[ryanmcgarvey]

In my experience, working from home is similar to many of the other skills we hone in our careers.

Yes, the tools you use will impact performance and quality of life. Invest in these. But also, getting better at video calls helps with performance and quality of life.

I have found that when we treat video calls as real time conversations, we get frustrated with latency and the lack of proper audio mixing.

However, if I and the people I video conference with obey certain protocols: 1 person speaks at a time, raise your hand to speak next, etc, many of the frustrations that cause fatigue go away.

It still isn't a replacement for the real time, able to talk over each other style that we might prefer, but at least it's productive and less of a drag.

I'll note that when we adhere to these protocols, we find not only are we less fatigued, but the quality of communication sky rockets. I think this is a result of everyone having more room to think and being forced to prepare your thoughts rather than reacting with whichever thought comes first.

Regarding the "they're just trying to get us back in the office" debate - I'm hopeful that genZ will come fully immunized against zoom fatigue and it'll be less of an issue.

[chrisweekly]

Also -- HIDE THE VIEW OF YOUR OWN FACE! This is a significant factor in "zoom fatigue" experienced by many. Looking at yourself in the mirror during high-stakes professional interactions is a footgun.