You can also hide everyone else’s video if you have a hard time making or keeping eye contact. It will reduce eye strain, but only if you can manage with just audio. Sometimes audio works just fine and we might just want to add video because the option is available. Video meetings also make you anxious about how you look, especially for female workers. During in-person meetings, like the good ol’ pre-Covid days, you did not know how you looked when you gave a presentation.
Eliminating meetings may sound nice right about now, but we need meetings to stay connected and productive. While video calls aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, these 10 tips can help you beat meeting fatigue for good. If you’ve been pondering the issue of why zoom video chats are so exhausting, you’re not alone. Ever since COVID-19 forced so many of us into relative isolation and reliance on remote communication methods, regular users of video conferencing platforms have been wondering how to combat zoom fatigue.
Find ways to socialize with teammates outside of meetings.
After all, video calls allow us to hear and see other people – and this is the closest we can get to face-to-face interactions at this time. Virtual dinners, family nights, catch-ups, and game nights are now possible thanks to video-conferencing platforms like WhatsApp, Skype, Zoom, Google Meet and FaceTime. Meetings, conferences, brainstorming sessions, daily standups and even company-wide informal hangouts are all taking place through the medium of video https://remotemode.net/ calls. Recovering from Zoom fatigue and burnout starts with re-adjusting your typical working methods. Taking the necessary steps to clear your mind and your workspace are great ways to better manage the stress that comes with constant Zoom calls throughout the workday. If you are looking for ways to prevent employees from multitasking during meetings, then you can incorporate collaborative activities, such as icebreakers and team building exercises.
In the typical on-screen display of a video call, your own face stares back at you alongside those of your colleagues. This creates a sense of hyper-awareness — of your appearance, dress, facial expressions, background, and physical surroundings — in addition to the pressure to “perform” well on camera. Zoom fatigue has very similar ways of showing up, with the primary difference being that it actually contributes to overall burnout. Long working hours can push a healthy person towards burn out, regardless of him working from home. If you’re having a struggle to stick to the meeting schedule, try to use a shared agenda. Ask HR to send our feedback survey on the maximum time for a video call.
Possible effects of Zoom fatigue
Reinforce a friendly company culture and have a Zoom meeting or two just to create camaraderie and coherence in a team. Wearing your work clothes is the best thing to signal the start of a work day, especially when all you have to do is get up and switch on your laptop. Preparing for the day like you’re going to work can make you feel better about the day.