Who hasn’t enjoyed a giggle over a Zoom mishap? Mrs. Potatohead and the recent Texas lawyer confirming “I’m not a cat” are just a few of the laughs our new online world of work has provided.
However, for all of us Zoom (and other online meeting platforms) come with a side that’s not so funny.
A year into remote working, many people are reporting a feeling that can only be described as Zoom burnout.
Understand why video calls are tiring
Although video conferencing has been available for years, it wasn’t adopted en masse until the pandemic swept across the world.
No matter how switched on and plugged in any of us were to digital solutions and screens before, it’s a fair bet that we all had a good dose of in-person exchanges too on a daily basis.
One of the many effects of lockdown(s) has been to derail this balance. Fatigue has been one of the consequences around this derailment.
Firstly, a video call takes more of our energy to focus than a face-to-face chat. We have to pay more attention to pick up and decode non-verbal clues. We know that elements such as facial expressions, tone of voice, pitch of voice and body language contribute to how we receive and interpret communication.
Meeting virtually makes this possible, but more intensive to do.
Then, there is the performative aspect of a Zoom call. Being on camera means knowing you are being watched.
There is a pressure we place on ourselves to hold our face a certain way and to behave a certain way while on camera.
With these factors in mind, how do we create strategies to cope with Zoom burnout?
- Find ways to increase the analogue in your digital life
Lockdown #1 was marked by people baking banana bread and making sourdough. These activities were lightheartedly examined in the media, and many a joke was made about baked goods sponsoring the pandemic.
The latest lockdown we’re in feels very different. It’s gone on much longer than we expected.
Thankfully, there are indications that we are exiting lockdown. Remote working, on the other hand, looks set to be part of our immediate (and maybe longer term) future for a time to come. Hybrid working seems the most sensible approach moving forward, which means some days in an office and some days working from home.
With that in mind, finding ways to step away from a screen that involves different aspects of yourself is regenerative. Suddenly, baking banana bread and making sourdough begins to take on a different resonance.
I have a client in Ireland experiencing her third lockdown. As a digital worker, she’s aware of her good fortune to be able to do her job from behind a screen. There are plenty of people in the entertainment and hospitality industries (and others) who can’t.
However, January 2021 brought with it a wave of fatigue for her and she realised she was overwhelmed with her amount of screen time.
As a way of keeping in touch with loved ones, she’s begun writing letters by hand and mailing them around the world. She describes this as a little ritual she does every Saturday morning and the walk to post the snail mail has been restorative too. Writing by hand has become one of her stability markers to help her navigate through the pandemic.
- Accept that connecting online is different to in-person
I have real compassion for leaders who are responsible for steering teams through this time, alongside doing their own work.
While it’s not difficult to have a meeting online about signing off on a new creative project or to review sales figures, it’s another thing entirely to stay connected.
Many well-intentioned leaders have thought that frequent online check-ins is how to keep teams motivated and feeling a sense of camaraderie.
This has not turned out to be true. And the truth is that there isn’t yet a template for how to do this that we can take and plug into our businesses.
What I suggest is looking at other ways to communicate too.
Email gets a bad rap, but many people find responding to an email right now less taxing than another Zoom call.
The telephone is also an option to consider. The advantage to this way of communicating is that there is no camera.
I’m not suggesting we throw the Zoom baby out with the bathwater. There are many reasons where a Zoom meeting is necessary. Giving people plenty of notice for when they will be required to be on an online call is a good way to manage the fatigue around them.
- Listen to your body
For years, I’ve worked with professionals who have experienced burnout. It’s a serious condition and one I do my best to help people prevent.
The number one way I see people endure incredible harm to themselves is by not listening to what their body is telling them.
Our bodies are the biggest source of information we have.
Balancing work commitments with what we need can take some experimentation and refining.
Our jobs are important. And Zoom is helping us do our jobs.
Can you batch your meetings to a few days a week and keep other days free?
A client of mine chooses to schedule all her Zoom calls either in the morning or the afternoon. That way, she knows she has half a day of calls and half a day of free time to do the work. This works for her.
Another acquaintance of mine is open about her desire to sometimes be off camera. She attends Zoom meetings at times without her video on, and finds this helps her manage tiredness on days when she’s feeling low energy levels.
Another person schedules calls for 30 minutes or 45 minutes. That’s their limit; any call longer than that they find too tiring.
Approach figuring out your Zoom calendar as a work in progress. What works today might not work next week, but you can adapt.
And we need to remember that everyone else is figuring it out too.
Agendas help.
The current moment we find ourselves in has more than a whiff of Groundhog Day about it. Anything we can do to counteract that will be a deposit in our wellbeing bank.
Sharing a quick bullet point list of what the agenda for a meeting is will do a lot to help in this regard.
People will understand the purpose of the meeting better and what needs to be achieved through its duration. An agenda will also contribute to a sense of momentum as the meeting progresses.
- Remember self-care and make yourself comfortable
Self-care is a term that has fully entered our mainstream consciousness.
What self-care is will be different for everyone.
It’s an idea I wholeheartedly endorse to discover what this is for you to make your Zoom calls more pleasant. Feeling more comfortable will reduce some of the fatigue you feel.
Is it a comfy pair of slippers on your feet tucked away under the desk, while from your shoulders up you’re all professional? Could it be a warm cup of tea next to you as you go on your call? Have you created a workspace that’s welcoming and comfortable for yourself?
- Focus on regaining and maintaining balance in your life
One of the ways to support yourself to find equilibrium in your life is through therapy.
Now, I am aware of the irony of speaking about online therapy in a blog about Zoom burnout coping strategies!
However, online therapy has helped me support clients from the UK and as far afield as Brazil, South Africa, Switzerland and Ireland. I’ve worked with international clients both before and during the pandemic.
Having a safe place to exhale and discuss challenges you’re facing is a strong way to avoid burnout.
Please feel free to contact me if you’d like to discuss how online therapy might help you.