6 Tips To Combat Zoom Fatigue

Video calling is here to stay, but we need to mindful of our own wellbeing

I hate Zoom. Clients I’ve had video consults with almost all heard me say that as soon as I manage to get the blasted technology working. Having thought I set everything up just right and ready for a call, as soon as it connects everything seems to want to go off and do its own thing.

But although we are slowly starting to get back to in-person meetings, video calling is here to stay. Sure the balance might shift but we’ll definitely doing more of it in the post-pandemic future than we did before all this started.

I don’t understand why so many of our customers have their video calls scheduled back to back with little to no breaks from dawn to dusk. Its insanity and smacks of a lack of awareness when it comes to self care. It also hurts me to see people I care about look absolutely exhausted and world-weary when I see them these days, so here are 6 top tips to avoid dreaded Zoom Fatigue.

1. Does It Need To Be a Video Call?

Every single interaction needed these days seems to generate the need to “set up a video call”. Think about whether it’s really necessary. OK you might not be in the office, but if you were, many of your “meetings” were micro-interactions during the day where you’d stop by at someone’s desk to ask a question, call someone over, or… and this will blow your mind… you’d PICK UP THE PHONE. So stop and think about whether a video call is really necessary, or is it something than be dealt with another way. Also picking up the phone is far less stressful than going through the hassle of setting up a video call and (can’t believe I’m telling you this) you don’t even need to dress up for a phone call!

2. Schedule Breaks

If you control your own schedule, put a break in between each call. You need to to decompress after each video call. Don’t take them on back to back. Protect your time and your own well-being. It also gives you the chance to wrap up and reflect on a meeting before you start the next one, rather than just bombing your way through the day non-stop and exhausting yourself.

3. Plan, Set and Follow an Agenda

Video calls often go on longer than necessary. I often speak to clients who tell me they are “on a conference call but it’s ok because it’s dragging on and I’m bored so you and I can speak now”. This shouldn't happen in the first place with proper planning. Share an agenda or outline with everyone before the call, so everyone knows what to expect, what they need to prep for and how long it will be. Stick to the framework firmly, politely get anyone who goes off topic back into line and aim to finish promptly.

4. Make Use of the Screen View Features

It’s not natural to look at a screenful of faces. Sure it’s fun during the Muppet Show intro but not on Zoom Calls. Think about a real life meeting. You are never sat there staring at everyone are you? What’s unnatural becomes exhausting, so switch up the screen view. I like to use the Speaker View only option and hide all other participants. It’s far less distracting and means I can focus properly on what the person speaking is saying, rather than looking at what everyone else on the call is up to and missing important information.

5. Hide Your Own Video

In real life, when you’re speaking to someone you can only see them, not yourself! So why do you look at yourself on a video call?! It’s another layer of distraction as you consciously or subconsciously keep checking your appearance, your facial expressions, what you’re wearing… rather than focusing on the actual conversation itself. This adds to fatigue and mental exhaustion as it can make you feel very self-conscious. Use the Hide Myself feature to hide your video from yourself, but still allow others to see you.

6. Don’t Make Meeting Video Compulsory

It is absolutely not necessary for everyone in a group meeting to have their videos on all the time. Or at all. Certainly videos need to be on when participation is involved, but any video call where the audience is largely passive they should have the option of being able to turn their videos off if they want to. Video DOES NOT equal improved engagement. I’ve heard some people say, “but if their videos are off I can’t see them paying attention, they could be checking their phones or be wasting time on social media.” Guess what, genius, even with video on they can have multiple windows open on their desktop and be doing exactly that. If people want to do something else, they’ll find a way to do, so better to concentrate on the quality of your content and delivery than constantly worrying about what other people are or aren’t doing!

Do you any of your own tips that I’ve not mentioned above? Please get involved by commenting and sharing your own experiences below!