ZOOM FATIGUE, WHY ARE WE ALL SO EXHAUSTED?

IAPCO Member: OIC Group, Italy

Who would have ever thought that we would need to come up with the concept of Screen Fatigue, or more precisely Zoom-Fatigue?

We have all felt it at some time or other over these past few months. We cannot really explain it rationally as we have been at home, in our comfortable baggy-home clothes, but we are exhausted; why is this happening? Should the online meetings not feel like less of an effort than in-person meetings?

We have tight schedules of one video call after the other and we are sitting in the same spaces, doing the same things day after day.

Various studies are highlighting how there is a “cognitive overload” as we try to decipher and understand what is going on via the screen, connecting to our colleagues and our various work scenarios. The cognitive overload that we are experiencing comes from our brain needing to work more to read the other signals that are usually readily available in a face-to-face meeting. Our brain is trying to compensate for aspects of communication that are lacking through the two-dimensional world to which we are all connected.

Video calls require more focus than a face-to-face chat. “Video chats mean we need to work harder to process non-verbal cues such as facial expressions, the tone and pitch of the voice, and body language; paying attention to these consumes energy. Our minds are together when our bodies feel we are not. The dissonance, which causes people to have conflicting feelings, is exhausting” - Gianluca Petriglieri MD, and Associate Professor of Organizational Behaviour at INSEAD. In addition having our own face and image magnified on the screen during calls, in which we observe ourselves and how we move and interact, is in itself quite bizarre. Marissa Schuffler, workplace and wellbeing expert adds: “When you’re on a video conference you know everybody’s looking at you; you are on stage, hence the social pressure and feeling that you need to perform. Being performative is nerve-wracking and more stressful.”

Gianluca Petriglieri recommends careful consideration regarding the following:

Could the video-call meeting have been an email?

Do you really need 20 people on the call?

Why are we meeting? How long are we meeting for? What is the task?

Don’t schedule yourself back-to-back, move around, exercise, and make sure you’re drinking enough water.