Host Sheila Boysen-Rotelli is discussing the current reality that we find ourselves in where most of our interactions take place over Zoom. It has been a year now and the Zoom fatigue is definitely real, but there are things you can do to help!
Episode Highlights:
- Zoom fatigue is something that most of us have been living and experiencing for the last year
- Though video conferencing is by no means new technology, its heightened use is new for everyone
- Over the last decade, there have been many innovations in video conferencing technology
- Zoom is the one getting a bad reputation, but this phenomenon is interchangeable across video platforms
- There are four key factors that make Zoom fatigue a unique and exhausting experience
- It's very unusual to have everyone staring at you all the time which brings on a state of stress
- The more people that are staring at you, the worse the anxiety of public speaking, even if you are not speaking
- Depending on your computer setup, the size of the faces on your screen can make it feel like people are in your personal space
- There is a difference in cognitive processing between audio and audio-visual concentration
- Give yourself audio-only breaks whenever possible so that you can decrease the cognitive load
- Human beings aren't meant to be looking at themselves all day which has a strange effect on the human mind
- You can fix the settings on multiple video platforms so that you don't have to see yourself
- When you are video conferencing, you are basically stuck in the same place for long periods of time
- Encourage meetings over the phone so that you are freer to move around
- While there is value to video meetings, there is something freeing about a purely audio connection
- Zoom isn't going anywhere, so reflect on what is in your control to reduce the fatigue
3 Key Points:
- It has been one year since the world shut down and everyone had to make the switch to video meetings.
- Extended periods of close-up eye contact on Zoom have been linked to similar anxiety of public speaking, regardless if you are the one speaking or not.
- Whenever possible, it's important to switch to audio-only, as in turn your camera off and turn around. This helps decrease the cognitive load and increase your ability to focus.
Tweetable Quotes:
- "I think, maybe 2020 is when "zooming" became a new term." - Sheila Boysen-Rotelli
- "It just gives us a chance to pause and think about how we might be able to use it in a different way, in a more mindful way, in a way that's going to cut down on this fatigue." - Sheila Boysen-Rotelli
- "Zoom pretty much turns every single one of us on every call into a constant speaker who is smothered in eye gaze." - Sheila Boysen-Rotelli
Resources Mentioned:
Fast Track Your Job Search: fasttrackyourjobsearch.com
