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<\/p>\nAt the beginning of the Age of Covid, the world rushed to videoconferencing as a way to stay connected and not lose valuable time for productivity.\u00a0 At first, we realized the many upsides of using platforms like Zoom or Go To Meeting.\u00a0 Things like, there\u2019s no need to pop a breath-mint before entering the room. And it\u2019s nice to just click a button instead of having to drive to a meeting.\u00a0 We delighted in realizing that we only had to be \u201cdressed\u201d from the waist up and could be in pajama bottoms and slippers below the camera.\u00a0 It\u2019s also a neat experience to see everyone\u2019s faces at once, to take in the whole group in one sweep of the screen.<\/p>\n
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You may have also observed some of the quirky aspects of meeting via videoconference.\u00a0 Have you noticed what I call the \u201cZoom hair check\u201d \u2013 catching people adjusting their coif when their video first comes on?\u00a0 Seeing yourself on camera like that, you realize how others see you, including how that lock of hair is out of place.<\/p>\n
Our students only come to campus for in-person intensives twice a year.\u00a0 The rest of our curriculum consists of synchronous and asynchronous courses. This means that some classes are non-time-specific (asynchronous) with recorded Powerpoints and lectures, discussion boards, and tests. Students can access course content any time of the day or night as long as they keep pace with the weekly schedule.<\/p>\n
Other courses are synchronous, meaning that we meet online using Zoom at a specific day and time each week.\u00a0 We use this platform for our Covenant Groups (faith formation). And I use it for a course I teach called Practice Preaching where students record their sermons that we watch on our own time and then meet on Zoom to discuss.<\/p>\n
So at first, the transition to all-Zoom-all-the-time for every meeting didn\u2019t seem like a big deal.\u00a0 I already knew how to do this.\u00a0 Not a problem, right?<\/p>\n
But in these last few weeks, I\u2019ve experienced something that maybe you can relate to as well.<\/p>\n
It was my husband who first pointed it out.\u00a0 He teaches instrumental music lessons and has had to convert all his students to an online platform like Facetime.\u00a0 After his first day of several back-to-back lessons he emerged glassy-eyed and said, \u201cI have a new appreciation for what you do.\u00a0 Teaching online is exhausting!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n I, too, have noticed how tired I\u2019ve been feeling after a day \u201cat work\u201d where my interactions with people are primarily through online meetings.\u00a0 My brain is fried.\u00a0 I feel depleted.<\/p>\n It has to do with the way our brains process information.<\/p>\n Seeing everyone\u2019s faces at once is a lot of \u201cdata\u201d to take in.\u00a0 This is helpful in many ways because you can \u201cread the room\u201d more easily.\u00a0 But it also floods the brain with information it\u2019s not used to handling all at once.<\/p>\n In an in-person face to face meeting, if one person is talking, you can look down at your notes, gaze out the window, or just look to the side while still paying attention.\u00a0 On screen, if we do these same things, we can see ourselves do it and we know it can imply that we\u2019re not listening.\u00a0 So we try extra hard to pay attention.\u00a0 This is taxing on the brain and emotions.<\/p>\n This is an adjustment for our brains that are used to picking up cues from the people around us without having to look right at them in an actual meeting.\u00a0 Again, this level of focus is not something we\u2019re used to, and it can be taxing.<\/p>\n In an in-person meeting where we all share the same room, our brains can tune out on the little details about the setting.\u00a0 In a videoconference, however, we notice all kinds of things about wherever the person happens to be Zooming in from.\u00a0 The artwork.\u00a0 The person walking behind them.\u00a0 The trees waving through the window of their screen porch.\u00a0 The pet who jumps up on their lap demanding attention (this happens more often than you might think).\u00a0 The kid who tugs at the sleeve wanting attention.\u00a0 We\u2019re pulled in by each person\u2019s challenges in their \u201cworking from home\u201d environment, and as much as we try, it is hard to filter out that information.<\/p>\n Again, in a shared room in a neutral place (like a conference room), the details fade into the background.\u00a0 But at home, our brains are tempted to pay attention to the demands of the household (even with doors closed and family members held at bay).\u00a0 Because of these things competing for our attention, our brains are depleted by the end of the meeting.<\/p>\n While I\u2019m still learning this new way of working myself, I have learned a few things I can share.<\/p>\n It can be tempting to fill in blocks for meetings one right after the other knowing that you don\u2019t have to travel to get to them.\u00a0 But your brain needs a break.\u00a0 Ideally, you should give yourself at least 30 \u2013 60 minutes between meetings.\u00a0 You need that time to rest your eyes and brain.\u00a0 You also need time to use the bathroom and replenish your liquid and food fuel.<\/p>\n In the \u201cnormal\u201d world, we know to give breaks during long meetings.\u00a0 Zoom is no different.\u00a0 45 minutes is about as long as people can go without needing to empty bladders, fill stomachs, stretch legs, and rest eyes\/brains.\u00a0 5 \u2013 15 minutes is usually enough time to break without losing momentum for the meeting.\u00a0 Especially if you have more than one meeting a day, you may need to schedule more frequent in-meeting breaks.