Fight Zoom Fatigue
Zoom Fatigue is a real thing. Zoom drains your energy (BBC). We kind of know what we need to do to combat the info-intense, focused, and ultimately demoralising way of working. But we forget to.
Harvard Business School recommends five research-based tips to make video calls less exhausting:
- Avoid multi-tasking.
- Build-in breaks.
- Reduce onscreen stimuli.
- Make virtual social events an opt-in.
- Switch to phone calls as the default. Or email is that is all that is required; don’t default to Zoom out of habit.
I would like to extend the list to include:
- Use speaker view so you don’t have to look at all those faces.
- Provide an agenda (ideally ahead of the call) with a purpose for the meeting and start and finish times.
- Book in 25- or 55-min calls to guarantee you get a 5-min break.
My favourites are:
- Turn off my own view of myself. It is the best and most stress-releasing thing you can imagine.
- Block out time in your diary for what I call a “buffer” where no-on can book in times or interrupt me.
At a more general level, we need to arrive at Zoom calls with the expectation that we can make this the best call of the day (or the week) for everyone on the call.
Think about how you can engage people and give the call a bit of a sparkle.
I don’t mean that you need to play the clown, but don’t start the call with the “I guess this is another bloody-Zoom-call” mentality that most people project so obviously. Being at work and talking to one another doesn’t have to be such a pain in the backside.
It is time to grab hold of how we are communicating and what messages we are communicating (both consciously and unconsciously).'
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Founder of Easeo: The Gym for Lazy Websites
4 年What a welcome post! Thanks Robert.
Harnessing the potential of powerful professional relationships * Author, Speaker, Mentor, Trainer and Podcast Host * Contributor to PsychologyToday.com* Co-author of the Financial Times Guide to Mentoring
4 年Excellent advice Robert. I'm using the phone much more now, people seem to really appreciate it - which is a nice change! And, as Lynda suggests, you can do so while walking. In this weather, why wouldn't you!?
Top 3 Global Futurist Keynote Speaker for 2025 - Building the 'Ready for Anything' Organisation in the AI Era. Embracing Complexity, Future Leadership, Learning, Innovation, Foresight, and Transformational Thinking.
4 年Definitely a very real challenge., Very helpful article Robert. Appreciate the share.
The Walking Neuroscientist | Keynote Speaker for Leaders that want to tackle Uncertainty, Bias & Hidden Potential | Founder of the Consciousness Academy
4 年I agree with all of these and I would like to add.,,, for 1:1 calls use the phone whilst walking, I’m that more and more and my clients are joining me the other end
Recruitment Performance Coach @ TrainRec | Head of Training @ I-intro: THE Retained Recruitment Experts | Founder of Award Winning 'Freetail' Clothing banks @ The Hummingbird Project ??
4 年I suffer from this alot and have found that turning the camera off for some of my calls and webinars really helps to break from the Zoom norm.