Written by the Nuvirox Research Team
Key points
- Early remote-work research measured genuine brain and heart-rate fatigue markers during video calls.
- A 2025 study found video meetings are no longer significantly more exhausting than other formats for most workers.
- Ongoing low energy at home may reflect lost structure and movement more than video calls specifically.
Short answer: it was a well-documented phenomenon during the pandemic-era shift to remote work, but the newest research suggests it may have faded for a lot of people since. "Zoom fatigue" is real and has been measured with brain and heart-rate data, but the honest, current picture is more nuanced than the earlier headlines suggested.
Is remote-work fatigue a real, measurable phenomenon?
Yes, at least under the conditions studied early in the shift to remote work. Research using EEG and heart-rate monitoring found that a videoconference call produced measurably greater brain and cardiovascular fatigue markers than an equivalent in-person meeting, with some studies finding fatigue-like brain-wave patterns emerging within the first 15 minutes of a call.
Explanations proposed for this include the cognitive load of processing video lag and reduced body-language cues, the self-consciousness of watching your own video feed, and the blurred boundary between home and work life that remote work creates — all of which are distinct from, and can compound, ordinary screen-time eye strain.
The honest, more recent counterweight
A more recent study published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology found that video meetings are no longer significantly more exhausting than other meeting types for most employees in the post-pandemic workplace — suggesting either genuine adaptation over time, better meeting hygiene (shorter calls, cameras optional), or both. This directly complicates the "Zoom fatigue is inevitable" framing that dominated the early remote-work conversation.
What's likely still driving low energy at home, if not video calls specifically
Remote work removes several of the same structural elements discussed in job-loss and unemployment research — commute-based time boundaries, incidental movement, and casual social contact — even while the job itself continues. For many people, the energy drain may have less to do with video calls per se and more to do with prolonged sitting, reduced movement, and the loss of a clear "off" switch between work and home.
The blurred-boundary problem
Qualitative research on remote-work stressors specifically identified the "work-home interface" as a central challenge distinct from videoconferencing itself — without a commute or a separate office to leave behind, many remote workers report the workday psychologically bleeding into evenings and weekends. This kind of low-grade, extended-hours pattern is a plausible contributor to daily energy depletion that has nothing to do with how many video calls happen to be on the calendar that day.
If you want to keep reading, this connects to our coverage of why sitting all day leaves you tired, screen-time exhaustion, and the afternoon energy crash.
What human studies actually show
EEG/ECG videoconference fatigue study (published in Scientific Reports). Found distinct brain-wave and heart-rate-variability patterns consistent with fatigue and reduced focus during a 50-minute videoconference compared to an equivalent in-person meeting, providing a physiological (not just self-reported) basis for early "Zoom fatigue" claims.
Qualitative remote-work stressor study (349 US employees, 50 meeting-leader interviews). Identified the work-home interface, technology friction, and camera/multitasking pressure during video calls as central stressors specific to remote-work videoconferencing, distinct from general screen-time fatigue.
Honest counterweight — 2025 post-pandemic replication. Found video meetings no longer produced significantly more exhaustion than other meeting formats, challenging the assumption that "Zoom fatigue" is a fixed, permanent feature of remote work rather than something that can improve with habituation and better practices.
Together, these two bodies of research suggest a more nuanced conclusion than either extreme: videoconferencing can produce measurable fatigue under some conditions (long calls, back-to-back scheduling, high camera pressure), but it isn't an immutable fact of remote work, and organizational habits — meeting length, camera norms, scheduling density — appear to meaningfully change how much of an effect shows up.
What this won't do
No supplement addresses meeting load, screen time, or the structural changes remote work brings to your day. If low energy at home is tied to isolation or low mood rather than simple screen fatigue, that's worth discussing with a doctor, since remote-work isolation has separately been linked to mental health strain in some populations.
Timing and what to realistically expect
The research-backed practical levers are keeping meetings under 30-40 minutes where possible, making cameras optional rather than mandatory, and rebuilding some of the structural cues a commute used to provide (a consistent start/stop routine, a short walk to bookend the workday).
What users report (anecdotal, from forums — not clinical data)
Remote workers in productivity forums frequently report that back-to-back video calls feel noticeably worse than the same number of in-person meetings, and that camera-off days feel less draining — consistent with the mechanisms proposed in the research above, though this remains self-report.
Frequently asked questions
Is Zoom fatigue a made-up problem?
No — it was measured with objective brain and heart-rate data early in the shift to remote work, though newer research suggests the effect may have diminished as people and organizations adapted.
Why do I still feel drained working from home even with fewer video calls now?
Structural factors — reduced movement, blurred work/home boundaries, less incidental social contact — may matter more than video calls specifically for many people's day-to-day energy.
Does turning my camera off during calls actually help?
It's a commonly recommended strategy based on the self-consciousness and cognitive-load mechanisms proposed in the research, though it hasn't been isolated in a dedicated randomized trial.
Is remote work inherently worse for energy than commuting to an office?
The evidence doesn't support a simple verdict either way — remote work removes commute-related fatigue but can introduce blurred work-home boundaries and reduced incidental movement, so the net effect likely depends on how someone structures their remote day.
Would going back to an office fix the low-energy problem?
Not necessarily — the specific mechanisms proposed (screen load, blurred boundaries, reduced movement) can each be addressed within a remote setup through meeting length limits, dedicated workspace boundaries, and scheduled movement breaks, without requiring a return to a physical office.
Does the type of remote work matter — fully remote versus hybrid?
This hasn't been directly compared in the research discussed above, but hybrid arrangements plausibly reintroduce some commute-based time boundaries and in-person social contact that fully remote work removes, which could moderate some of the structural factors linked to low energy.
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Learn more about NAD+ Restore →The bottom line
Remote-work fatigue was measurable with objective brain and cardiovascular data during the early shift to video-heavy work, but more recent research suggests the effect has genuinely eased for many people as habits adapted. If you're still low on energy at home, it may be less about the calls themselves and more about the structural pieces — movement, boundaries, and social contact — that a commute used to provide automatically.
References
- Bailenson JN. Nonverbal overload: A theoretical argument for the causes of Zoom fatigue. Technol Mind Behav. 2021;2(1). (First peer-reviewed deconstruction of videoconference fatigue.)
- New study suggests "Zoom fatigue" is largely gone in the post-pandemic workplace. J Occup Health Psychol. reported via PsyPost, 2025.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice.