How to avoid Zoom Fatigue (3 Simple Fixes)

November 20, 2025

“Just because you can use video doesn’t mean you have to.” — Jeremy Bailenson

Why it works

Jeremy Bailenson (pictured) is a Professor of Communication at Stanford University and the founding director of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab. As one of the world’s leading experts on how digital environments shape the human mind, his research explores the effects of virtual reality, video calls, and other forms of mediated communication on our performance and well-being—and how we can use these tools more intentionally to improve both.

In a landmark 2021 paper, Bailenson systematically defined and explained what he calls Zoom Fatigue—a state of mental, physical, and psychological exhaustion that arises from prolonged exposure to video conferencing. His research reveals that our brains struggle with video calls for several interconnected reasons, notably the constant need to see ourselves on screen, sustain unnatural eye contact at close range, and exaggerate nonverbal cues for the camera. Together, these factors overstimulate the brain and drain our cognitive energy.

The good news is that small, science-backed tweaks can dramatically reduce Zoom Fatigue. Here are 3 simple fixes based on Bailenson’s research and advice.

How to do it

Step 1: Hide self-view
Constantly seeing yourself on screen during video calls is mentally draining. Staring at your own image in a small window creates an “all-day mirror” effect, which is highly unnatural. Bailenson explains: “In the real world, if somebody was following you around with a mirror constantly—so that while you were talking to people, making decisions, giving feedback, getting feedback—you were seeing yourself in a mirror, that would just be crazy.” It heightens self-monitoring, activates self-evaluation circuits in the brain, and increases cognitive load, which can be very taxing.

The fix: hide self-view by turning it off in Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or your preferred video chat platform. Doing so allows your mind to relax and makes it easier to stay present, confident, and energized throughout both the meeting and your day. This doesn’t mean switching off your camera—others will still see you—but it removes the constant mirror effect on your end. Here’s how: in Zoom, right-click your video and select Hide Self View; in Microsoft Teams, click View, then More options, and select Hide me; in Google Meet, hover over your video tile in the browser, click More options, and select Hide self view.

Brought to you by Shortform:

Want a smarter way to keep up with great books?

Today, Beyond Productivity is brought to you by Shortform. They make the best book summaries I’ve found.

Shortform gives you key insights from top non-fiction books without fluff, using:

  • Concise 1-page summaries

  • In-depth chapter guides

  • Interactive exercises

Their book guides have transformed my productivity and growth by making learning faster.

One of my favorite books, Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, is packed with timeless and clever advice, and Shortform’s summary made it easy to apply.

Step 2: Reduce face size
Too much close-up eye contact can be surprisingly stressful. Both the constant gaze and the oversized faces on screen feel unnatural to our brains. In real-life meetings, eye contact naturally ebbs and flows as people look at the speaker, glance at their notes, or briefly look away. On video calls, however, everyone appears to be staring at everyone else the entire time. Compounding the effect, faces often appear at a distance that would feel uncomfortably close in real life: when someone’s face is that close to ours in real life, our brain reads it as a high-stakes situation that—in the real world—would either lead to intimacy or conflict. “What’s happening, in effect, when you’re using Zoom for many, many hours is that you’re in this hyper-aroused state,” says Bailenson.

The fix: take your video platform out of full-screen mode and shrink the window to reduce the perceived face size. This simple adjustment lowers arousal and stress levels, helping you feel calmer and more in control. I personally set my video chat app to display only the active speaker and place the window at the top center of my screen—keeping it roughly half the screen’s height and one-third of its width. That way, it captures just enough space for natural eye contact without visual strain.

Step 3: Switch to audio-only
Nonverbal communication is far more mentally demanding on video. In regular face-to-face conversations, gestures, posture, and subtle facial expressions happen effortlessly. On camera, however, we must exaggerate these cues to make them visible through a screen. As Bailenson notes, “You’ve got to make sure that your head is framed within the center of the video. If you want to show someone that you are agreeing with them, you have to do an exaggerated nod or put your thumbs up. That adds cognitive load as you’re using mental calories in order to communicate.”

The fix: during long video calls, take periodic “audio-only” breaks to let your brain recover. This could mean turning your camera off for a few minutes, standing up, stretching, or walking while continuing to listen. Even brief movement resets attention and restores focus. Personally, I try to take portions of longer meetings “off video” whenever possible. These intentional pauses help me sustain my energy and make my on-camera time feel more natural and focused.

Turning off self-view, shrinking the video window, and taking periodic “audio-only” breaks can make virtual meetings noticeably less tiring, less stressful, and more productive.

If you want to go pro at avoiding Zoom fatigue, choose meetings that are entirely audio-only whenever possible. As Bailenson notes, “Just because you can use video doesn’t mean you have to.” More often than not, a simple phone call is all you need.

The next time you open your video chat app for a day of back-to-back meetings, try these 3 simple fixes—and notice how much lighter and sharper you feel by the end of the day.

Until next month
Christian

PS:
Are you struggling to focus on the important work being busy with urgent stuff? Are you feeling tired throughout the day despite sleeping for 7 or 8 hours at night? Are you having trouble dealing with high stress at work and "switching off" at home?

If that sounds familiar, my Becoming Ultraproductive 1:1 Coaching Program is for you. In it, I personally provide the support, systems and accountability that executives, entrepreneurs and leaders need to double their productivity and master stress in just 3 months.

Since 2023, I’ve coached 85+ executives, entrepreneurs and leaders on Becoming Ultraproductive. The program includes:

  • 1:1 personal coaching with me over 3 months (6 sessions customized to your needs)

  • Tailored systems to optimize your focus, energy, motivation, sleep, stress & more

  •  A guaranteed 100% productivity increase (not kidding)

Interested? Learn more and book your free discovery call here while you can. I only take on 10 clients at a time and seats are booking fast.

There are 800 million users on LinkedIn, and 99% of them aren’t creators.

Translation? There has never been a better time to grow an audience on LinkedIn.

Unlike most other LinkedIn growth coaches, my co-author Eric Partaker and I walked the talk:

  • We’ve built a 1+ million audience across LinkedIn (1,000,000+ followers) and our newsletters (200,000+ subscribers) in just 12 months

  • We’ve created a 7-figure business from our LinkedIn thought leadership through services (e.g. coaching) and products (e.g. courses)

  • We’ve been ranked #1 LinkedIn creators by Favikon and got a book deal with Portfolio Penguin for our first book

Our #1 goal for this coaching program is to make it the highest ROI investment of your life. Learn more and book a free discovery call here so that we can get in touch.

2 more ways I can help you

Want a free PDF of my top infographics? Get it here.

Interested in sponsorships for my newsletter or LinkedIn? Get in touch here.