Close your eyes, and listen
1
ALL THAT FACETIME
Video call fatigue is real. Finally, science is telling us why we get worn out attending back-to-back video calls:
All that eye contact is INTENSE—we’re not built to stare into our colleague’s eyes for prolonged periods. This effect is heightened if you open your video call in full-screen mode; when you see a colleague’s face zoomed in on your screen, your brain perceives the relative distance of their face to yours as being that of a person with whom you have a deep personal relationship. Would you long-hug your colleague? If not, don’t go full screen. Your brain will thank you. (Perhaps you remember that staring into a stranger’s eyes for four minutes builds romantic rapport—not the vibe I’m going for at work.)
Looking at a live image of yourself is tiring—when we look at our own image, our thoughts skew to the critical. (Perhaps you’ve noticed that plastic surgery procedures are up in these screen-centered times.)
We’re made to move—our bodies are designed to be in motion a heck of a lot more often than video calls allow us to be. I know when I’m on a video call, especially if it’s one-on-one with another person, I sit rooted to my chair. (A month or so into working from home, I began doing jumping jacks during meetings (always checking at least three times that my video was off) because I could feel my muscles atrophying from disuse—1. I hadn’t adjusted to working without my usual hustle between buildings for this or that meeting, lunch, a snack, or a chat with a colleague; and 2. I was still reeling from the whole global pandemic thing and was struggling to move my body. These days, I work out (thanks, YouTube!) or run on a treadmill (it rains a lot where I live, and I know that doesn’t stop everyone from going outside to exercise, but it does stop me) in the basement after work, but I still feel pretty achy midday after four+ hours hunched at my laptop.)
There’s too much to process—it’s easier to misinterpret (or entirely miss) nonverbal cues on a video call. (The number of times I’ve been staring at that tiny video of myself in the corner (not on purpose!) and missed some sort of cue …)
What’s a remote worker to do? 1. Reduce the size of your video chat window. 2. Cover the live stream projection of your own video so you can’t see yourself (though, honestly, this feels dicey to me; it’s when you forget you’re on video that you do extra-embarrassing things). 3. Sit farther from your camera so your body has space to move. 4. Spend at least a few minutes of your meeting time turned entirely away from your screen so you aren’t taking in so many visual cues.
Or, if it suits your work group, you could switch to audio calls. We humans pick up a lot of cues when we talk on the phone, arguably more than when we’re on video (because of all the visual noise video presents). There is meaning to be gleaned in the pause, the silence, the breath. Tune into it.
2
HIDDEN MESSAGES
Years ago, an artist friend pointed at the FedEx logo on a passing truck and asked if I saw the hidden arrow. Up until then, I’d never noticed it, but since that point, I’ve never NOT noticed it. (How many negatives did I employ there?)
Here are 39 other logos to puzzle over, designed by artists weaving hidden meaning and visual cues into the brand logos we glance past every day.
3
FACIAL RECOGNITION BALANCE
Massachusetts recently enacted relatively balanced facial recognition legislation. Rather than passing a straight ban on the technology by law enforcement officials, the ACLU of Massachusetts crafted legislation that puts a couple roadblocks in the way; facial recognition can be used by police, but it’s less likely to be abused because a judge must first grant permission to run the search, and then someone else has to run it.
Ever wonder why time seems to move faster as you age? (Seriously, summer break felt like a lifetime when I was a kid. Now those ten weeks whiz by in a blur of sunshine, fresh tomatoes, and late nights.) It’s because we perceive time as relative—the younger you are, the longer a year feels to you. If you’re four years old, another year is equivalent to 25% of your entire life. When you’re forty-four, a year is only 2% of your lived life.
Scroll through this visualization through a typical life to sense it with your mouse hand.
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FEEL THE RELATIVITY
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ETHICAL FASHION
If you love clothes, shoes, and accessories but don’t love the eco-waste and human rights toll fast fashion takes on our earth and fellow humans, check out good on you’s brand directory, where you can find out which companies offer quality products while treading lightly on our world.