Over the past 14 months, millions of people have begun working from home due to COVID-19. The most common complaint I hear — and can relate to — is the difficulty of attending endless hours of online meetings.
In Feb 2021, Stanford Professor Jeremy Bailenson studied the psychological implications of online platforms. He found four specific causes of “Zoom Fatigue.” (This term, by the way, applies to Microsoft Teams and other online, video platforms.)
Below I’ve listed Bailenson’s 4 findings and his proposed solution for each. I’ve also added a few of my own tips.
1) Finding: “Excessive amounts of close-up eye contact is highly intense.” Solution: Don’t use the “full screen” option for Zoom; in other words, make the video windows smaller to reduce the impact of being stared at constantly. Other options: if you use two monitors, drag the Zoom window to a secondary monitor, so that it’s out of your direct line of sight.
2) Finding: “Seeing yourself during video chats constantly in real-time is fatiguing.” Solution: When appropriate, right click your photo and select “hide self-view” button. Other options: set up more phone calls! I’m now much more deliberate about which calls require video and which don’t.
3) Finding: “Video chats dramatically reduce our usual mobility.” Solution: Set up an external camera farther away from the screen so you have more freedom to move. Other options: Use a standing desk. This allows you to have better hand gestures and move to illustrate a point. It’s also far less restricting than sitting (and better for your body!).
4) Finding: “The cognitive load is much higher in video chats.” Solution: Turn off your camera and go into “listen only” mode. Other options: Create group norms around meetings (especially recurring, internal ones) where it’s acceptable to have video off unless you’re directly involved in the conversation.
To learn more about Bailenson’s study of Zoom Fatigue, I encourage you to read this helpful summary of his work. Next time you’re presenting, remember the #1 rule of public speaking: think about your audience and the many video meetings they already waded through that day.
