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Are you starting to feel a bit, overwhelmed, by the constant content, webinars, and video meetings? Turns out, you are not crazy – it is a real thing! Many of us are feeling the digital fatigue in a real way. It was great in the beginning, when COVID-19 upheaved our normal lives and patterns. But as the months have gone on, it is all getting to be too much – and is hurting our business/work life. To increase your own and your business productivity, we’ve provided three proven ways you can combat the digital overload:
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Encourage detox times
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A few months ago, when the use of technologies like Microsoft Teams and Zoom took off at the start of COVID quarantine, we talked about the need to make sure your employees were not “always” available. The purpose at the time was to help mimic normal working hours and home life to avoid some of the pitfalls of working remotely. This is more important than ever and will require you to go a step further. Encourage your team throughout the workday to take time away from the constant content and contact-ability. Take a lunch, take 15 minutes breaks, the options are endless. This “detox” time will help everyone feel more grounded and be more productive. This translates into life outside of working hours as well, when families, friends and loved ones need our full focus.
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Limit meetings
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This might go against what everyone recommended in the beginning of COVID-19, but the reality is things have changed. While it is still important to encourage and foster a sense of community, limiting your company online meetings to only truly necessary ones will aid in productivity and limit digital burnout. Why? Because “Video chat means we need to work harder to process non-verbal cues like facial expressions, the tone and pitch of the voice, and body language; paying more attention to these consumes a lot of energy. Our minds are together when our bodies feel we are not.” (Forbes). Therefore, by limiting the number of meetings to only essential ones, you ensure that the focus and ability to be productive in them is greatly enhanced. Plus – you can then leave some of the digital load for more community focused activities.
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Use digital for fun
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The reality is that we do still need to have fun – and with social distancing in place in most states, this will rely on digital tools. We therefore need to try to not digitally overload with work to the degree that no one feels up to participating in the fun side! The plus of saving digital tools like Zoom for fun, is that it takes some of the pressure off of having to pay more attention to all the non-verbal cues. Encouraging fun during your working hours is one option you might want to explore – and could also mimic the old work life well. Ending work early on Fridays for happy hours can help encourage your teams to connect outside of work.
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The best thing you can do, is to try to get ahead of the fatigue. Acknowledge it to your employees and team and ask them what they would prefer. The three instances above are great tools to use – it is up to you to implement them. Doing it early will benefit your company and productivity exponentially moving forward.
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Interested in learning more about fighting the digital fatigue? Contact our team at Kim@QuantumMark.com today!
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