Video Conferencing is Changing Our Brain Chemistry
Imagine being the first person to recognize yourself in a pool of water. The startle, the synchronization of movement, and realizing that the reflection is you. Pre-historic humans only caught their reflection in still water. The first recorded manufactured mirror appeared around 6,000 BC and was nothing other than polished obsidian or volcanic glass.
It took thousands of years for glass mirrors to become what we know them today. Unfortunately, the use of mercury and copper lead to high amounts of toxicity and illness during the evolution of the mirror. Today, we see a new type of toxicity and illness looming in our reflections: Video conferencing.
Professor and researcher of communications at Stanford University, Jeremy N. Bailenson, explains in his article Nonverbal Overload: A Theoretical Argument for the Causes of Zoom Fatigue,
Zoom users are seeing reflections of themselves at a frequency and duration that hasn’t been seen before in the history of media and likely the history of people (with exceptions for people who work in dance studios and other places that are full of mirrors).
For many, a switch to work-from-home setups led to numerous positive outcomes, including more time with family, better mental health, and increased productivity in shorter amounts of time. Of course, Zoom was to thank for most virtual office interactions, but among all these positives hides a huge negative.
‘Zoom Fatigue’ is a term we all added to our personal dictionaries in 2020. It is a word that means something different to everyone. Too much time staring at a screen. Too much time sitting. Too much time managing the errors and disruptions in wifi service, etc. Too much time being talked at instead of talked to.
Research suggests that we are spending more time looking at ourselves than ever before in our evolution between social media and our new virtual office culture. It is challenging for me to attend a Zoom meeting and not check my reflection, fix my hair, straighten my posture, or even bring a smile to my bored expression.
Bailenson sites a 1988 research study that analyzed how men and women behaved while watching themselves on camera. He recalls,
A study by Ingram et al. (1988) shows interaction effects, where seeing a video of oneself has a larger impact on women than men across three experiments. Study 2 from that article demonstrated that women are more likely than men to direct attention internally in response to seeing themselves via live video. Study 3 demonstrates the consequences of that self-focus. Men and women both experienced a negative affect event, specifically taking a test and getting the feedback they performed poorly. Then, they were taken to another room where they either saw a real-time video of themselves or not. Women who saw videos of themselves responded with greater levels of self-focused attention and negative affect compared to the other three conditions. The authors argue that the tendency to self-focus might prime women to experience depression.
These case studies required people to sit in front of a camera for less than an hour. So what are the consequences for people who work via video conference for hours on end, days at a time?
The emergence of social media has started to level the playing field regarding body image issues. Men have more complexes surrounding their bodies than previously documented, which has disproportionately affected women for decades. Now, we sit virtually shoulder to shoulder, staring out our reflections all day at work, then documenting our evenings on social media. As a result, we are more aware of our bodies than ever before.
Body awareness is the final point Bailenson proposes in his research. When we Zoom, we are confined to a tiny window. Our movements are exaggerated on the screen in front of us, and our fidgeting is documented. Our heads need to be still, our shoulders, our necks. We notice a wiggle or a camera bounce if we begin to shift our lower bodies or shake our legs in anticipation of the meeting’s end.
Our lack of movement leads to more tension in the shoulders, headaches, and generalized aches and pains. As if captured inside a photograph, we sit motionless in a small frame and try to look pleasant — like good employees. It is no wonder that our fatigue grows while video conferencing, and with that exhaustion comes a decrease in self-acceptance and an increase in depressive episodes.
What can we do about it?
Employees are still more likely to choose to work from home than in the office. So what can employers do to ensure their employees’ mental well-being, stamina, and morale?
Delete Your Video Tile
First, employees should consider removing their video tile from view. Organizing your video tiles to replicate a more authentic meeting experience means deleting yourself from your grid. For example, if you walked into a meeting room full of mirrors, you might position yourself so that you wouldn’t be caught staring at your own reflection. Staring at yourself in a mirror or trying to avoid staring at yourself during a work meeting would probably take a lot of effort and pose a great distraction from the work you need to do.
Take Breaks More Often
Taking breaks every 15–20 minutes might seem excessive, but it is necessary due to the nature of video conferencing. Encourage tea breaks, bathroom breaks, stretching, closing your eyes, stepping outside for a few deep breaths, and even hire a meditation guide to pop on for five minutes. Get creative with breaks and consider asking employees to step outside for a moment, rain or shine, together yet apart, during a short break. Then, come back and check-in to see how you each spent your time before jumping back into the thick of work.
Working From Home is Not a Holiday
Just because your office has moved to remote work doesn’t mean you are skipping out on your duties as an employee. On the contrary, you are likely more available to your office than before. Remember to shut down emails when your day ends, turn off your phone, and clock out. Take holidays as often as you can, even if it means you are unreachable for 24 hours. Not all jobs are equal regarding paid time off, so you might need to strategize about how to take time off more frequently.
A Word to Employers
Remember that your office functions at its best when everyone’s fundamental needs are met. Many employers are struggling to find employees and hang on to them. If employees are dissatisfied with work-life culture, they leave. Right now, the eggs aren’t exactly in the employer’s basket. Learn to listen compassionately. Understand that things have changed drastically in a short amount of time and are unlikely to return to how it was before the pandemic hit.
Invest in practices that create a sense of vitality and well-being. For example, ask an employee who is into meditation to lead the group through a body scan. Hire a yoga instructor to pop on and teach a gentle stretching class. Encourage frequent breaks. For example, you could ask everyone to step outside for five minutes to get sun on their faces. Encourage everyone to make a cup of tea. Share what you saw outside or how that short break positively affected you before returning to work.
A Word to Employees
Be your own advocate. Do you need the office to stop sending you texts after work? Be clear about it. Do you feel that you need more breaks in the day? Contact your manager to talk about striking a better balance during video calls. Stay hydrated, stretch often, get some sun on your face when you can, and make working from home, work for you. Employers are more likely to listen to your concerns because of the current high turnover rate in many fields. Be realistic and use your voice. If you have a bone to pick about 4–6 hour video calls, let it be known how long video calls directly affect your productivity. Ask for what you need.
Research cited: Jeremy N. Bailenson “Nonverbal Overload: A Theoretical Argument for the Causes of Zoom Fatigue” Volume 2, Issue 1. DOI: 10.1037/tmb0000030
