Have you heard the term “Zoom fatigue” yet? It’s when you’re anxious or exhausted by all the video chats you have to do. And a lot of people are feeling it. Here are five reasons video chats are more stressful than face-to-face interactions . . .
- Too much eye contact. We normally don’t stare straight at each other non-stop. We look away, and our eyes dart around. So that much eye contact is intimidating.
- It requires more focus. Your brain has to work harder to process everything, like blurry facial expressions or the tone of someone’s voice before you know who’s talking.
- There aren’t as many non-verbal cues in video chats. Normal, face-to-face talks rely on a lot of body language. And not having it puts us on edge.
- Only one person can talk at a time. There’s no cross-talk, and having to wait your turn makes us uncomfortable. Especially because interrupting someone creates confusion, where people might not be able to hear what either of you said.
- We’re worried about how we look. Staring at yourself makes you more self-conscious. So you might want to close the window that shows your own video.
A few more tips to make chats less stressful: Break them up, so they’re not back-to-back. Use the “Active Speaker” view, so you only see one person instead of 20. And replace some of your video chats with regular old phone calls. (USA Today / BBC)
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
