Feeling clicked-out? You are not alone.

Suddenly, work is a whole lot more digital and a lot less social. Our schedules are now overloaded with virtual meetings, and our chat channels and inboxes are overflowing. This increased flow of digital communication is taxing our time and attention.

Many of us have experienced “Zoom fatigue,” as near-constant video meetings and real-time chat channels have pushed our cognitive processing to the limit.

Add to that the 100% increase in corporate email volume, and it’s little wonder corporate communicators have noticed a marked decline in their email click-through rates this year. Do we also have click fatigue?

It turns out, according to brainfacts.org, video and chat platforms overtax our brain’s attention systems without providing the social rewards of face-to-face interactions. Video provides constant visual stimuli without the most important body language of all: real eye contact (meaning human contact, not AI-generated digital eye contact algorithms). This solely digital connection leaves us mentally exhausted and dissatisfied.