At the beginning of the pandemic I wrote an article about leading virtually. 

There are lots of tips about setting up your home office, finding a suitable backdrop and keeping a routine. What I did not address is video conferencing fatigue. Few of us imagined in March of 2020 the degree to which the workplace would come to rely on virtual meetings and programming. The fatigue is real! With May being mental health month, I have included some articles for you about your brain and Zoom fatigue, as well as ways to lessen the exhaustion.  

Some of my key takeaways from these articles include:

• If the meeting can be conducted by phone, go for it. Use the time on the phone to walk around, stretch, and when possible, go outside.

• Use a standing desk. Alternate between sitting and standing or just stand.

• When you are the meeting scheduler, make your meetings 45 or 50 minutes long. This allows a chance for a bio break as well as time for a quick scan of emails.

• Use the settings where you can see others on the screen, but not yourself. Our brains were not wired to have a mirror image of ourselves so many hours a day.

• Last but not least, if your company has re-opened its offices, go in, and if you can’t go in all the time, go in sometimes. Seeing colleagues in person will do you and the workplace a world of good.

Below are some articles for further reading.

Research Proves Your Brain Needs a Break
Stanford Researchers Identify Four Causes for ‘Zoom Fatigue’ and Their Simple Fixes
Is There an Antidote to ‘Digital Intensity’?

I found the brain-research particularly interesting.

How do you combat Zoom fatigue?