There is a pandemic, and we are all in lockdown. However, work must go on. Thinking about work, carrying out your usual tasks, and continuing with your routine is also beneficial for your mental health. It maintains a sense of purpose, intention, and productivity. It also keeps you connected to your co-workers and gives a sense of a shared goal, as opposed to feeling isolated. However, the need of the hour is social distancing, which calls for virtual meetings. We are all connecting with each other for work, or for leisure via video calls, or phone calls which causes immense fatigue in us. Here are 7 tips to help you deal with the virtual meeting fatigue
Why Do Virtual Meetings Fatigue Us?
Immobility and No Change of Scene
Too many Zoom meetings in a day can cause more fatigue than in-person meetings. This is because we sit in one place and our surroundings don’t change. Our senses don’t receive much difference. Perhaps only a different headshot. You don’t get to walk into a different room, physically greet a different person, smell a different air. At the end of the day, your zoom meetings can feel like a blur and be dizzying.
Sitting Still to Fit the Screen
Virtual meetings mean having your desk or workplace ready and making sure you don’t move much. After all, you have to fit in the tiny headshot. This can cause fatigue.
Spilling Over
Since there is work from the home mandate, there is a chance that virtual meetings spill into what would have earlier been your traveling hour, or your leisure hour.
After Work Virtual Meetings
Virtual meetings don’t end here. If after the workday, you wish to connect with friends and family, you would have to only connect with them via online video calls. Be it a dance lesson, a dance party, cocktails on Friday night, or just catching up. Everything seems to have shifted to video calls.
Tips on Dealing With Virtual Meeting Fatigue
Space it Out
Don’t schedule back-back meetings, if you can help it. Try to get some shut-eye in between meetings, because you might have eye strain after long hours of looking at the screen, while you connect with others. You can also use Wysa to organize your tasks if you are feeling too overwhelmed.
20-20 Rule
To reduce eye strain, you can follow the rule of 20-20. That is after every 20 minutes, look into a distance for 20 seconds. You can also try some eye exercises, like looking side to side, without moving your head. Reducing screen while you have to work from home will be helpful for reducing eye strain, as well as improving sleep. If you have trouble sleeping, try our library of sleep stories.
Use your Breaks for Moving
In between meetings, do some stretches, jumping jacks, or just move to your favorite songs. If tea and coffee get you going, fix yourself some! This will get your body to do some movement after long periods of sitting in one place. If you are having a difficult time being productive, try out Wysa’s productivity tool pack!
Try to Take Handwritten Notes
For some of us, writing helps in listening better, especially when you’re at home, and not in your workplace. Home environments offer many distractions, thereby increasing the effort needed to concentrate. So if you taking notes during your meetings, try to grab a paper and pen for this, rather than shuffling between tabs, or two screens. This will help you stay connected with your body as well as concentrate on what is being discussed in the meeting.
Have A Work Hour End Time
Try to maintain your daily routine, where you begin and leave work at a stipulated time. Having a sense of what your boundaries are is important for mental wellbeing in the long run. This includes time management as well. Taking care of procrastination temptations and not spilling over in your leisure hour, would help you deal with the Work From Home needs and pressures. You will be able to maintain your efficacy for a longer period and keep your stress in control when it arises.
The Good Old Phone Call
Zoning into your own voice and the other person’s voice will reduce the sensory overload that Zoom offers with headshots all one screen. You’re not just looking at others, but also looking at yourself, and checking how you look! Going back to the simple audio call that is easier on our senses, and that we are all used to, will help in reducing your fatigue.
Stay Hydrated
When you finish a meeting, you might be tempted to scroll on your phone or switch to another tab, to quickly get some work done. When we don’t have to commute anywhere, we might not feel the thirst in our throats. But you may feel fatigued. Therefore, it is important to stay hydrated, as you go from meeting to meeting in your work from the home regime of the day!