The Zoom where it happens
This week I had 26 Zoom calls from Monday to Friday, which comes out to just over five per day.
I already used Zoom a lot for work before the pandemic. I worked out of Vox’s New York office, and many of my colleagues were in DC, so Zoom was already a regular part of my work life; during the pandemic, as everyone now knows, Zoom has become not just a once-in-a-while tool, but something that is essential both to doing our jobs and to keeping in touch with our family and friends.
The majority of my conversations with other humans are now mediated through a screen, which feels incredibly weird to think about. There’s an element of video calls that actually feels somewhat draining: it’s an approximation of human contact, sure, but it’s not real human contact.
There are shaky wifi connections and lags and awkwardness as you try to figure out whose turn it is to talk; conversations are a lot less natural and a little more choppy, but you also still feel “on” because you’re on camera and can be seen by your colleagues (or friends, or family, or whomever). It’s like a facsimile of actual IRL conversations, but is at once more frustrating, more tiring, and less satisfying than in person conversation.
I’m an extrovert and I love people; I find in-person conversations energizing. But Zoom conversations leave me feeling tired. Many of my work days feel like one long marathon of video calls.
When I tweeted about this the other day, I was surprised by the number of people who responded and agreed that they too had Zoom fatigue.
People shared strategies: some people said they set limits, like no more than four calls a day. Another woman suggested only taking meetings on one day of the week and making the rest of your days no-meeting days. I have been very liberally practicing the strategy of putting no-meeting blocks of time on my calendar.
I’m not sure what the true solution is, honestly. Those of us fortunate enough to have jobs where we can work from home will be doing this for at least the rest of 2020, perhaps even longer. Zoom and video call overload will continue to be a part of our daily lives for a very long time. Working from home at once feels like a privilege, but also feels draining in a way that going to the office did not. (Feel free to tell me about your own Zoom fatigue solutions in the comments, if you’ve got any!)
Cooking
This week I made this cilantro lime chicken and these ginger pork noodles with bok choy, and Renan made this caprese antipasto. Also this Thai basil chicken, and grilled tuna steaks with the gingery-soy-lime marinade from this Melissa Clark recipe.
What I’m reading
How food media created monsters in the kitchen, The New Republic.
‘They go to mommy first',’ New York Times. How the pandemic is destroying women’s careers.
The true story of the prince of Qatar and his time at USC, LA Times. This was a wild ride.
Big Friendship, NYT. An excerpt of Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow’s new book on friendship.
Who’s afraid of Ziwe Fumudoh?, Vulture.
Gardening made me happier. It will work for you too, New York Times Magazine.
The slob-chic style of the coronavirus pandemic, The New Yorker. I only wear sweatpants now and I have no regrets about it.
The balletic millennial bedtimes of ‘Normal People,’ New York Review of Books. I’m not necessarily agreeing with or endorsing this piece but boy does Lorrie Moore skewer millennials.
Stumbling towards wokeness, Washington Post.
It took me 18 years to embrace my own name, Zora/Medium. A lovely piece by Fiza Pirani (who has a great newsletter, too)
Also, this is nice. (trust me on this one)
Thanks for reading! If you like this newsletter, you can click the “heart” at the top of this post on Substack or share it on social media or forward to a friend — they can subscribe at nishachittal.substack.com. You can follow me on Twitter here and Instagram here. And if you have thoughts on this week’s newsletter or suggestions to include in the future, feel free to reply to this email and let me know.