Have you ever logged out of your last videoconference meeting for the day and found yourself completely drained?
If so, you’re not alone. A lot of people are dealing with “virtual-fatigue,” commonly known as “Zoom-fatigue.” It refers to the exhaustion you feel after any kind of video call or conference.
While it hasn’t exactly made it to official diagnosis status, many psychologists say the condition is becoming increasingly prevalent in the era of remote work. Basically, yes: Zoom fatigue is real.
Though it’s known as “Zoom fatigue,” it can just as occur on any video conferencing platform. Those include Google Hangouts and Meet, Skype, Microsoft Teams, GoToMeeting, FaceTime, BlueJeans, Slack, Houseparty, and so on.
What is the psychological explanation for Zoom fatigue?
Humans communicate even when they’re quiet. During an in-person conversation, the brain focuses partly on the words being spoken. Still, it also derives additional meaning from dozens of non-verbal cues, such as whether someone is facing you or slightly turned away if they’re fidgeting. At the same time, you talk, or if they inhale quickly in preparation to interrupt.
These nonverbal cues are not only used to acquire information about others. Still, they are also directly used to prepare an adaptive response and engage in reciprocal communication, all in a matter of milliseconds. However, most of these cues are difficult to visualize on video since the same environment is not shared (limiting joint attention). Both subtle facial expressions and full bodily gestures may not be captured.
Without these unconscious cues to assess each other and bond, compensatory cognitive and emotional effort is required. This increased cost competes for people’s attention with acutely elevated distractions such as multitasking, the home environment (e.g., family, lack of privacy), and their mirror image on the screen.
On a video call, because we are all sitting in different homes, we worry it might seem like we’re not paying attention if we turn to look out the window. Most of us are also staring at a small window of ourselves, making us hyper-aware of every wrinkle, expression, and how it might be interpreted. Without the visual breaks, we need to refocus; our brains grow fatigued.
Stanford researchers identify four causes for ‘Zoom fatigue’ and their simple fixes.
Professor Jeremy Bailenson is the founding director of the Stanford Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL). He examined the psychological consequences of spending hours per day on these platforms.
The journal Technology, Mind, and Behavior, published on Feb. 23, the first peer-reviewed article, systematically deconstructs Zoom fatigue from a psychological perspective. Bailenson has taken the medium apart and assessed Zoom its individual technical aspects. He has identified four consequences of long video chats that he says contribute to the feeling commonly known as “Zoom fatigue.”:
1) Excessive amounts of close-up eye contact are highly intense.
The amount of eye contact we engage in on video chats and the size of faces on screens is unnatural.
Solution: taking Zoom out of the full-screen option and reducing the Zoom window size relative to the monitor to minimize face size and use an external keyboard to increase the personal space bubble between oneself and the grid.
2) Seeing yourself during video chats constantly in real-time is fatiguing.
Most video platforms show a square of what you look like on camera during a chat. But that’s unnatural, Bailenson said. “In the real world, if somebody was following you around with a mirror constantly – so that while you were talking to people, making decisions, giving feedback, getting feedback – you saw yourself in a mirror, that would just be crazy. No one would ever consider that,” he added.
Solution: in Zoom, users should use the “hide self-view” button or stop sharing their video unless they are talking or presenting.
3) Video chats dramatically reduce our normal mobility.
In-person and audio phone conversations allow humans to walk around and move. But with videoconferencing, most cameras have a set field of view, meaning a person has to generally stay in the same spot. Movement is limited in ways that are not natural. “There’s a growing research now that says when people are moving, they’re performing better cognitively,” Bailenson said.
Solution: an external keyboard can help create distance or flexibility. An external camera farther away from the screen will allow you to pace and doodle in virtual meetings, just like we do in real ones. And of course, turning one’s video off periodically during sessions is a good ground rule to set for groups, just to give oneself a brief nonverbal rest.
4) The cognitive load is much higher in video chats.
In regular face-to-face interaction, nonverbal communication is natural. Each of us naturally makes and interprets gestures and nonverbal cues subconsciously. But in video chats, we have to work harder to send and receive signals.
Solution: During long stretches of meetings, give yourself an “audio-only” break. “turning your body away from the screen,” Bailenson said.
Additionally to this paper, I found other research-based tips that can help make video calls less exhausting:
Avoid multitasking
Research shows that trying to do multiple things at once cuts into performance. Because you have to turn certain parts of your brain off and on for different work types, switching between tasks can cost you as much as 40% of your productive time. Researchers at Stanford found that people who multitask can’t remember things as well as their more singularly focused peers.
Schedule Breaks
Part of the trouble with back-to-back video calls is that it doesn’t give you a mental, visual, or physical break. Think about in-person meetings. Even when they’re back-to-back, you usually have to get up to switch meeting rooms or grab a coffee.
Recognize that you need those same breaks when working remotely.
Whenever possible, try to schedule some breaks in a video call-filled day. Last week I accepted Cortana’s recommendation to schedule 15 breaks in my next wee’ agenda.
Make Meetings Shorter
Even if those breaks aren’t feasible, consider trying “speedy meetings”: 50 minutes instead of an hour, 25 minutes instead of 30. This is now an option in the new Microsoft 365 Outlook version, working initially on the laptop; I’ll also expect it to be available on mobile devices soon.
Taking these steps can help you prevent feeling so exhausted at the thought of another video chat. It’s tiring enough trying to adapt to this new normal. Make video calls a little easier for yourself.
Curious to know more?
- Nonverbal Overload: A Theoretical Argument for the Causes of Zoom Fatigue · Technology, Mind and Behavior Volume 2, Issue 1
- ‘Zoom fatigue’ is taxing the brain. Here’s why that happens., National Geographic
- A Neuropsychological Exploration of Zoom Fatigue, Psychiatric Times
- How to Combat Zoom Fatigue, Harvard Business Review