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t use the 5 \u2013 15 minutes of break to check your email, text someone, look at Twitter, or post on Facebook.\u00a0 Encourage people to put their video and microphones on \u201cmute,\u201d leave the room, and go look at things far way.\u00a0 Look around the room.\u00a0 Gaze out the window.\u00a0 Because staring at a screen 2 feet away for long periods of time is not good for the eyes.\u00a0 They need to be able to focus on things at a distance in order to rest from short-distance viewing.<\/p>\n I\u2019m hearing some pastors say they feel that all boundaries they established have gone out the window in the Age of Covid. With visitations in the pre-Covid age, there was at least a car ride between home, church, and hospital to zone out and recharge.\u00a0 Now a parishioner knows you\u2019re home.\u00a0 Because we all have to be home now. \u00a0Unless you\u2019re out on the front lines \u2013 in which case, God bless you, and I completely understand if you\u2019re annoyed by this post complaining about Zoom-exhausted brains. (You may also be annoyed by this post if you\u2019re one of the millions out of work right now. I hear that. Zoom-exhaustion seems a minor complaint in the face of massive unemployment.)<\/p>\n But we all still need to be aware of our \u201cbubbles\u201d \u2013 our time and space boundaries and how to protect and preserve them.\u00a0 If you\u2019re finding that three or less meetings a day is all you can do, make that your limit.<\/p>\n Talking on the phone requires different \u2013 and sometimes less taxing \u2013 operations for your brain. By only having to concentrate aurally and orally, your visual processing is freed up.\u00a0 You can sometimes concentrate better by just listening instead of having to watch as well.\u00a0 This is why people like podcasts.\u00a0 And why kids who doodle and those who knit in church can still recall the content of a sermon \u2013 they\u2019re listening in a different way, even if it seems they\u2019re not paying attention.\u00a0 So if you would rather talk by phone instead of Zoom, say so.<\/p>\n One of my students remarked that in the Age of Covid, time feels like an \u201cendless Thursday.\u201d\u00a0 There\u2019s no weekend because every day is the same.\u00a0 People sometimes lose track of what day it is.\u00a0 The habits and rituals that used to mark our days and weeks have dissolved.\u00a0 So there needs to be one day when you\u2019re allowed to be screen-free.\u00a0 You\u2019re still supposed to take a day off from work \u2013 whatever that work now entails.\u00a0 If God took a day off (see Genesis Chapter 2), who are we to think we can keep pushing without limits?<\/p>\n Another thing I\u2019m now doing (which I figured out after first writing this article) is to put \u201cbuffer days\u201d on either end of an intense Zoom stretch. I\u2019m physically x-ing out those days on my calendar as a visual hard-stop on my own scheduling. If someone wants to schedule a meeting for the day before or after one of those long meeting days, I say I\u2019m booked. Which I am \u2013 with a day of decompression and self care!<\/p>\n So go easy on yourself, your work colleagues, your family, and your friends when it comes to videoconferencing.\u00a0 I love Zoom and am grateful for this technology that enables us to connect and work.\u00a0 But pace yourself and the people you interact with.\u00a0 We\u2019re in this for the long haul.\u00a0 So go gentle into that Zoom screen!<\/p>\n When Earth Demands Sabbath: Learning from the Coronavirus Pandemic<\/a><\/p>\n How to \u2018Be Church\u2019 in an Online Seminary: Environmental Education, Sustainability, Community<\/a><\/p>\n Leah D. Schade is the Assistant Professor of Preaching and Worship at\u00a0<\/em>Lexington Theological Seminary<\/i><\/a>\u00a0in Kentucky\u00a0and ordained in the ELCA. Dr. Schade does not speak for LTS or the ELCA; her opinions are her own. \u00a0She is the author of\u00a0<\/em>Preaching in the Purple Zone: Ministry in the Red-Blue Divide<\/a>\u00a0(Rowman & Littlefield, 2019),\u00a0<\/em>Rooted and Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis<\/a>\u00a0(Rowman & Littlefield, 2019), and\u00a0<\/em>Creation-Crisis Preaching: Ecology, Theology, and the Pulpit<\/a>\u00a0(Chalice Press, 2015).\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Leah\u2019s latest book is a Lenten devotional centered on Creation:\u00a0<\/em>For the Beauty of the Earth<\/a>\u00a0(Chalice Press, 2020).<\/em><\/p>\n Twitter:\u00a0<\/em>@LeahSchade<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/764\/2020\/04\/Cat.CalebWoods.jpg\")
Why does videoconferencing make us feel so tired?<\/em><\/h2>\n
* Videoconferencing requires a different kind of attention than in-person interactions.<\/h2>\n
* Because of the barrier of a screen, we have to work extra hard to convey that we\u2019re paying attention.<\/h2>\n
* The screen forces us to use direct visual contact rather than supplement with our peripheral vision.<\/h2>\n
* Our brains are taking in the spaces of each person\u2019s background.<\/h2>\n
* Our brains are trying to filter out our own <\/em>background distractions.<\/h2>\n
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So what can we do to prevent Zoom fatigue?\u00a0 How do we forestall videoconferencing burnout?<\/h3>\n
1. Avoid scheduling Zoom meetings back-to-back.<\/h2>\n
2. Allow or ask for breaks during Zoom meetings.<\/h2>\n
3. Look away from the screen during a Zoom break.<\/h2>\n
4. Remember that boundaries are still important.<\/h2>\n
5. Communicate by phone instead of videoconference.<\/h2>\n
6. Take a Zoom Sabbath<\/h2>\n
Bonus: 7. Give yourself \u201cbuffer zones.\u201d<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nRead also:<\/h4>\n
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