Balancing Screen Time in Virtual Meetings

With end of the year deadlines fast approaching, it can be easy to focus deeply on work-related tasks without missing a beat—and without taking a break. This can get exacerbated when working from home, where you’re moving from meeting to meeting virtually. Research shows that intentional movement throughout the day is crucial for maintaining cognitive function and overall well-being - in fact, our last Dropbox-sponsored Economist Impact study, where we surveyed over 1,000 knowledge workers all over the globe, revealed that taking regular breaks can enhance focus, work quality, and even motivation. With this in mind, we piloted incorporating movement into meetings earlier this year and saw stellar results 🎉 - 67% of participants saw a decrease in Zoom fatigue, while 97% felt more energized on those days, seeing a spike in creativity and focus. And, we created a toolkit practice that supports recharging between bouts of deep work, and is designed to help anyone incorporate movement into their days by making some meetings mobile. Here’s how you can start: 1️⃣ Choose the right meeting: Not all meetings require a screen. Try mobile meetings for 1:1s, casual coffee chats, or non-essential calls. 2️⃣ Plan ahead: Consider where and how you’ll move. Will you move indoors, head to the park, or bring a mat for stretching? 3️⃣ Communicate: Shift the culture by suggesting a ‘Meet & Move’ to your team. Let them know it’s about recharging and staying productive. I am a huge fan of doing walk & talk 1:1s especially to start my day - adding 5-10 minutes of movement into your day can change the work that gets done and how good you feel while doing it. Check out more in our Virtual First toolkit 👇https://lnkd.in/g2TXpfUV #VirtualFirst #MeetAndMove #FutureofWork #Remote

You're building a digital prison without realizing it. Sitting at your desk. Staring at faces in boxes. Meeting after meeting. Your body wasn't designed for this. Your mind wasn't wired for constant screen time. Truth is, the "future of work" everyone talks about is killing your energy, creativity, and mental clarity. Here's what I do instead: • Audit my calendar • Identify mobile-friendly calls • Convert them to phone calls instead of Zooms • Create a simple walking route • Take the call while walking outside • Stack health + work simultaneously • Move my body throughout the day • Break free from the desk prison • Make movement the default After doing this I feel: • Higher energy levels • Clearer in my thinking • Better at having healthy conversations • More creative Most people think remote work = freedom. But if you're chained to your desk all day, you just traded one prison for another. Remember: Your productivity is directly tied to your physical and mental state. Build systems that serve both.

Sometimes when I am on the nth video call of the day, I feel the mental fog. heavy eyelids and a struggle to focus... But is virtual meeting fatigue actually real? Turns out, it is Recent neuroscience research confirms that virtual meeting fatigue is a measurable neurological phenomenon. Researchers at MIT attached EEG and ECG devices to measure participants brain and heart activity during meetings. The findings? ➡️ Virtual meetings trigger specific brain activity patterns indicating mental fatigue ➡️ These patterns differ significantly from face-to-face meeting. ➡️ When you can see your own mirror image, brain activity shows greater mental fatigue But with 98% of all meetings now having at least one remote participant, and many of us still attending many hours of virtual meetings daily, we need solutions. So through interviews with 30 professionals from major companies, researchers uncovered strategies that work: Here are three brain friendly meeting strategies for you to try: ➡️ Go audio-only when possible : I now take internal meetings sometimes while standing up or walking. The physical movement offsets mental fatigue and I am more focused without worrying about facial expressions or my background. ➡️ Turn off self-view : This is a game-changer. Constantly seeing yourself is exhausting. Your brain splits attention between the meeting and monitoring how you look. Studies show both men and women feel this equally. To maintain focus, stop constantly checking on yourself during virtual meetings. ➡️ Practice "IT mindfulness: Explore features to adapt platforms to your needs. Play with backgrounds, audience views, and audio settings until you find a setup that feels less draining for you. These suggestions are based on brain science and real experience. What virtual meeting habit will you change this week? Found other strategies that work?