Your organization has decided that online is the way to do meetings now and suddenly you’re faced with a packed schedule. You might be feeling overwhelmed with all of the virtual meetings, video calls, and training webinars coming across your screen every day. You’ve used Zoom with your work team, your children use Microsoft Teams with their class, your latest workshop used Adobe Connect, your high school friends suddenly want to have a House Party! The abundance of virtual RSVPs can leave you dragging and exhausted. Yes, connecting with colleagues is necessary when working remotely and yes, the different online platforms and software help to connect, but what can be done to mindfully engage before, during, and after those essential meetings? This article will address some areas of digital fatigue and provide some strategies of how you as the meeting organizer might alleviate online overload so your team can remain energized as everyone navigates this never before experienced increase in virtual conferencing.

Mindful preparation

As you become aware of all the different ways people and organizations are now connecting, feelings of overwhelm may be creeping in. I’m not even going anywhere – why do I feel so rushed/scheduled/tired? You are not alone if these thoughts have crossed your mind. Zoom reportedly went from 10 million daily users to more than 200 million! (CNBC, 2020) While the virtual meeting can be a great alternative where a physical team meeting is not an option, your schedule might quickly fill up. One way to avoid over-scheduling on burn-out is to act as though they are in-person.

Stacking meetings all day long might be common, but physical meetings had to include travel time. Whether it was across the office or across town, you had to get there! When scheduling your meeting, book in some “travel” time. This cushion prior to your start time can allow yourself those moments of transition from one event to the next. Even if the event is simply entering your workspace and making sure your cat doesn’t make yet another cameo!

Along with the travel time prior to your meeting, you may have arrived early to your in-person meeting and chatted informally with your colleagues.Those informal exchanges may not have had a direct impact on the meeting but help to build connections among your group. As the meeting organizer, opening up the platform and formally creating (and supporting!) that space for those exchanges might help to replace some of that “water cooler talk” that no longer happens organically. After a few minutes of chatting, your attendees have already warmed up the conversation and may feel better prepared to chime in. Once the meeting officially begins, there are a few ways to pick up the energy throughout the session.

Moments to move

Throughout a typical day at the office, you would likely get up from your desk to attend a team meeting, drop in at your colleagues cubicle or simply fill up your water glass or grab a snack while in the meeting. Each of those scenarios builds in opportunities to move your body, for your eyes to shift focus, and for your brain to function differently. When virtual meetings are stacked throughout one day, it can be easy for time to slip away and forget to allow for respite for the body. Intentionally creating moments for this to happen can assist the body and mind to remain energized.

Consider adopting the 20-20-20 rule. Every 20 minutes take your eyes away from the screen, lookat something 20 feet away, and hold that gaze for 20 seconds. This simple refocus can happen with minimal interruption to the meeting and can help to avoid dry eye, headaches or straining of the eyes. (CAO, 2020) Movement of your whole body can help to prevent stiffness, aches, and cramps as well. If you’re not on camera, consider simply doing laps around your workspace (while staying in audio and mic range!) can get your blood flowing easily and quickly. If your camera is on, re-adjusting yourself to be in a standing position for a period of discussion is entirely appropriate as well. If your colleagues are confused, explain why you are now standing and invite them to join you.

If fatigue is really settling in, a few steps around the room may not be enough. Using the ‘step away’ status is certainly an option. Use your judgement to decide when the most appropriate time would be for you to step out and change that status. To maximize this opportunity, consider where you would be meeting if this were an in-person setting. How far would you have to move to refill your water or to use the washroom? Estimate that same distance within your current workspace and break accordingly. As the meeting organizer, not only should you consider these ideas for yourself, but remember to invite others to do the same. Creating the space and offering direct invites will set the tone for a supportive and healthy virtual meeting.

Sign off and ship out

Finally, following the conclusion of your virtual meeting, allow for some offline recovery. Again, envisioning the conclusion of an in-person meeting – what happens? Does everyone remain around the table and immediately dive into a new meeting or work? No! There is small talk, people get up and head back to their offices or out of the building. Blocking off time in your calendar to allow for this recovery might be one of the easiest things to do with the highest impact. Muscles build during the recovery process. Creative ideas flourish in the silence. We need the off time to percolate.

If your remote workspace offers an opportunity to create different zones allowing an area for meetings to happen that is different from your everyday workspace, you can create that tangible change of scenery. If that is not an option, simply getting up and going to a new area or for a walk will achieve the same goal. Actually getting up from your workspace and mimicking your actions like you would if you were moving from your meeting room back to your desk provides a physical transition for your body and signals to your mind that it is time for something new to happen.

If that Something New is another meeting then take a look at your calendar and see if you have built in the cushion prior to your meeting to begin this cycle again with Mindful Preparation!

Megan Foster is passionate about helping leaders inspire and energize their team members. As the founder of Mosaic Engagement, she is on a mission to motivate organizations to harness the expertise and creative power within their own team. Learn more at www.mosaicengagement.ca.