Man, you nailed this one. Plus, I have a mild version of a neurological condition that makes it difficult for me to keep my head completely still for long stretches of time. So on top of all the fatiigue you described, I have to spend about 25% of my brainpower concentrating on looking normal. Wears me out big time, especially if it goes on for more than an hour.
I do think that for most people, a lot of the fatigue comes from this weird dynamic of watching both yourself and the other people on your screen, and trying not to look weird. And it sounds like you've got it harder than most! My sympathies, sir.
I favor phone calls over Zoom whenever possible so that I can pace and talk. I find that I think much better and my energy levels improve. Zooms have their place, but shouldn't necessarily be the default.
Yeah I've worn a groove halfway down through the floor to our downstairs neighbors next to my desk. I'm such a pacer. I also love taking walks outside when I know the call is going to be long and I don't need to take notes. So, mostly calls with friends. Work calls rarely afford me that luxury, especially (obviously) when Zoom is so often the default.
Love your phone analogy about taking more energy, but I don’t think I agree with VR yet (we need much more data and experience as it evolves, especially since AR helps for me)
I also don’t know if I agree with energy expenditure of people I know on zoom vs strangers. Admittedly my experience is either full time sales calls, vs business meetings/group work hours, but I 1000% preferred ppl I knew (sales is probably diff though)
Either way, I find having a routine and goals helps immensely. One danger is to roll out of bed 3 min before the first call.
Healthy food, getting sun by quickly walking outside, or honestly walking inside (I have a walking desk which helped immensely) all helped me at least
Contexts are obviously super important for this stuff. My observations are general, rather than specific. And there are so many factors that can improve or degrade any interaction, regardless of the medium (in person or remote). And ultimately, we often have more control over that stuff than we do over whether we get to meet people in person or not.
This is really interesting because I feel much less drained on a video call than I do in a room with people. I had also had it with office work in 2019 and the pandemic has allowed me to work fully remote for a few years now. I don’t like phone calls, even with friends, but video makes me feel like I’m in the room with them so I can pick up on physical cues. I do have a policy of no longer than an hour at a stretch though, if we’re doing a many-hour planning session for instance then we have 5-10 minutes away at the end of each hour. Having said that I try and ensure similar on the rare occasions I’m in a room with colleagues, chance to shut up for a bit and stand up and stretch.
It probably is an introversion thing, but I’m not sure why having a camera trained on me would be less stressful than being in the same room! I mean, it could well just be me being odd.
Totally agree with this. Another interesting exception for me is Zoom calls where half of the participants are in-person -- I tend to treat those more like phone calls because there are 3-4 people in the room with me and 3-4 online. So I'm either watching my colleagues in the room or staring out the window, and only checking the video feed when necessary (back and forth dialogue to determine who's speaking next or if someone sounds like they're gesturing haha).
If I'm in a 1-1 Zoom meeting with someone I'm familiar with I also sometimes have a tendency to stare off into space, which does help with the fatigue. The more I pay attention to the video, the more I pay later in exhaustion.
Great points! It's probably good advice to look for opportunities where you can get away with NOT looking at the screen during a video call. Seems like a great hack.
If I thought I could get the people I can’t meet with in person (pretty much everyone I currently associate with professionally) to talk to me on the phone, I would always opt for that. But I think it carries an unfair stigma. That anyone “calling in” doesn’t have any tech chops and should probably plan on being largely excluded from the discussion because they can’t wave their hand or effectively interrupt another speaker without sounding like background noise.
Middle school nostalgia vibes aside, a phone-only call would remove an ENORMOUS wall of self-consciousness for me that I am always navigating on video calls. There’s a pressure to “look good,” which is in itself exhausting. I guess that pressure exists in real world applications, too, but it’s far easier to “read the room” with regard to the effectiveness of one’s efforts in the presentation department. This would be those missing human qualifiers. Has anyone ever uttered the words, “Great to see you again. You look terrific!” on a video call? No. Probably because try as we might to look terrific on the outside, our energy is all smooshed and grayed out by the limitations of the medium.
There’s also the pressure (or requirement) to “have your camera on” during a meeting. I would be considerably more relaxed with it off and not having to witness the weird things my face and hands do when I’m talking. Because no one is looking at the camera, as you pointed out. We’re all looking at ourselves and the weird things our faces and hands do when we’re talking.
