I never thought I’ll say this, but I’m really digging remote conferencing for work. As a self-professed introvert, I’d mostly learned how to switch to extravert mode when I need to join in a discussion or facilitate one. I can do it and do it well, but I’m usually super exhausted at the end of the session. Something about being in the physical presence of people, having to vibe into their energy and speech that’s draining. If anything, that’s one thing about my near-perfect fit of a design consultancy career that I could never quite lean into. 

But surprise surprise, thanks to COVID, we all now got to meet over Zoom. It took some getting used to initially, but I’m discovering that it’s a great fit for introverts like me. Somehow, meeting people remotely doesn’t drain me as much - I’d venture to say only half as tiring as face-to-face. Initially seeing myself in the screen was distracting af and made me super self-conscious and ended up tiring me out even more. But I’d learned that it’s not required and I can hide that selfie screen. I’d also learned to switch off the video and audio feed when it’s not my turn to speak, under the excuse that it saves bandwidth for the room. That way I can even truly rest in introvert mode even while on a Zoom meeting! That’s never possible when face-to-face! What a godsend!

I don’t like you COVID and wish that you won’t stick around too long, but can we all keep Zoom meetings as a de facto mode of correspondence even after COVID is over? Please please?