The New Normal Fatigue

Princess T. Sangalang

The Corona Virus (CoVid-19) pandemic has been considered as the great reset not only the economy, but also in education. This pandemic forced schools, public or private, to move from the traditional in-person setting to online modality.

Since the pandemic is depriving the people from the traditional physical meetups, educators opted to transition to web conferences like Zoom, Google Meet, Messenger and other online platforms. These synchronous online platforms have advantages and deemed disadvantages. The use and overuse of live meetings, chats and video conferencing have brought constraints to educators (Arhcambault, et.al, 2020).

One of the implications of the mentioned online platforms is the Zoom fatigue. Zoom Fatigue, as mentioned by Sklar (2020), is a slang that refers to the exhaustion brought by the use not only of Zoom, but also Google Meet, Skype, FaceTime and other video-calling interface.

This newly-coined term has gained popularity since online education, online transactions and online businesses have cemented a spot in our daily lives. Because of the urging need to buy safely, be informed wisely and be updated, we tend to use online virtual conferencing and chatting never realizing that we feel more tired than usual. We feel stressed. Well, these feelings are valid since we might be encountering Zoom fatigue.

Newly crafted articles proved that Zoom fatigue exists. It is caused by screen freeze, recurring echo, silence and delays are the deemed occurrences that make virtual platforms draining. Moreover, it is considered as reward-cost mechanism in Psychology. The simple explanation for this is that, if there is a poor connectivity, negative perceptions and distrust may be associated.

The results of this phenomenon are noticeable. Signs like headache, feeling of being exhausted, discomfort and obvious physical changes like poor eyesight and the likes.

Zoom fatigue might be a new, popular name of the game. But teachers, students and employees alike must be aware and precautious of this. This kind of burnout actually affects our mental health. And so, it is just right to limit our screen time. If our work requires us to be in front of the screen for a long period, then, short breaks, casual, personal talks among family members and friends and napping may help us release the stress. We have to bear in mind that it is this time that we have to take care of our health and our mental health.

It is now more than ever that we have to embrace change without compromising our self. We need to heal as one, not stressed as one.

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The author is SST-III at Angeles City Science High School