By KHAYLA WILLIAMS
Guest Columnist
As COVID-19 levels went up in the U.S., many students and working adults were forced to adapt to a virtual form of work and learning.
Despite the fact that many people have been virtual since March of 2020, the majority have struggled to adapt to this new way of conducting everyday life activities. People describe being overwhelmed and exhausted, having tension in the eyes, and body aches. There are many different factors to why working virtually is so difficult, but a majority of them all stem from the experiences of Zoom fatigue. While these are all experiences that can hinder one’s productivity, there are strategies to help manage those experiences.
Have you noticed that it’s harder to memorize new people’s names this year? Have you found yourself liking fewer coworkers or classmates? Have you noticed that people are slower to respond to questions? Have you often felt drained after a Zoom call? These are all effects of a recent phenomenon called “Zoom fatigue,” the phrase you are looking for to describe the tiredness, burnout, and worry associated with long hours of virtual communication.
One of the reasons for the fatigue often felt is the subconscious cost-reward tradeoff. The dopamine pathways in the brain are associated with rewards. The activation of such pathways is associated with an increase in motivation, energy, and alertness. If the reward does not outweigh the cost, the dopaminergic pathway’s activation will be lessened and Zoom fatigue can occur. In the case of Zoom, the reward we hope to get, but our brain doesn’t perceive, is adequate social interaction.
Another part of the reward circuit is the hormone oxytocin, involved in social bonding. In a study done by MIT comparing functional MRI scans of person-to-person interaction versus virtual interaction, it was shown that the brain regions associated with reward and release of oxycontin was higher in those having person-to-person interactions. (Redcay et al.) The reasons behind these findings are numerous.
When communicating, we use both verbal and non-verbal cues to get our messages across. A lot of nonverbal cues are actually unconscious, so you don’t usually realize how much you rely on them until you are put in a non-verbal deprived environment, such as Zoom.
Let’s take eye contact for example. Eye contact is a common nonverbal cue that improves connection by allowing for faster responses, increased likeability, and better efficiency of memorizing faces. Appropriate eye contact can’t occur if someone is going back and forth between looking directly in the camera, in order to look like they are making eye contact, while simultaneously trying to meet the other person’s gaze. Ultimately, the quest to achieve appropriate eye contact leads to a high cost in the form of cognitive effort to make sure they look like they are looking at the camera and making eye contact.
Additionally, not sharing the same environment and having only one half of the body being shown can lead to difficulty capturing bodily gestures and subtle facial expressions. The lack of nonverbal cues requires us to rely more on sustained and intense attention to the words being said, ultimately leading to fatigue.
Similarly, multitasking is a cost that expends a large amount of energy. In an internal sense, multitasking is difficult because it involves continuous but partial attention to a variety of internal tasks, like searching for verbal cues, trying to pay attention to what’s being said, and processing it fast enough to come up with an appropriate response.
Occasionally, none of these internal actions actually occur and people can be left drained even if it seems like they haven’t done anything. Externally, there are pressures of potential family members, home environment, easy access to smartphones, and our perceptions of our own image on the screen. On the topic of seeing our own image, stress can arise at the idea of being on camera because usually it is done in a performative context.
Despite all the issues that contribute to Zoom fatigue, there are ways to help relieve some of the problems it can cause.
One trick is to not use gallery view. With all the faces up at once, multitasking becomes a nightmare and cognitive load increases.
Periods of prolonged laptop use can cause muscle tension and eye strain, so it is crucial to have breaks and potentially go outside to let your eyes rest and stretch your muscles.
Focusing on non-digital stimulation is good for the body to recharge. It is also a good practice to allow people to turn their cameras off if the meeting will be longer than an hour in order to reduce concentration fatigue.
Finally, as a way to navigate interactions that can be draining, it can be useful to learn some grounding techniques, like moisturizing your hands, naming the items in your workspace aloud, and breathing in essential oils.
Although many of us may have gotten used to the experiences of Zoom fatigue, learning different approaches you can take to diminish its effects will ultimately lead to better mental well-being and higher productivity levels.
Khayla Williams is a student at Hamilton Southeastern High School and is a 2020-2021 summer research intern for Project STEM.