Tips for Managing Zoom Fatigue

Turn off the self-view function in Zoom

• Why? Research shows that we tend to spend most of our time on Zoom looking at ourselves and that we tend to be critical of our own appearances, with negative emotional consequences.

• How-to: During a Zoom session, hover over your box, click the three dots in the upper right-hand corner, and select, ‘Turn off self-view.’

During discussions, change your settings from gallery view to speaker view

• Why? Viewing all session attendees on-screen can leave you feeling like everyone is looking at you, which can trigger anxieties associated with public speaking.

• How-to: In the upper right-hand corner of the Zoom window, click the view icon with one box (rather than the one with four).

During discussions, take Zoom out of full-screen mode and make the window smaller

• Why? If the speaker is sitting too close to the camera, and your Zoom window is large, the experience of close-up eye contact can mimic real-world experiences that the brain associates with aggression or romance, leading to over-stimulation.

• How-to: During a Zoom session, select, ‘escape,’ to exit full-screen mode. Click and drag one corner of the window to re-size it. 

Whenever appropriate, turn off your camera and move around (for example, when slides are being shared)

• Why? Being in front of the camera restricts our movement in unnatural ways. Furthermore, subtle movements like standing, swaying in place, and stretching can support cognition.

• How-to: During a Zoom session, hover over the window and click the camera-shaped icon near the bottom-left of the screen.

For more background on these strategies, check out Bailenson, J.N. (2021). Nonverbal overload: A theoretical argument for the causes of Zoom fatigue. Technology, Mind, and Behavior, 2(1),  Nonverbal Overload: A Theoretical Argument for the Causes of Zoom Fatigue · Volume 2, Issue 1