triggering feelings of stress and anxiety. 

All-day, trapped up in your chair, stuck in the frame of virtual conversations, with minimal mobility opportunities, we are undoubtedly unaccustomed to this behaviour. 

By this time, we’ve all realized that confining ourselves to the small screens, unable to freely gaze elsewhere in the room because of the constant apprehension of being judged for inattentive behaviour if you look out of the screen also limits our capacity to think outside the box. 

Working in a physical workspace, you get some space and liberty to move around, your brain gets its fair share of the visual break, so its creative and productive functions also remain well activated. 

We are yet to see a complete end to the shift in virtual conferences and meetings, so the sooner you adapt to the new normal, the more swiftly you can reap the benefits out of it. 

5 Tips to combat Zoom Fatigue 

Here are a few tips you can adopt to combat the Zoom Fatigue to process information efficiently rather than just having an overly frustrated mind and body at the end of the day. 

1 – Schedule breaks

For the sake of your sanity, it is vital to schedule breaks especially working from home!. No matter how deeply engaged you are in your work, your brain needs some time to decompress and absorb all the incoming information. If you have a hectic schedule, try ending your conference calls a few minutes earlier, so you get some time to de-stress. Take this opportunity to stand up from your place and take a walk around.

2- Optional videos in meetings

Knowing that virtual meetings are the new trend, making them simpler is crucial. Give the participants a choice to keep the video on or off depending on their comfort and the type of meeting being held. If only a few people have an active discussion, it may be crucial to have everyone present onscreen. But for a lengthy conference having numerous participants make it acceptable for people to switch off their cameras for some time. 

You can’t determine a person’s degree of attention by his presence on the screen. He may be mentally absent, perhaps scrolling through his phone kept right next to the screen or multitasking on the laptop. Either way, the attention is diverted, so it’s better to allow participants to attend the conference staying in their own comfort zone.

3- Reduce on-screen distractions 

You do not want to spend a significant part of the session being conscious of your self-appearance and assessing your expressions. To deal with this, use the option of hiding yourself from the view. This way, others can see you on their screens, but you cannot see yourself.

4- Set and follow a schedule 

With the emerging trend in virtual meetings, employers tend to view work from home as a privilege for their employees. This has put the work-life balance of the individuals at stake. They are considered to be available at any time of the day, ultimately aggravating the sentiment of Zoom fatigue among the individuals.

To overcome this, it is crucial to set a schedule for the meetings, ensuring that the sessions end at the assigned time. Share the agenda of the meeting with the participants beforehand and stay on track so that the meeting doesn’t extend the given time.

5- Use alternative means

In adapting to the new normal, do not entirely forego the other existing means of communication. You do not always need to have a face-to-face meeting to discuss tasks; sometimes, simply a phone call, a collaboration document, or an email can do the job, especially if it’s a one-on-one discussion. When possible, use these flexible mediums as they alleviate many of the requisites needed for formal video communication, ridding you of zoom fatigue. 

Just know that you’re not in this alone, and it’ll only be a matter of time till we get accustomed to the Zoom world.

Happy zooming 🙂