Zoom Fatigue is Real — 10 Ways to Keep Yourself From Burning Out

As we round the corner into week 4 – or is it week 5? Who even knows anymore? – of COVID19-induced quarantine, most families and teams I know are finding a new rhythm to how we live and work during this extraordinary time.

One of the elements of this “new normal” includes an endless array of video meetings. Zoom meetings with teams. FaceTime with friends. Conference calls with family. Many introverts I know are bemoaning the fact that their social calendars are somehow more jam-packed now than they’ve ever been. And even for unabashed extroverts like myself, the sheer volume of video call time is exhausting.

Zoom fatigue is real.

So this week I’ve been collecting my favorite tips and strategies to help us all stay sane and keep this new form of online exhaustion in check.

Long, useless meetings that “could have been an email” have long been a top complaint of workers. Let’s not exacerbate this problem now that online meetings can be hosted anytime and anywhere. There’s a reason many workplaces implemented stand up meetings to limit overly-long gatherings. Let’s bring that same mindfulness to meetings now, whether that means actually hosting a virtual stand-up meeting, or just coming in with a clear agenda and designated timekeeper.

A colleague of mine last week tuned into our morning meeting from her apartment’s balcony, and the sound of birds chirping outside actually caused our entire team to stop talking, take a deep breath, and just listen for moment together. It was a beautiful reminder that there’s nothing wrong with taking the occasional call from outside or while on a walk. Download the Zoom app for your phone if need be.

Part of the reason online meetings can be especially exhausting is because your brain is being presented with an extraordinary amount of information all at once. Whereas in an office meeting setting, you might only be looking at one or two people while the conversation unfolds.

In “gallery view” we can see into every single team members’ home, including their dog running through their background, toddler being bounced upon a lap, and cat walking across a keyboard.

This is way more information than our brains are used to getting all at once. So instead, switch your settings to “speaker view” to opt for a more focused visual experience. By just focusing visually on the person who’s speaking, you’ll be better able to focus your attention and keep information overwhelm in check.

I’ve written before about the benefits of taking notes on paper instead of keeping everything virtual – but it’s worth mentioning again. There’s a reason we cling to analog forms of pen-to-paper communication.

Research shows that writing things down by hand activates your brain in a different way, increasing retention and memory, and resulting in a deeper level of cognition. So while our schedules may be full of screen time, that doesn’t mean you can’t rely on a paper notebook or planner to keep you more rooted in reality.

I hopped on a coaching call last week with a client who bemoaned the fact that she had a virtual meeting every hour, on the hour, for 8 hours that day. I was horrified! How are you supposed to get actual work done if all you’re doing is meeting with folks all day? How about the regular administrative tasks required of most workers – like checking calls or your inbox?

And beyond that – we all biologically need periodic bathroom and meal breaks, at the very least. This is a good time to remember that it might not be the technology that’s getting in our way – it might be a much more human problem – a need to set clear boundaries at work right now.

On that same note, let’s remember we still have some control over how we communicate. Video calls aren’t the only kind of calls available to us. Let’s embrace the original use of our smart phones once again and actually use them to call people. This is especially true for our social connection needs.

My in-laws have never been on board with my FaceTime video call obsession, and this past weekend I was especially grateful for their preference for the good old-fashioned phone call as I walked all throughout my house tidying things up and getting the whole place looking nice while chatting away with them the whole time.

It feels good to multi-task in that way when your eyes aren’t involved – it’s the same reason listening to podcasts while on the go feels do-able whereas watching your favorite TV show while multi-tasking doesn’t.