​A Tip to Help with Zoom Fatigue

With the majority of my week spent on Zoom with clients, there’s one thing I do in the beginning of every call that’s made it much less tiresome: using the “Hide Self View” feature.

This isn’t the same as turning off your video. It’s so that you don’t see yourself during the call. “Hide Self View” is a way to counter the recent phenomenon of looking at ourselves much more than we used to in one day.

I’ve began to notice when someone is looking at themselves during a call. It’s usually right after they’ve talked for a while, and I respond. It’s as if they are in front of those one way mirrors in an interrogation room. They fix their hair or purse their lips to make their face a bit more appealing to themselves.

It’s a momentary distraction that pulls them out of the conversation and into their own heads, possibly full of negative self talk about why they look so bad on camera.

Have that happen multiple times a conversation for hours a day, and it’s mentally draining and unhealthy. There’s many other reasons as to why Zoom fatigue if real, but this is a big one.

We’ve never examined ourselves this frequently when we’re with friends in real life. There’s a level of trust and intimacy when you don’t notice food stuck in your teeth, and a friend points it out to you.

So in the beginning of every call, after you’re sure your video is on, go to the three dots on the top right corner of your video, and click “Hide Self View.”

Now you can enjoy the conversation and focus on who you are talking to, and not yourself.