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In the era of social distancing, it’s more important than ever that we stay connected, which is why Zoom has been a godsent. Now that working from home is the new normal for people around the world, Zoom meetings have become a part of everyday life. However, after the initial excitement of Zoom, finding motivation to communicate via the platform is starting to dwindle.
Although video calls are the closest thing we have to a face-to-face meeting at the moment, you would expect the demands on us would be equivalent, so why are we feeling more tired during a zoom meeting?
Here we list the reasons why your energy may be more zapped and how you can overcome that feeling.
We are busier than ever!
People are busier than ever, despite going nowhere. Chatting on video calls all day is exhausting, on top of the other lockdown activities. From baking banana bread, to endless work out videos, to going on virtual tours of museums around the world, no wonder you are feeling knackered.
You don’t have to be over-productive all the time during lockdown. Put down the baking tray, step away from the treadmill and leave the Tik Tok dance routine for another day and chill.
The new stressors of daily life
The additional processing that our brains are required to do to adjust to the different way of living, with the new thought patterns and unstable emotions that we encounter daily is incredibly tiring. Add the daily news into the equation and our brains are completely zapped.
The daily news can be draining and make you feel helpless. Not all news is sad however, you can visit sites such as positive.news and covidgoodnews.com to keep you informed.
Increasing Anxiety
The nature of the current situation may have created an emotional uncertainty in you, with the instability causing a new level of anxiety which can make you feel uneasy in many ways, one symptom is feeling tired and emotionally drained. This can make having a video call the last thing you want to do.
Limit your screen time during the day by doing some activities that requires no technology. You can find some ideas of the activities to do away from the screen here.
You can see yourself!
Unless there is bizarrely a mirror in your meeting room that you usually sit opposite, you probably do not sit staring at yourself for the whole duration, which does occur via a video call. That may put an additional level of demand on you and make you more self-conscious or aware of how you’re looking and how you’re presenting yourself during a meeting. When your behavior is mirrored by seeing yourself online, it draws your attention to certain mannerisms that you might not have been previously aware of making you distracted.
You can actually hide your video by right-clicking on your video to display the menu, then choose hide myself. That way you will no longer see the video of yourself, even though others in the meeting can see the video of you.
You have a shorter attention span
Attention spans can be reduced when you use technology compared to meeting people in the real world. This means it can feel particularly tiring to stay attentive for the duration of a video meeting.
Keep a list of points you would like to chat about in case you forget and write notes throughout your meetings to keep your brain engaged. This way your mind will find it harder to wander.
The sheer volume!
The sheer volume of online calls you are having to partake in at the moment can make them feel exhausting especially when you struggle to find an excuse to get out of those calls, you would rather not take.
It is ok to say no sometimes if they get too much. Getting out of these situations is tricky. I mean, it’s not like you’re going anywhere, right? So, what do you do? Find out ways to ‘Irish Goodbye’ yourself out of virtual meet ups here.
