If you end the day wiped out after hours of staring at a grid of faces, you’re not alone. So-called “Zoom fatigue” has been described as the exhaustion that comes from having other people’s faces up close, seeing yourself all the time, and barely moving. The fix isn’t to stop meeting. It’s to change the format: less camera when it adds nothing, more voice, meetings on the move, and spaces where people are “in” a place instead of stuck in a little box.
Here are concrete options, from two-minute tweaks to entirely different formats.
Why the grid is so draining
You don’t need a study to recognize the reasons:
- Lots of faces staring at you, up close, all at once. In an in-person meeting, you don’t have ten people looking you in the eye the whole time.
- Your own face is always on screen. You check yourself without meaning to: your hair, the lighting, your expression.
- You can’t move. You have to stay inside the frame.
- Mixed signals. It’s hard to tell who’s about to speak, when to jump in, or whether someone agrees.
- Everything looks the same. The budget review and the team coffee chat happen in the exact same grid.
Quick fixes for your usual video call
Before switching tools, try these:
- Hide your self-view. Most platforms let you do it. It’s probably the change with the best effort-to-relief ratio.
- Use speaker view instead of the grid when the meeting is a presentation.
- Make the window smaller and sit back a bit. Giant faces are more tiring.
- Make cameras optional in meetings that don’t need them.
- Schedule 25- or 50-minute meetings instead of 30 or 60, so there’s breathing room in between.
Alternative 1: voice only
For plenty of conversations, the camera adds nothing. A voice call frees you from the frame: you can look out the window, take notes by hand, or walk around the house.
Works for: quick check-ins, one-on-ones, brainstorming. Not so great for: meetings where you need to read reactions or show something visual.
Alternative 2: walking meetings
A voice call with earbuds while you walk. For conversations between two or three people it’s surprisingly productive, and it breaks up a sedentary day.
Tip: agree on the topics beforehand and have someone write up notes afterward.
Alternative 3: async work
A lot of meetings could be a message, a shared doc, or a recorded voice note. Before you schedule, ask: “Do we all need to be here at the same time for this?” If the answer is no, you just saved a call.
Alternative 4: 3D spaces with avatars
One option that keeps growing is meeting in virtual spaces where everyone has an avatar in a shared place: a room, a table, a studio. Instead of staring at faces in close-up, you see everyone around a table, and the conversation feels more like being in the same spot.
What tends to help:
- No close-up faces all the time.
- You don’t see yourself in a little box.
- There’s spatial context: who’s sitting next to whom, who’s talking.
- Each meeting can have its own place: Friday coffee doesn’t have to look like the planning meeting.
What to keep in mind:
- You need a computer with some graphics power.
- There’s a small learning curve.
- It doesn’t replace real facial expressions when they matter, for example in a sensitive conversation.
In remocast, for example, the host sets up a 3D room in the browser and up to six people join with a link, each with an avatar that wears their photo as its face and moves its mouth and hands as they talk. A cinematic camera frames whoever is speaking, so attention follows the conversation without anyone having to look at themselves in a grid. There are reactions like laughing or a thumbs-up so you can respond without interrupting.
If you’re interested in using this with work teams, read more human remote meetings.
Alternative 5: structured formats
Sometimes the problem isn’t the tool, it’s meetings with no shape. A few structures that help:
| Format | How it works | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Quick round | Each person speaks for one minute, in turn | Team updates |
| Moderator with an agenda | Someone keeps time and topics | Meetings that need decisions |
| Roundtable | A few people debate one topic | Open discussions |
| Game or activity | A short activity with rules | Team bonding and breaks |
For groups of four to six, the techniques of a roundtable podcast work surprisingly well. Check out how to moderate a roundtable.
How to pick the right alternative
Ask yourself three questions:
- Do we need to see each other? If not, go voice-only or async.
- Is it a conversation or a presentation? Presentation: speaker view. Conversation: voice, a walk, or a shared space.
- Is it work or a social hangout? For social time, a space with a bit of play or personality makes all the difference. There are ideas in virtual hangout ideas with friends.
Take care of your body too
No tool helps if you spend eight hours without moving:
- Leave at least five minutes between meetings.
- Get up, stretch, look at something far away.
- Use comfortable headphones so you don’t strain your neck.
- Raise your screen so you’re not looking down.
If you want to try a different kind of meeting with your team or friends, create your free studio and compare it with the usual grid.
Frequently asked questions
What is Zoom fatigue?
It’s the tiredness many people feel after spending hours on video calls: the strain of being on camera, seeing yourself, looking at faces up close, and barely moving.
Does turning off the camera reduce fatigue?
For many people, yes, especially hiding your own self-view. Ideally, your team agrees on when the camera is needed and when it isn’t.
Do 3D spaces with avatars work for work meetings?
They work well for conversation-heavy meetings, team bonding, and small teams. For presentations with lots of documents, a traditional tool with screen sharing may be more practical.