4 ways to conquer ‘Zoom Fatigue’

When you hear the word ‘pandemic’ and ‘COVID-19’, what are the top three words that pop up in your mind?

Well, I can say that one of them must relate to the online era. Zoom calls, long meetings, endless classes, and whatnot. Recall how often you have fallen asleep or gone out of the zone while being in front of the camera.

Don’t worry, you are not alone! The amount of time we engage in excessive video calls is unnatural. It affects your brain in various ways resulting in fatigue, stress, and sleep disorders. Such change in people’s lives has even intrigued scientists at Stanford to conduct research. A terminology given to such continuous unhealthy video calling is “Zoom Fatigue.” As the term suggests, it basically elaborates on the excessive time we spend in online meetings resulting in extreme exhaustion.

Excessive Video conferencing affects our mental and physical health:

·        Chronic neck and back pain- We often forget how we position our neck and back when it comes to video conferencing. We tend to lean towards comfort rather than our ideal posture. This results in chronic neck and back pain. Instead, one should take small breaks after every meeting to stretch our muscles and walk around. One should also make sure to have a chair that supports the back and have an adjustable eye level to screens.

·        Sleep problem- Time and again We are told to not use electronic gadgets right before bedtime. Regardless we still do it. We keep our phones so close to our eyes that light emitted directly interferes with our brains. We may not realize it now but in time, we may face severe sleep disorders. Hence it is advised to keep phones (or not do online meetings 1 hour before sleeping) out of reach for 30 minutes before climbing into bed.

·        Depression and anxiety-Excessive screen time while video conferencing or other activities can affect your brain negatively resulting in poor mental well-being.  

4 Solutions to reduce zoom fatigue and thrive in the online world:

·        Shorten meetings

Something that is usually said in a joke has a very profound meaning. If a meeting could have been just an email or it could have been shorter, a person’s screen time would have been much less comparatively. We should always remember that the length of our conducted meetings is not proportional to their effectiveness. A short meeting may have been more productive than an hour-long one. Therefore, keep your agenda clear, try using different ways of communication if possible and keep meets point to point.

Another small way to start would be to have a 25mins meeting instead of 30 mins and give back 5mins to everyone. This would encourage everyone to take a micro-break and stretch themselves before their next meeting.

·        Use the 20-20-20 rule:

A method developed by an optometrist in California, it helps you to relax your eye muscles and contributes to healthy vision. After every 20 minutes that you spend engaging on screens, look at something which is 20 feet away for 20 seconds. Do this every day and try to be consistent with it.

·        Schedule breaks:

Remember that your break time post meetings should have limited/no involvement of screens in it. Back to back zoom meetings tires your brain resulting in exhaustion. Therefore it becomes crucial for the human body to want a break. Prioritize it. Stand up, stretch your legs, walk a little, and relax your eyes and neck. Doing all this can help you from exhaustion and mental or physical health issues.

·        Turn off self-view:

Andrew Franklin, a cyber-psychologist at Norfolk State University says that we are so self-aware and conscious that we think that everyone in the meeting is looking at us, noticing every little move we make, but that’s not true. Everybody probably thinks the same thing. This phenomenon is called “imaginary audience.” Looking at ourselves continuously can induce anxiety and stress. Hence it is highly recommended that after adjusting, you turn off the self-view and focus entirely on the meeting.

 To sum up, everything we discussed, it’s important to accept that zoom meetings and video conferencing isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. And neither is zoom fatigue. The Digital World is here to stay and evolve. We might be attending our meetings in the Metaverse through VR/AR headsets in the coming future!

 Thus, it’s important that we take control of our Digital Worlds instead of letting them shape our lives.

 What are some steps you are going to take to have a healthier online meeting experience next time?

-Aanya Rawat and Rijul Arora