Ever feel your eyes get suddenly heavy and your vision slowly dissipates into a blur? You hear words coming out of your professor’s mouth, but all you can do is stare blankly at your unending loop of Zoom classes. Do you go to bed feeling mentally exhausted? Are you drinking water frequently? Did you just realize you aren’t drinking enough water? Sound familiar? We’ve all got the case of zoom fatigue, and it’s an uncomfortable state to slip into. We should, of course, be thankful for the opportunity to continue our education despite the ongoing pandemic, but none of us probably expected the transition to online classes to physically impact us. Here are a few tips to combat that Zoom fatigue!
1. Capitalize that break! (for back-to-back Zoom classes)
The most important break you can capitalize is between back-to-back Zoom classes. If you have this pattern in your schedule, try not to squeeze in work between classes. If you didn’t do an assignment, those 10 minutes will likely not do you much justice, so you might as well let your brain recover for the next class.
2. Right after class, take a break
I know you want to maximize your studying time, because I do too! However, it’s never worth sacrificing your physical and mental well-being to get the grades for which you strive. Studying longer doesn’t always translate to higher grades. Take a break after your Zoom class. You deserve it! At Bentley, those 10 minutes between classes weren’t solely to allot time to get you from class A to class B. It was your breath of fresh air (literally). Even if you don’t have back-to-back classes, treat the 10-minute break after a class as the down-time you would have after an actual class. When you’re thinking about your day, treat your 80 minutes classes as 90-minute blocks, where the 10 minutes after the class is your mini-break.
3. Take short, frequent breaks
You are likely better off taking short, frequent breaks rather than alternating working and resting for hours at a time. Maybe in the first long period of working and resting, you’re productive! But, more often than not, we feel less motivated to study for long hours after the first time around. We usually end up working for shorter periods and resting for longer periods as the day continues because we tell ourselves we deserved the break. We definitely deserve a break, but we can do so without sacrificing our productivity! A general rule of thumb I like to do is study for 1-2 hours, then take a break for 20 minutes. By working for shorter periods and taking frequent breaks, I’m constantly recharging my brain before it feels overloaded and drained. Consequently, I maintain my productivity throughout the day.
4. Drink water!
It’s easy to forget to drink water when most of us stay home or are in our dorms most of the day. We usually stay in one place, so if we don’t have water from the start, we will likely only drink during meals, and that’s not enough. In Zoom classes, we also tend to lose attention easily because we don’t have the in-person interaction constantly stimulating our mind. I always have water by my side during Zoom classes. Sometimes, I’ll catch myself losing focus, and I grab my water and take a sip. Not only am I hydrating myself, but I’m also forcing my mind to get unstuck from zoning out. I used to zone out a lot, and it became a phenomenon during and outside of Zoom classes. Having water by my side was one small way to help me refocus and bring myself back to class. A win-win situation!
5. Set boundaries between work and personal time
When everything is online, including classes, it becomes much harder to differentiate work time versus personal time. Most of us work from the same room in which we sleep. It’s more difficult to set boundaries between when we should work and when we should rest. If possible, one boundary you can set is your space. If you can work outside of your room, take advantage of that opportunity! It also may help your productivity as your mind subconsciously identifies your room as a place of rest, not work. As a result, you may find yourself doing more work efficiently outside of your room. Of course, not everyone has the luxury of working outside of their room, so I would suggest setting time boundaries. Time boundaries are useful for everyone, not just students. Every day, give yourself time when you first wake up and before you go to bed to have personal time. No class readings, taking notes, reading emails, or anything else related to school/work. Even if it’s only for a few minutes, I highly suggest this as it stimulates or calms your mind before or after a day’s worth of work. It also pushes you to maximize the time you allow yourself for work.
We are all in the same boat. Some of us are just better at covering how overwhelming this new virtual educational environment is. You are not alone. At the least, I feel the same way, but taking these small, purposeful steps to bettering our physical and mental well-being will help.