Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Zoom fatigue unpacked

leadership.garden

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 166 posts

Re: Zoom fatigue unpacked

#21

Post by mcronce »

noman-land wrote: post #16
ehnto wrote: post #9

I turn my camera off on big calls and it helps a bunch, there's a process running in the back of my mind when it's on that is constantly screening what I am doing just incase it looks stupid on camera. It feels like being in a panopticon. You never know if someone is looking. It's very tiring. I don't have the same issue in person because you know when people are looking at you in person and there's heaps of context…

I want you and everyone else to know that sometimes on large zoom calls I will "pin" one person in the call and stare at them for multiple minutes in a row on fullscreen. I do this all the time.

You woke up and chose violence

Re: Zoom fatigue unpacked

#22

Post by blowski »

codingdave wrote: post #10

Of course, the elephant in the room is that people need to stop having so many meetings. Those of us who have been working remotely for a decade or more never had this problem - we use async communications, quick one-off calls when needed, and really never spent all our time in meetings. But when everyone moved to remote work a few years ago, this culture of meetings all day came up... and it still confuses me. It is…

Im not sure it came up in 2020. I’ve been at work since the late 90s and the same complaints were made then. The difference now is that everybody is also responding on Slack throughout, so it’s like having double-density meetings.

Re: Zoom fatigue unpacked

#23

Post by nimbius »

codingdave wrote: post #10

Of course, the elephant in the room is that people need to stop having so many meetings. Those of us who have been working remotely for a decade or more never had this problem - we use async communications, quick one-off calls when needed, and really never spent all our time in meetings. But when everyone moved to remote work a few years ago, this culture of meetings all day came up... and it still confuses me. It is…

agreed. dont know who needs to hear this but if you're having more than 1 scrum a week its not devops, its micromanagement, and if youve got more than 2-3 meetings a week youre effectively doing your managers work.

if it can be summarized in 2-3 lines in an email, dont accept the meeting.

Re: Zoom fatigue unpacked

#24

Post by janosdebugs »

codingdave wrote: post #10

Of course, the elephant in the room is that people need to stop having so many meetings. Those of us who have been working remotely for a decade or more never had this problem - we use async communications, quick one-off calls when needed, and really never spent all our time in meetings. But when everyone moved to remote work a few years ago, this culture of meetings all day came up... and it still confuses me. It is…

This, thank you. I recently quit my corporate job and we started our own company with my wife... never been so productive. Meetings are truly productivity killers. Why hire smart people for a lot of money to then have them sit around in groups of 10+, half listening, half braindead?

Re: Zoom fatigue unpacked

#25

Post by nine_k »

trillic wrote: post #17
BiteCode_dev wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The hard part is to start, but once you have done it, you feel better. Even a simple chore like cleaning will help. Going to the supermarket will not, since you can get quiet and focused on the physicality. Just walking outside will do it you have nothing to do.

Kids have recess. Why not adults too?

When kids have a recess, they are cared for by the adults.

When adults have vacation, they are usually cared for by themselves, or have to care about the kids who are having their recess :)

Re: Zoom fatigue unpacked

#26

Post by selectodude »

trillic wrote: post #17
BiteCode_dev wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The hard part is to start, but once you have done it, you feel better. Even a simple chore like cleaning will help. Going to the supermarket will not, since you can get quiet and focused on the physicality. Just walking outside will do it you have nothing to do.

Kids have recess. Why not adults too?

I get an hour for lunch where I’m pretty much expected to close my laptop and not be available. Pretty similar to recess time wise.

Re: Zoom fatigue unpacked

#27

Post by GravelRocks »

noman-land wrote: post #16
ehnto wrote: post #9

I turn my camera off on big calls and it helps a bunch, there's a process running in the back of my mind when it's on that is constantly screening what I am doing just incase it looks stupid on camera. It feels like being in a panopticon. You never know if someone is looking. It's very tiring. I don't have the same issue in person because you know when people are looking at you in person and there's heaps of context…

I want you and everyone else to know that sometimes on large zoom calls I will "pin" one person in the call and stare at them for multiple minutes in a row on fullscreen. I do this all the time.

I do this too. I usually cycle through a few people if multiple people have their camera on. I also take snips and draw mustaches/glasses/graffiti on them in paint during really boring meetings.

Re: Zoom fatigue unpacked

#28

Post by fader »

grokas wrote: post #3

I guess I was doing some these things already and didnt know it. Standing desk locked in the up position for zoom marathon days. Stepping back from the screens and camera when there isnt any reason to have hands on kb/m. I'm a usual pacer when on the phone so I'm not sure if that's instinct or habit but it certainly helps. Scheduling is also not mentioned surprisingly, but leaving 5-15m buffer gaps between back to ba…

I've tried leaving 15 minute buffers in between meetings. All that happens is that my colleagues schedule 15 minute long meetings in the gaps. It's exhausting.

Re: Zoom fatigue unpacked

#29

Post by cameldrv »

One other thing not mentioned is latency. Zoom does a good job with this, but there are fundamental limits.

This makes it more cognitively demanding to find the right moment to jump in, and if two people jump in at the same time, they have to resolve the conflict, which is slower than in-person.

This also tends to lead to a style of conversation where one person talks longer. It's a little like email vs. slack. The conversation is more synchronous.

Re: Zoom fatigue unpacked

#30

Post by shortcake27 »

dtx1 wrote: post #8

The whole mirror fatique thing is really interesting. I get enormous social anxiety on virtual calls and am constantly checking my mirror. I hate teams for that reason, i can't properly see what I am transmitting while Google meet is showing me Exactly what I'm sending in HD. I think I'll have to experiment with removing that and see if it reduces my anxiety

It’s a catch 22 for me.

When it’s there, I can’t stop looking at it to ensure I look ok.

When it’s not there, I’m stressing because I don’t know how I look.

Post reply on HN