Tuesday's Tidbit - Not another Zoom meeting...

Hello everyone, and welcome to another Tuesday's Tidbits blog post. If you like what you read, not only do I hope you comment and continue the conversation, but check out our other Tuesday's Tidbits posts. Our hope is to make a positive impact on the work environment, so feel free to let us know if these posts help with that!

Today's Tuesday Tidbit - Another Zoom meeting? Make it stop!! This topic is another one of those that has obviously become incredibly relevant over the past year, because as we shifted to a WFH environment, we needed a solution to make sure we could still have team meetings, client meetings, and any other face-to-face daily activities, so video-conferencing obviously became a necessity. What people have found is that Zoom fatigue is one of the top trending topics, because people are just. feeling. worn. out. Which is interesting when you think about it, because people who had 8 face-to-face meetings a day in the office didn't feel as tired and worn down as they do with 8 video meetings a day. Why is that? This post will dive into that a little bit, and will also advise 2 things to try towards the end that can help with that Zoom fatigue, so that you can keep your motivation and morale high!

I'll start with this - Not everyone I've talked to about this topic or seen post about this topic on their own pages believe that Zoom fatigue is an actual thing. I've seen some people argue that it's simply workers not structuring their days correctly and staying organized, and I've seen some argue that it's not actually the Zoom meetings, but rather the chaos in their lives, like having to deal with young children, or not having a great home office to limit distractions. While I can see where those arguments may come from, and I can admit that I do believe those factors might be a slight part of the fatigue cocktail that workers are feeling, I do still feel that Zoom fatigue is a real thing for many people. In fact, HR Executives posted in November that 38% of their polled employees have felt Zoom fatigue since the start of the pandemic, so though maybe not everyone is feeling it, some obviously are, and it's for those that I'm suggesting 2 ways to help combat Zoom fatigue at the end of this post, so stay tuned if you're part of that 38%!

WFH Itis is real!

As I said though, I do feel like there are multiple factors as to why working professionals are feeling more fatigue now than they did when they were working in the office. I believe it's a recipe, and there are a bunch of ingredients that are coming together to make a dish that results in increased fatigue for people who are working from home. I like to call it the "work from home itis", because there are days for a lot of people that feel like you just had a big turkey dinner, and all you want to do is sleep after a work day. Did I use that just so I could post a picture of a turkey there to the right? Maybe, but I'll never tell! Regardless, the struggle is real, and it's real for so many people.

Speaking of recipe, here are a few factors that I think go into this cocktail that results in the WFH environment feeling more taxing than when we were all working in an office:

• A plethora of distractions at home we can't now avoid

• Our schedules being thrown off

• A blurred line (or no line) between work and home life

• Not having a great home office setup, or a similar home office setup, so you feel cluttered, unorganized, and not as efficient

• External factors, such as hearing more and more news about the pandemic and feeling it's never going to end

• A pre-existing unsatisfaction or already being disengaged with your company/job

And these are just some of the factors that go into this chronic feeling of fatigue that so many people are feeling on a regular basis. Throw in the new necessity of video conferencing on a near-daily, if not daily (if not hourly) basis, and people are just feeling worn out. Days feel longer, weeks feel longer, and it just feels like it's never going to stop.

So if that's the feeling people are experiencing, what are some things that make sure you avoid that feeling? Because obviously, that's not a cocktail that results in a high motivation, high morale, or a good efficiency, and if those 3 things aren't clicking, it will easily affect the individual, the team, and the company quite quickly. Well, here are 2 quick things you can try that will help you avoid Zoom fatigue!

Make sure your Meetings have an Itinerary

Now I know what some people are already going to think - Why the heck would that matter? People are still going to be in meetings all the time. Didn't you mean to suggest less meetings? And to that I say, yes and no. I don't think it's always possible to get rid of meetings, because that's crucial time for team-building, getting information on new products or new tactics, receiving news about the team or the company, and making sure that everyone is on the same page as much as possible. In my experience, meetings are definitely necessary, though they don't always feel that way to everyone. Are there some meetings that don't need to happen? Maybe, but I can't specifically say what meetings are worthwhile and which ones aren't, because that definition is different for each individual company.

