Attended too many already? Beat the stress now.
The novel Coronavirus has not just forced us to stay home but also been instrumental in showing us, all over again, that the world needs to work together in tandem for humanity to survive as a whole.
Yet, this working together is not possible without the internet and more importantly, video conferencing tools. A very small fraction of the working population across the world can actually boast of not attending a single webinar or zoom meeting in the last six months. In fact, people are now complaining about attending too many and suffering a lot of mental health issues because of this. So here are some ways in which you could beat the webinar fatigue and corresponding anxiety issues:
The 20-20-20 rule
Your eye doctor may have mentioned this rule to you. Basically, after every 20 minutes, you spent looking at a screen, try to look away at something that is approximately 20 feet away from you for a total of 20 seconds. For, it takes about 20 seconds for your eyes to completely relax. Setting a timed reminder to pop up on your phone can help you take a break every 20 minutes.
Turn anxiety into excitement
If you have a presentation to make and are facing anxiety issues, train yourself to think that you are out on an exciting adventure. This can reduce your level of fatigue after the presentation. Instead of dreading something, if you could actually take it head-on and train your mind that it is an adventure ride instead, chances of coping with pressure are on the higher side!
Don’t be camera conscious
For most people who are otherwise socially awkward, being watched on a web camera during a meeting can cause a tremendous amount of anxiety. Once in a while, switch off the video so that you can relax by yourself. If you're not presenting or speaking, try turning off your video and microphone and relax. One needs to take a break from constant self-regulation.
Avoid back-to-back calls
If possible, avoid video calls back-to-back. This can be draining because we tend to be stationary on these calls, and give ourselves less chance to recover from each exchange. The constant switch of attention from topic to topic, from meeting to meeting, with fewer breaks can be tiring.
Set rules
If you are the host in a meeting, set some online etiquette for a work video call so that people know in advance about how to behave or what kind of body language to work on. Allow people to relax, so that you can do that too. Once in a while, stand up, stretch out and move about. Passive social monitoring causes less fatigue than active social engagement.
