While many of us still work from home, we're relying on virtual meetings to stay connected. But that's leading to a new problem called 'Zoom fatigue'.
It started as a way to see our co-workers, classmates and even our friends, but after months of it being our main social outlet,it may be wearing on you.
Psychologist Jennifer Katzenstein says there are several reasons for this. She says that we miss that in-person interaction, the small talk.
And if your camera is on, all eyes are on you. all the time, putting one of our senses (vision) on high alert, instead of allowing that total immersion experience of actually being together.
Being on camera all the time, you're seeing all of your face, which is a prime opportunity for all of us to continually criticize what we look like and what we're doing.
And all of that compounds and becomes exhausting, because it's not just about the day-to-day meetings, which sometimes were already exhausting.
With social distancing still a major recommendation, these meetings won't be going away anytime soon.
So how can you deal with them? Dr. Katzenstein says in a few ways:
- Give yourself some breathing room in between meetings if you can.
- Give people permission to turn their camera off if they need to, even for a few minutes.
- Keep added stressors around you to a minimum, if possible. This includes kids, pets and even a messy home behind you, all of which can be huge distractions.
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