Many of us have been working remotely for years, but, now the whole world has gone online. Working remotely has challenges, video meetings are now the norm. That has produced an unexpected side-effect that many are calling “Zoom fatigue.”
A number of reasons exist for this: video conferencing requires an intense focus reading interpersonal signals. Much more than what it takes in an in-person meeting. Secondly, it’s fun to see everyone’s face simultaneously, but that wears off fast because it creates lots of visual distraction. Thirdly, sometimes the call quality drops and it becomes harder to hear and understand what’s being said because of the poor connection or over-talking by other participants.
Here’s two things you can do to reduce the fatigue:
Simplify the visual presentation and use Zoom’s Speaker View, this displays a larger picture of the person who is currently speaking. And most importantly, g=forget about your own face—looking at your own face is likely your biggest distraction, hide your image so it will appear to others but not to you.
P.S. We have a free resource for business owners and leaders called, Tools for Working & Managing Remotely. You can get these 3 free resources here if you’re interested.