All that griping aside, I sure wouldn’t know as many cool and interesting people if Zoom wasn’t so accessible and had allowed me to have face to face conversations with them. Do I wish I could meet some of those cool and interesting people in real life? Yes and no. Disillusionment can be a real buzz kill. And pheromones are generally up to no good. 🐝😏
Yeah, you can't voice-call into video calls without getting judged. Unfair but true. I've even been guilty of it myself -- if there's someone who won't turn their camera on I'm like what makes you so special.
But I'm with you, too, on appreciating the advantages. I've been able to start a lot of very real and meaningful (and increasingly long-term) relationships with people I never would have met if not for video calls. It's worth noting. You gotta acknowledge the good with the bad.
Also, though, I always look terrific, thanks mostly to my 10-yr-old macbook's camera, which gives my image a pleasingly pixelated blur. Sort of like the soft beauty lighting in old movies. I'm a regular diva. It scares me to think what I'll look like when I finally buy a new computer and the image is 5X crisper.
Yeah, I'm already worried about this Squadcast nonsense you've roped me into. How will I manage without my Zoom filter blurring out my dark undereye circles and smoothing my general roughness?
Oh Jordan, I completely share your feeling that Zoom calls are hell on earth. I have one condition for any gig I take now: no Zoom calls. It severely limits the work I take, but that’s totally okay with me. I’m only interested in working WITH people. My very worst Zoom call was the one where the company where I was an executive was purchased by our biggest competitor during the pandemic. Only the exec team knew that the deal was going down, but we announced the sale on a Zoom call with the whole company. Our CEO introduced the call, awkwardly said there was some big news to announce, and then let the new executive team into the meeting. It was excruciating: this acquiring company was one that many of us thought produced work that was inferior to ours, and I had often joked about their CEO being a “sun-burnished vampire,” and there they were, welcoming us into the new era. This was the moment I set my path out the door.
Man, you nailed this one. Plus, I have a mild version of a neurological condition that makes it difficult for me to keep my head completely still for long stretches of time. So on top of all the fatiigue you described, I have to spend about 25% of my brainpower concentrating on looking normal. Wears me out big time, especially if it goes on for more than an hour.
I do think that for most people, a lot of the fatigue comes from this weird dynamic of watching both yourself and the other people on your screen, and trying not to look weird. And it sounds like you've got it harder than most! My sympathies, sir.
I favor phone calls over Zoom whenever possible so that I can pace and talk. I find that I think much better and my energy levels improve. Zooms have their place, but shouldn't necessarily be the default.
Yeah I've worn a groove halfway down through the floor to our downstairs neighbors next to my desk. I'm such a pacer. I also love taking walks outside when I know the call is going to be long and I don't need to take notes. So, mostly calls with friends. Work calls rarely afford me that luxury, especially (obviously) when Zoom is so often the default.
Is it any wonder that kids at home for school over Zoom (or kids at school with teachers on Zoom) didn't work!
SERIOUSLY.
Hmmmmm interesting.
Love your phone analogy about taking more energy, but I don’t think I agree with VR yet (we need much more data and experience as it evolves, especially since AR helps for me)
I also don’t know if I agree with energy expenditure of people I know on zoom vs strangers. Admittedly my experience is either full time sales calls, vs business meetings/group work hours, but I 1000% preferred ppl I knew (sales is probably diff though)
Either way, I find having a routine and goals helps immensely. One danger is to roll out of bed 3 min before the first call.
Healthy food, getting sun by quickly walking outside, or honestly walking inside (I have a walking desk which helped immensely) all helped me at least
Contexts are obviously super important for this stuff. My observations are general, rather than specific. And there are so many factors that can improve or degrade any interaction, regardless of the medium (in person or remote). And ultimately, we often have more control over that stuff than we do over whether we get to meet people in person or not.
Very true!
This is really interesting because I feel much less drained on a video call than I do in a room with people. I had also had it with office work in 2019 and the pandemic has allowed me to work fully remote for a few years now. I don’t like phone calls, even with friends, but video makes me feel like I’m in the room with them so I can pick up on physical cues. I do have a policy of no longer than an hour at a stretch though, if we’re doing a many-hour planning session for instance then we have 5-10 minutes away at the end of each hour. Having said that I try and ensure similar on the rare occasions I’m in a room with colleagues, chance to shut up for a bit and stand up and stretch.
