I've been working from home for about 18 months now and lately I'm exhausted by the end of the day even though I'm not doing anything physically demanding. It's mostly back-to-back video calls with my team and clients. My eyes hurt, I get headaches, and I feel drained. Is this normal and what can actually help?
Turn off self-view in Zoom - watching yourself constantly triggers the same brain activity as being watched, which is exhausting over hours. Beyond that, the eye strain comes from staring at a close screen without breaks, so set a timer to look away every 20 minutes or so, and sit further back if you can. Headaches often spike from jaw tension you're not aware of, so consciously relax your face between calls. Most people don't realize how much cognitive load video calls add because you're processing facial expressions and fighting slight audio delays, so just accepting that it's genuinely tiring (not laziness) helps - sometimes you just need to build in actual breaks, even 10 minutes of doing nothing between meetings instead of back-to-back.
i realized halfway through a brutal day of back-to-backs that i wasn't taking actual breaks between calls - like literally going from one meeting straight into another with maybe 30 seconds to breathe. started blocking out even just 5-10 minutes between meetings to step away from the screen, grab water, look at something far away. the difference was immediate, way more than i expected.
the physical stuff matters too - your monitor height, chair, lighting all factor in. but honestly the biggest thing is giving your brain actual transition time instead of drowning in faces for 8 hours straight. even just walking to another room for two minutes helps reset things.
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