588 Glenhuntly Rd, Elsternwick 3185

TELEHEALTH AND TELEPHONE SESSIONS AVAILABLE

Blog Layout

Why Are We All Experiencing Video Call Fatigue?

Franco Greco • Apr 08, 2020

It may have to do with 'cognitive dissonance' and the cognitive effort required to manage physical absences. 

We have all - at least those of us that don’t have front line jobs - been required to work from home during this phase of COVID-19 lockdown.

The laptop, the notebook, and phone screens are the only thing keeping us connected to our social support networks and keeping us engaged in our professional world and workplaces. 

But when you’re been on your umpteen Zoom or Teams or Skype meeting of the day, you are likely to feel a significant level of exhaustion. 

Why are we Experiencing this Exhaustion?

Linda Kaye, a cyberpsychology researcher, suggests. “video calls are about as similar to face-to-face interactions as we have available, so in many ways you would kind of expect that the demands on us would be equivalent. But it is interesting because anecdotally a number of people have said this, and I’ve experienced this myself – that it does feel exhausting.”

“One thing that does occur to me that might explain those feelings of exhaustion is that often you can see yourself during video calls. 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. With face-to-face conversations you never really have that.”

Professor Gianpiero Petriglieri, (Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour at INSEAD), twitted recently that:

“I spoke to an old therapist friend … and finally understood why everyone’s so exhausted after the video calls.

It’s the plausible deniability of each other’s absence. 

Our minds tricked into the idea of being together when our bodies feel we’re not.”

It’s the old cognitive dissonance - when a person holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values, or participates in an action that goes against one of these three, and experiences psychological stress because of that.

Professor Petriglieri’s therapist friend goes on to say (as reported):

“It’s easier being in each other’s presence, or in each other’s absences, than in the constant presence of each other’s absence.

Our bodies process so much context, so much information in encounters that meeting on video is being a weird kind of blindfold. We sense little and can’t imagine enough. That single deprivation requires a lot of conscious effort.

Helpful Ways to Deal with the Fatigue

Professor Petriglieri makes an observation that:

“I am finding Zoom easier if I don’t mane eye contact. Then I can mimic a distant presence, which feels more real. If I want intimacy, and we are apart, I’ll phone. And if I want to say I am thinking of you, I’ll write.”

Dr Suzanne Degges-White (refer to link below) provides some tips to manage video link interactions fatigue:

  1. Use your phone, not your computer, to call into some of your meetings. It can be less stressful when you “show up” in voice only. When we’re not chained into posing as a “living headshot,” we can move around and step onto our porch or sit outside in the sunshine. How many of us tend to doodle at meetings? Stare out the window? Make mental to-do lists or grocery lists? When we’re a face on a screen, it’s hard to get away with a little inattention. Cut yourself some slack and “phone it in” next time. Your overstrained eyes and the muscles you use for that “attentive meeting participant face” will thank you.
  2. Don’t schedule back-to-back meetings. Give your brain a chance to switch gears between meetings.
  3. Take a break away from the screen between meetings and get fresh air, a glass of water, or do some jumping jacks or a quick 10-minute brisk walk—inside or marching in place.
  4. When you’re tuning in to a business meeting, use your phone and focus on listening and taking paper-and-pen notes rather than doing “double screen duty,” when you can. Taking notes by hand has been shown to increase retention in the classroom, so take a lesson from this and focus on what is being said. Multiple video conferences in one day tend to blur into one another, just as the days do. By focusing on what is happening and writing legible notes as you go, you’ll be able to stay focused and retain what is being shared.
  5.  Make sure that your “home office” feels different from your “living area,” even if it’s the same space. Change the lighting when you go “off-the-clock” and change the playlist and ditch the coffee mug from your desk. When you feel you’re working 24/7 and are unable to leave the office to see friends, having tricks to help you feel that there’s a boundary between work and play can be important.

References

This article has used material printed on from the following sources:

Have you got Zoom fatigue? Why you’re finding video calls so exhausting posted by Lauren Geall 


Zoom Fatigue: Don't Let Video Meetings Zap Your Energy written by Dr Suzanne Degges-White

https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/lifetime-connections/202004/zoom-fatigue-dont-let-video-meetings-zap-your-energy

Office Hours
Wednesday: 9am - 9pm
Thursday: 8am - 6pm
Friday: 8am - 6pm

CONTACT ME TODAY
or
SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT
Share by: