Top 3 strategies to Cope with Zoom/Work From Home (WFH) Fatigue

I know. You don't have to say it. I understand.

In the past one year, you and I have experienced the same.

Be it if you are a single working professional today staying with your family members in a place which used to be "Home Sweet Home" and now fighting for a quiet spot to work.

Or you are like me, a busy working parent who has screaming school-going children and trying to figure out - Work First or Home-Based Learning First.

It's a struggle especially when there are so many parameters which are beyond our control. The closures of the schools, daycare centres and the escalating tension accumulating within us due to the work stress and even the distribution of household chores.

Exactly one year ago, most of us were thrown into deep waters, having to adapt with with agility to be working from home, relying on Zoom or Microsoft Teams to conduct meetings and conference calls.

Nonetheless, human beings are evolutionary creatures. When a challenge rises, we also rise up to the challenges of learning something new all over again. Within weeks, we were suddenly adept at the "new normal" way of working.

However fast forward one year later. Nowadays the most common sentiment or statement I would hear from my customers (usually salaried-employees) would be

"Jas, I'm having Zoom or WFH fatigue."

Some of them really crave having a proper get-together meal with both their Team A and Team B colleagues.

Some really want to resume the corridor talks and pantry chats to have real face to face conversations.

Some just want to go back to the office and be confined to their own working space without any intrusion of their young kids during their meetings.

As I have gone through the same as everybody else, including you who is reading this article, I would just like to share my Top 3 Strategies on how I managed to survive my WFH/Zoom Days for the past one year:

1. Set up a Routine Schedule for Yourself/Kids

During the initial days of WFH, I did not have a schedule. That's why my day would go frantically erratic. My meal times and rest breaks would be blurred, causing me to lose control of the day.

As a Parent, once we lose control of the day and our schedule of timed activities, that's when the kids would sometimes suffer with us having delayed meals and worse, prolonged iPad time.

Either you run the day or your day will run you. ~ Jim Rohn

Ever since I have adopted of planning out a schedule, this also sets up my daily routine which includes proper meal times and rest breaks.

Most importantly, having a schedule also enables me to incorporate quality time with the kids by setting aside non-negotiable time blocks to revise their homework with them, doing DIY projects like baking, cooking and forming lego architectures and lastly 30-40 minutes daily exercise workouts with them.

2. Re-Align Expectations

In the past during the pre-COVID days, I had regular workday schedule such as reaching the office at 9am and ending the day in the late evening.

All my meetings would be scheduled back to back with little adjustments or 'surprises'. Everything was "IN CONTROL".

However I soon realised that my frustration towards myself and kids was escalating rapidly last year when we were all forced to stay under one roof. This kind of control which I used to wield over my schedule was completely thrown out of the window.

Being a Leader, I often have to host meetings and being a Financial Consultant, I would need to explain concepts to my customers. On many occasions, my kids would take turns to pop into my Zoom window and want to gain some attention from me.

Frankly, I was rather distressed by such occasional spanners thrown by them. Later on I grew to realise that what was causing the emotional distress was actually my own expectations.

Though the situation such as the working environment and many variables have changed, what did not change was my own expectations. I expected things to still continue to run the same way as it was pre-COVID days!

When I realised this, it was a true-blue epiphany. It became a complete paradigm shift for me. Instead of feeling embarrassed at times about the abrupt appearances of my kids (sometimes sitting on my lap) whilst I was conducting meeting, I learnt to embrace this as being part of the fun quality times with my loved ones.

As a result, I became happier and in fact I would proudly introduce my kids and let the other party/parties understand this is itself is the real big part and parcel of Working From Home. The surprising thing was, all my kids are well-loved by my customers!

3. Adopt Flexibility & Allow Spontaneity

With the new WFH structure, it made me treasure the in-between pockets of times whenever I do not have any meetings.

I learnt to be more flexible and allow spontaneity to lead me to different parts of Singapore. In the past, taking a walk in the nature parks would probably be the last thing on my mind.

Nowadays on the days that I do not have packed morning meetings, I could just put on a hiking gear and scoot to explore the different nature parks of Singapore.

I've since not only re-explored myself but also slowed down to truly appreciate the well-preserved wild life of Singapore.

Sharing a photo of this family of wild boars which I managed to catch up close glimpse in one of the most secluded nature parks of Singapore.

In conclusion, life is always full of changes and this is what makes life fun and fulfilling isn't it?

It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.

~ Charles Darwin

I hope that the above 3 strategies can help you cope with the Zoom and WFH fatigue. Stay positive and looking forward to travels and going out without masks again!

The author Jaslyn Ng is a working mother to two children aged 7 and nine.

Jaslyn currently is the trusted Financial Consultant to more than 100 Senior Corporate Leaders. In addition, Jaslyn is also one of the Top Agency Leaders grooming an elite team of 13 Financial Consultants.

In her free time, she is probably watching Netflix with her children, reading or practising her Muay Thai. She just likes to keep herself busy and productive.