Do you ever feel exhausted after a zoom meeting? Zoom fatigue is real! It impacts your body and your emotional health! This week, Anastasia will share how Zoom fatigue impacts your body, why it depletes you emotionally, and give you 6 tips to overcome it! In March 2020, there were over 200 million Zoom meetings! How many of you have felt drained after one Zoom meeting or in a mind fog during one? Zoom fatigue happens when your body is stagnant! Think of in-person meetings and how you move your body, whether it is looking at other people, tilting your chair back, swiveling in your chair, etc. The truth is that video conferences demand more focus! We have to work harder to process non-verbal cues, like facial expressions or body language. It can be emotionally exhausting because you may feel like you have to be "on" or bring MORE energy during each meeting. Silence makes people anxious about whether the technology is working. Silence makes people uncomfortable when on video conferences. A 2014 study by German academics showed that delays on phone or conferencing systems shared our views of people negatively: even delays of 1.2 seconds made people perceive the responder as less friendly or focused. Finally, we are uncomfortable without eye contact. Learn to look at the camera instead of yourself within the screen on your laptop, iPad, iPhone.
6 Tips To Overcome Zoom Fatigue
1. Give yourself buffer time in-between each Zoom meeting. Get 16 oz. water to place beside you and refresh it after each meeting. Hydration is something many of us forget & yet it's so important! Stretch. Close your eyes & breathe.
2. Determine which Zoom meetings can be called in verse a video conference.
3. Ask whether the camera may be turned off during the meeting so you may stand up, or stretch without disrupting the meeting. Alternate your Zoom meetings by standing and sitting. 4. Be mindful of ergonomics. How long are you sitting? What is your posture like? Do you have a supportive chair for your lower back?
5. Get outside for at least 1 hour a day. Fresh air and zero screen time are recharging time for you.
6. Avoid multitasking with emails, social media, etc. Be old school. Get a notebook and take notes to help you retain what was mentioned during that meeting and how you can help.