10 Tips for Surviving and Thriving Despite All the Zooming

Zoom Burnout is Real

Source: Christian Erfurt/Unsplash, used with permission

If you're living on planet Earth, you are probably doing way more online everything—shopping, socializing, and working—than you ever imagined (or wanted to).

And you almost certainly know what I mean when I talk about "Zoom fatigue," aka "Zoom burnout," "burning Zoom eyeballs," etc.

I have been doing video teaching and video coaching/therapy for some time now, but not nearly the amount that I have in the past year. And, as a Texan friend recently said, "I'm taaard." (That's apparently Texas-speak for "really tired.")

My back gets sore from sitting. My eyeballs are dry and sometimes really burn. It's hard to tell if my students are paying attention. Often I know they just aren't, and I can't say I blame them. I find myself over-explaining concepts because I can't tell if some of them are actually listening (especially with cameras off). I know that many are probably looking at their email, or TikTok, or otherwise zoning out. (Again, I can't really blame them.)

And so, I have to work extra hard to keep my inner critic in check and remember I'm doing the best I can in each moment.

If you're a parent, you are probably doing triple-duty—caring for your family, trying to work with limited privacy and maximum distractions, and supervising your child's online learning on top of it all.

Friends and loved ones seem to fall into two Zoom categories: those who want to ease pandemic loneliness and isolation by Zooming more often, and those like myself whose self-care means needing to limit the amount of Zooming I do.

So, how can we do what we need to and ease some of the Zoom-based burnout?

1. Set Zoom limits where you can. If you're hosting the work meeting, keep the meetings only as long as they need to be. Set a clear meeting agenda and stick to it.
2. If you can, stand up and stretch—frequently—to help protect your back and other muscles from becoming stiff and painful.
3. If you're teaching, coaching, or otherwise leading online, make sure to make sessions as interactive as possible—it's exhausting trying to do 100% of the work of keeping the energy up. And it's less engaging if you're doing all the talking.
4. Take breaks. This is essential to staying sane. Any meeting longer than about 45 minutes entitles you to get up and go to the bathroom (even if just to stretch your body). Encourage your children to take breaks as well.
5. If you're fidgety or struggling with paying attention (guilty!), keep a squeeze ball by your desk to give yourself a physical outlet for that extra energy.
6. Give yourself permission to say no to non-urgent and non-essential meetings or virtual get-togethers. After a full week (weekends included) of work and school Zooming, sometimes I just can't bear to Zoom any more, including with friends or family. Remaining flexible and having self-compassion are essential to getting through this. Make that video connection brief, change it to a phone call or text, or just be honest that you need a break and bow out.
7. Buy blue-light blocking glasses. Blue light from computers and other devices is really bad for your eyes. The glasses can help.
8. Bundle up (if you need to) and get outside. This is the most underrated but one of the most important things you can do right now. Your brain and body need a break from artificial light; you'll also make some much-needed vitamin D from sunlight.
9. Move your body. It's essential for good mental and physical health. Take a walk. Clear your mind. Breathe.
10. Remember that no one is perfect—and you don't need to be either. And you deserve to be compassionate with yourself. We're all doing the best we can right now. And that's more than good enough.

Wishing you peace and healing, now and always.