Keep a schedule, plants are optional

So why start with making an itinerary? Because even though you won't be able to avoid meetings, making sure you have an itinerary avoids those meetings running over. A lot of people I talk to have a meeting that runs over, and then they have to rush to another one that's likely more important. They feel rushed, unprepared, and frenetic as they go into that meeting, which adds to the feeling of fatigue, because they're feeling rushed. The point of making an itinerary is to make sure this doesn't happen, and so that those feelings and that adrenaline doesn't compound to result in people feeling wiped out by 3pm.

Also, having an itinerary means that you won't let your meetings get hijacked. As Alex puts it, "We’ve all been there before: one co-worker begins the meeting by asking how everyone is doing, and before you know it, 45 minutes have gone by without any discussion of the true topic at hand—but you could easily repeat Sharon’s busy weekend plans!"

Now, Alex's post has 5 tips to help with Zoom fatigue, but that's the only one I'm really zooming in on (see what I did there?!) for this post is that one. Make sure that you're structuring meetings so that you're passing on the vital information to help everyone remain efficient in their daily tasks, and so that people can still share about themselves, but only within the established itinerary for the meeting. This will make sure people aren't on calls more than they thought, it gives them time between meetings to refocus and recharge, and it helps people feel less frenetic as their days progress.

Try a Fake Commute

John Rampton has a great post detailing why he likes the idea of a fake commute. First of all, a fake commute is basically replicating the work commute you used to have while you were driving every day to the office, but you're just coming back to your home office instead. It can definitely sound a bit odd, but I think the idea is actually pretty good. I mean, think about it - how many people are struggling to keep a strict line between their work and personal lives right now? I know I've spoken to dozens of people who have felt this way regularly through the past year.

Not only will a fake commute instantly create a bold line between your work and personal lives, but think about it - your work commute used to help you prepare for your work day. When I was commuting to work, I know I would always be thinking about what I knew I was doing that day. If it was team meeting day, I would think about my summary I was going to give on my accounts, because I knew I'd be called on to do so. If it was my cold-calling day, I would think of how I was going to change my voicemail or email for that round of engagement. On cold-calling days, I would also spend some time debating if I really wanted to show up to work, let's be honest, but the point is that I was always planning ahead. Now that a lot of us wake up, sometimes shower (still being honest for some of you), and more often than not, spend 5 minutes of prep before jumping on the computer, guess what we're doing? - We're no long planning and getting focused to start our days like we used to.

What 26 minutes probably looks like

The typical commute for people across the USA was 26 minutes, according to CNBC. That was 26 minutes away from the distractions at home, and 26 minutes to prepare for your work day that a lot of people have now axed because of our current WFH culture. Maybe it's time to bring that back! I'll probably lose a lot of readers by saying this, but start your day by dressing for work like you normally would have, grab your coffee and/or breakfast, and get in the car! It doesn't have to be a 26 minute drive, but give a 10 minute drive around the neighborhood a try. Park your car, come back in, go to your home office uninterrupted, and set up as you would've in 2019.

Our Tuesday's Tidbits and Thursday's Thoughts posts are always about diving into a topic that people are talking about and giving a few different things that people are trying, and nothing exemplifies that more than the fake commute. I don't think I know a single person who's currently doing that in my connection network, and I think it could be a great way to change your routine, to feel more prepared when you start your day, and I see the potential for that to help combat Zoom fatigue. Give it a try, and if you do, feel free to comment and let us know how it goes! Also, if you take it a step further and do a commute after your work day to distance the line between work life and personal life even more, let us know how that's working out as well! The point here is to add to the ongoing conversations so that people can read and try new ideas to always be improving personally and professionally. That's SweetHart Entertainment's goal!

Thank you for reading. Again, we'd love to hear if you've tried either of these, and how it worked out. If you found anything you thought insightful, we'd love you to share the post to others so that the conversation continues. We're hoping these posts stay valuable for people to see new ideas that can help them get better in any area of their professional or personal lives, and we're grateful for everyone who helps us do that by liking and sharing our posts. If you want to suggest a topic for the future, feel free to email us at SweetHartEntertainment@gmail.com!