Do you think this is an introversion thing? In-person meetings can definitely be exhausting if they go too long, or if the vibe in the room is bad.
It probably is an introversion thing, but I’m not sure why having a camera trained on me would be less stressful than being in the same room! I mean, it could well just be me being odd.
Totally agree with this. Another interesting exception for me is Zoom calls where half of the participants are in-person -- I tend to treat those more like phone calls because there are 3-4 people in the room with me and 3-4 online. So I'm either watching my colleagues in the room or staring out the window, and only checking the video feed when necessary (back and forth dialogue to determine who's speaking next or if someone sounds like they're gesturing haha).
If I'm in a 1-1 Zoom meeting with someone I'm familiar with I also sometimes have a tendency to stare off into space, which does help with the fatigue. The more I pay attention to the video, the more I pay later in exhaustion.
Great points! It's probably good advice to look for opportunities where you can get away with NOT looking at the screen during a video call. Seems like a great hack.
If I thought I could get the people I can’t meet with in person (pretty much everyone I currently associate with professionally) to talk to me on the phone, I would always opt for that. But I think it carries an unfair stigma. That anyone “calling in” doesn’t have any tech chops and should probably plan on being largely excluded from the discussion because they can’t wave their hand or effectively interrupt another speaker without sounding like background noise.
Middle school nostalgia vibes aside, a phone-only call would remove an ENORMOUS wall of self-consciousness for me that I am always navigating on video calls. There’s a pressure to “look good,” which is in itself exhausting. I guess that pressure exists in real world applications, too, but it’s far easier to “read the room” with regard to the effectiveness of one’s efforts in the presentation department. This would be those missing human qualifiers. Has anyone ever uttered the words, “Great to see you again. You look terrific!” on a video call? No. Probably because try as we might to look terrific on the outside, our energy is all smooshed and grayed out by the limitations of the medium.
There’s also the pressure (or requirement) to “have your camera on” during a meeting. I would be considerably more relaxed with it off and not having to witness the weird things my face and hands do when I’m talking. Because no one is looking at the camera, as you pointed out. We’re all looking at ourselves and the weird things our faces and hands do when we’re talking.
All that griping aside, I sure wouldn’t know as many cool and interesting people if Zoom wasn’t so accessible and had allowed me to have face to face conversations with them. Do I wish I could meet some of those cool and interesting people in real life? Yes and no. Disillusionment can be a real buzz kill. And pheromones are generally up to no good. 🐝😏
Yeah, you can't voice-call into video calls without getting judged. Unfair but true. I've even been guilty of it myself -- if there's someone who won't turn their camera on I'm like what makes you so special.
But I'm with you, too, on appreciating the advantages. I've been able to start a lot of very real and meaningful (and increasingly long-term) relationships with people I never would have met if not for video calls. It's worth noting. You gotta acknowledge the good with the bad.
Also, though, I always look terrific, thanks mostly to my 10-yr-old macbook's camera, which gives my image a pleasingly pixelated blur. Sort of like the soft beauty lighting in old movies. I'm a regular diva. It scares me to think what I'll look like when I finally buy a new computer and the image is 5X crisper.
Yeah, I'm already worried about this Squadcast nonsense you've roped me into. How will I manage without my Zoom filter blurring out my dark undereye circles and smoothing my general roughness?
Allow me to introduce you to the magic of post-production...
Oh Jordan, I completely share your feeling that Zoom calls are hell on earth. I have one condition for any gig I take now: no Zoom calls. It severely limits the work I take, but that’s totally okay with me. I’m only interested in working WITH people. My very worst Zoom call was the one where the company where I was an executive was purchased by our biggest competitor during the pandemic. Only the exec team knew that the deal was going down, but we announced the sale on a Zoom call with the whole company. Our CEO introduced the call, awkwardly said there was some big news to announce, and then let the new executive team into the meeting. It was excruciating: this acquiring company was one that many of us thought produced work that was inferior to ours, and I had often joked about their CEO being a “sun-burnished vampire,” and there they were, welcoming us into the new era. This was the moment I set my path out the door.
That takeover call sounds like sketch comedy. I can't imagine how excruciating that would have been -- for everyone! Nobody wins.