10 Tips for Less Exhausting Zoom Meetings in 2023

Zoom meetings have become ubiquitous in today’s work environment. They allow us to connect with colleagues and teams around the world, which can increase productivity and collaboration. However, spending all day in back-to-back Zoom meetings can also feel exhausting and draining.

Here are 10 compassionate tips for making your Zoom meetings feel more energizing and meaningful:

1. Take Regular Breaks

Schedule short 5-10 minute breaks every 60-90 minutes to step away from the screen. This gives your eyes and brain a chance to rest.

2. Stay Hydrated

Keep water or a healthy beverage nearby to stay hydrated. Dehydration can worsen feelings of fatigue.

3. Adjust Your Setup

Experiment with lighting, equipment height and camera angle until you find a comfortable working setup.

4. Alternate Postures

Switch between sitting, standing and walking to avoid staying in one posture for too long.

5. Look Away from the Screen

Focus your eyes on objects around the room every so often give your eyes a break from the screen.

6. Do Breathing Exercises

Practice deep belly breathing or calming yoga breathing techniques to refresh your energy levels.

7. Stretch Your Body

Stand up during meetings whenever possible and do gentle stretches to relieve tension in the shoulders, neck and back.

8. Mute Your Mic When Not Speaking

Reduce unnecessary background noise and crosstalk by self-muting when you aren’t speaking. This also gives your ears a break.

9. Set Boundaries

Let meeting organizers know if you are feeling meeting fatigued and request scheduling changes when needed.

10. Prioritize Wellness

Speak up if the meeting schedule is negatively impacting your health. Wellbeing should be the top priority.

Optimize Your Visual Interface for Reduced Cognitive Load

The constant processing of facial expressions and social cues in a “gallery view” creates a phenomenon known as hyper-gaze, where the brain works overtime to decode non-verbal signals that are often absent or distorted. To mitigate this, consider toggling to “Speaker View” when you are not actively presenting. This forces your focus onto one individual, reducing the scanning effort your brain performs across dozens of tiny video tiles. Furthermore, minimize the self-view window. Seeing your own reflection for hours creates a subconscious feedback loop of self-evaluation and performance anxiety. By right-clicking your video tile and selecting “Hide Self View,” you stop the constant monitoring of your own posture and expressions, allowing you to focus entirely on the content of the meeting rather than your digital avatar.

Implement Asynchronous Alternatives to Shorten Synchronous Time

Not every update requires a real-time presence. Before sending a meeting invitation, audit the agenda: if the goal is information dissemination, record a 3-minute video summary using tools like Loom or CloudApp and share it via your internal messaging platform. This allows team members to consume the information at 1.5x speed, pause for note-taking, or revisit specific sections without the social pressure of a live call. If a meeting is necessary, utilize collaborative documents such as Notion or Google Docs to allow participants to contribute their thoughts asynchronously before the call begins. By the time you join the meeting, the “heavy lifting” of brainstorming or reporting is already done, transforming a standard 60-minute status update into a focused 15-minute alignment session.

Design “Low-Bandwidth” Meeting Days

Combat the “always-on” culture by establishing specific days or blocks of time dedicated to “Audio-Only” participation. When the camera is off, your brain is freed from the burden of performing social presence, allowing you to walk, fidget, or look away without appearing disinterested. Establish a clear team protocol: if a meeting is informational or a recurring sync, cameras are optional by default. This change significantly lowers the barrier to entry and reduces the exhaustion associated with maintaining a professional “on-camera” persona. Ensure that meeting invites explicitly state if a camera is required for specific interactive workshops so that participants can prepare their physical space accordingly, reducing the scramble to find a clean background or proper lighting at the last minute.

Master the Art of Digital Minimalism During Calls

Multitasking during Zoom is a primary driver of cognitive drain. When you attempt to answer emails or check Slack while listening to a meeting, you are forcing your brain to engage in rapid task-switching, which depletes your mental energy reserves at an accelerated rate. If you find yourself needing to multitask, it is a clear signal that the meeting is either poorly facilitated or irrelevant to your current priorities. Instead, close all extraneous browser tabs, silence desktop notifications, and commit to being “monotasking.” If the meeting content is not engaging enough to require your full attention, it is a professional signal that your attendance may not be required. Practice the art of declining meetings where your contribution is minimal to preserve your focus for deep work.

Utilize Physical Anchors to Stay Grounded

Virtual meetings often lead to a sense of dissociation from our physical environment. To combat this, use “physical anchors” that help you stay present and grounded. Keep a tactile object—a smooth stone, a stress ball, or even a specific fidget tool—on your desk to engage your sense of touch during long listening sessions. This provides a sensory outlet for nervous energy that would otherwise manifest as restlessness. Additionally, place a houseplant or a piece of art within your peripheral vision. When the conversation turns to technical or abstract topics, shifting your gaze to a natural, static element of your environment allows your visual system to reset, preventing the “screen-induced tunnel vision” that contributes to end-of-day headaches.

Structured Facilitation for Inclusive Participation

Exhaustion often stems from the “wait-time” anxiety—that awkward silence where participants are unsure if they should speak, leading to multiple people talking at once and the subsequent need to apologize. As a facilitator, implement a “Raise Hand” protocol or use a digital queue in the chat to manage the flow of conversation. This eliminates the need for participants to constantly monitor for social cues to jump in. If you are leading, explicitly invite quieter team members into the conversation by name, which removes the pressure for them to fight for airtime. By creating a predictable structure for interaction, you reduce the mental overhead of navigating the social dynamics of the virtual room, making the experience significantly less taxing for everyone involved.

FAQ

What is Zoom fatigue?

Zoom fatigue describes the tiredness, worry, or burnout associated with overusing virtual platforms like Zoom for meetings.

How can I stay energized in Zoom meetings?

Take regular breaks, hydrate, stretch, alternate postures, do breathing exercises, mute your mic when not speaking, set boundaries, and prioritize self-care.

How long should a Zoom meeting be?

Aim for Zoom meetings to be no longer than 60-90 minutes, with at least 5-10 minutes of break time per hour of meetings.

What causes Zoom fatigue?

Excessive amounts of close-up eye contact, constantly seeing yourself on video, lack of mobility, and increased cognitive load can all amplify feelings of fatigue.

Can Zoom meetings be improved?

Yes! Encourage participants to use the best lighting and camera setups, take regular breaks, set boundaries when needed, and foster an inclusive environment focused on wellbeing over optimization.