Zoom Fatigue: Why Is Video Calling Is That Exhausting Right Now???

Zoom Fatigue: Rolling to 2-3 months back, what was the situation??? It was all normal!!! But after Covid-19 entered the nations, all the Governments have opted to go with a lockdown!!! This made lives get restricted to homes. From buses to aeroplanes, hotels to malls and schools to competitive exams, everything except the grocery stores were shut down.

This made people to opt online to stay near to their dear ones and also go with e-learning platforms too. Starting one month it was fine… As we couldn't see one other's faces in real life, the rectangle laptop screen, making it possible for us. From celebs to normal people, we exchanged our COVID-19 stress, shared our grief and also played online games to get free of boredom all through the laptops and mobiles itself.

But now, it's all exhausting!!! No way we take a zoom call for a long time or chat for hours together!!! According to CNBC, "The video conferencing service said daily users spiked to 200 million in March, up from 10 million in December. While Zoom and similar apps can help keep us feeling like we have a social life, these platforms have downsides, too, one of which is 'Zoom fatigue'."

What Is Zoom Fatigue And Why We Are Getting Exhausted???

According to Health.com, video calling is more tiring as verbal communication needs more energy to communicate. "When we interact with people face to face, we're not only listening to their voices and looking at their faces we're picking up on social cues, like hand movements, body movements, and even a person's energy," says Brian Wind, PhD, co-chair of the American Psychological Association and adjunct professor in Vanderbilt University's psychology department.

As we are used to speaking face to face, we don't even realize all of the efforts the brain puts while we do conversations. But when we opt for Zoom or another type of video chat, the brain works harder to process the information. "It isn't picking up the social cues it's used to identifying," explains Wind. "This places stress on the mind and uses up a lot of energy, which is why you might feel exhausted or stressed after a long Zoom call."

Generally, we mostly don't see the face of other persons when we speak, but in video calls, we need to be particular and witness the expressions of the people continuously. "This creates a feeling of being on stage and is often accompanied by a compulsion to perform, which also requires more energy than a simple interaction," Diana Concannon, PsyD, psychologist and dean of the California School of Forensic Studies at Alliant International University, tells Health.

"Video calls demand our full attention," says therapist Grace Dowd. "When we're face-to-face or on the phone with loved ones, we can engage our brain in other activities, like folding laundry, going for a walk, or cooking dinner. We can break eye contact with the person while still using other non-verbal's to communicate that we're listening. But when we're on a video call, there's an unspoken expectation that we give our full attention."

Grace Dowd also doles out that, this deprives us of the benefits of just being with another person. For an instance, when you go on a walk with a best friend maintaining six-feet distance is just not possible… This way you can't lighter your heart sharing your personals with your buddy.

As brains become highly associative in video calls, we may not feel that comfortable in sharing the personals. "This is why, for example, therapists and doctors recommend that you do not work in your bedroom it may become hard to rest in a space that has become associated with work," she says. "When it comes to Zoom calls, aside from the participants and purpose of the conversation, the ritual is the same we set a meeting to send an invite and jump into the call."

Speaking about a Zoom call, ending with family or friends, ending a one can feel out tapped unless you are completely honest and say, "I need to take some time for myself." And this kind of honesty "can be really hard to communicate, because it means we have to acknowledge our own personal boundaries and limits," says Dowd. "We have to be vulnerable with the people around us and trust that they will honour these limits and not make us feel guilty for saying "I wish I could, but I am taking some time away from screens today."

Wind also mentions there are various other factors for describing an overall sense of Zoom fatigue. "People are worried about presenting themselves well, making sure their internet is working up to speed, and keeping kids quiet in the background," says Wind. Even technical issues like sound delays and network problems become more stressful.

How To Come Out From This Zoom Fatigue???

Dowd suggests looking at how you're spending your time outside of these calls. "Set up a time during the day for a digital detox where you put away phones, computers, and tablets and focus on something else," she says. "Trade your e-reader for a paper book or turn your phone on airplane mode for an hour or two. Take some time to be in nature on the weekends. Giving our brains time to reset and focus on non-digital stimulation can help us recharge and feel more mentally prepared to go into our Zoom calls."

She also suggests that, "This will stop you from scrambling to look for which person is talking and watching them talk while your brain subconsciously searches for social cues," says Wind. "When you're only listening to voices, it becomes more like a podcast, and your brain doesn't have to work quite as hard."

One can also go with video chatting and text messaging to get free from the zoom fatigue. It will be an effective way to stay connected and ensure the communication is done through pictures and videos.

She also recommends replacing some video socializing with old-fashioned phone calls: "It's surprising how intimate a voice-only connection can feel after hours of being boxed in with scores of video others." "As for me, I still have weekly video chats with my family, but we've turned them into quizzes and it's made the experience more enjoyable and less tiring. We take turns to talk, there are no awkward silences, and when the quiz is over, we say our goodbyes. The rest of the week, we keep in touch with voice calls and group texts, discussing everything from what we're watching on Netflix to global politics. It turns out, as I'm realizing, you don't have to see someone's pixelated face to feel connected to them."