Zoom Fatigue Is Worse For Women

Stanford researchers have found that virtual meetings cause women more “Zoom fatigue” than their male counterparts. Quantitative data found that one in seven women, compared to one in 20 men, feel “very” to “extremely” fatigued after Zoom calls. While the term singles out Zoom, “Zoom fatigue” (or virtual fatigue), encompasses all video conferencing software, such as Microsoft Teams, Skype, Google Meet, etc. Even if you aren’t familiar with the term, you may recognize its symptoms. Do you ever feel completely burned out, mentally exhausted, overly sleepy, anxious or worried after video conferencing? These are common psychological symptoms associated with overusing these virtual platforms, especially for women. 

Social psychologists have attributed this fatigue to “self-focused attention” in video conferencing. Researchers have consistently found that women maintain a higher propensity to self-focus than men, which increases self-focused attention and leads to more emotional distress, negative emotions and possible depression. This is especially prevalent when in the presence of a mirror or a camera.

Here are some strategies for decreasing Zoom Fatigue: 

• Change your default display settings to turn off your camera and replace the still image with your professional headshot. 
• Adjust your settings to log in as “audio-only.”
• Plan your calendar with “no virtual meeting days” to get a break or make a request through your organization. 
• Determine if a video meeting is necessary or if a standard call will suffice. 
• Cap the amount of time to be on video calls per day or suggest guidelines for your organization to implement. 
• Block out your calendar for mandatory breaks in between meetings to stretch, walk around or get outside. 
• Avoid distractions and multitasking by staying present. Don’t keep your email inbox open, close internet tabs and don’t engage in private chats to keep your focus. 
• Take the Stanford ZEF scale (or send it to your employees to take) to measure their fatigue and offer alternative options to help reduce it.

While remote and hybrid work is here to stay for the foreseeable future, we are already seeing organizations reevaluate, restructure and rethink new video conferencing practices that best support everyone.