Why you can get exhausted from video calling

As we speak, I am supporting my eyebrows with my index fingers, because I dare to bet that my last video call got stuck somewhere and I am now trying to massage it away through my forehead.

I Zoom myself green and yellow, but sometimes really literally. On a really busy day, it can happen that I have seen and spoken to at least ten people around wine time (that's usually after six, but believe me, sometimes even earlier). And not even all at once. No matter how nice and pleasant people are, you start to see green and yellow from it.

It's far from strange, because it even has an international name, we call it: Zoom Fatigue. It stands for the mental exhaustion that an online conference call can cause you, even if you don't have to talk. By the way, you don't have this when you listen to a podcast for an hour, have you noticed that? It seems to have to do with the fact that we listen to unedited sound, which means you take in everything. So you hear both the very important information, but also that your colleague is quickly typing an email. Very. Loudly. In. Your. Ear. People who do this: please stop.

It's not just the produced background noise, which can range from eating a cucumber, slurping soup, or the screaming of a small child. The interruption of a conversation also requires more than a normal conversation. You have to think about what someone meant in those lost seconds, which takes more from your brain. You don't have this in a face-to-face conversation (unless you have to have your conversation partner checked, by the way). A person also has the ability to focus on one person, which means you actually turn down the background noise. Yes, we are quite a feat.

We have tips, because you naturally want it to stop.

1. Make the headset mandatory. With earbuds in and a microphone, you filter out a whole household of noise and are also better understandable.

2. Put partners, children, housemates, and pets outside. As in: outside the room, you don't have to put them on the street, of course. A quiet place to have your meeting is very nice for your colleagues, because whether you like it or not: housemates cause noise.

3. The best place in the house to video call is in front of the bookshelf. The paper has a dampening effect, bringing you almost close to studio sound. It's this or covering your entire room with cardboard, you can choose.

4. Don't let anyone in the house watch Netflix. If the aforementioned housemate is using up all the internet binge-watching a new season, then there's a chance that you come across choppy and with gaps in a meeting.

5. Put yourself in the person you are video calling with. It helps you if you know how you sound and look.