It started with memes, as it mostly does. Netizens often express their uneasiness with a humorous image, video or text, and sometimes a combination of all. Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group, also did the same. He shared the now-viral webinar meme featuring Salim (played by Dileep Kumar) and Anarkali (played by Madhubala) on his twitter handle, where Salim is waking up Anarkali who dozed off during a webinar. According to the meme text, “Utho Anarkali...webinar khatam hua (Wake up Anarkali...the webinar is over).” And Mahindra added his own two bits, commenting, “Seems like a new medical condition called a Webinarcoma”.
Something similar happened with a Delhi-based postdoctoral fellow Dr Sonal Pandey. She says, “I slept through a webinar and my husband woke me up.” The matter is laughable, but not trivial. Many working professionals are having a difficult time to adjust to too much screen time. Pandey says with a number of online conferences, along with the housework which has increased during the pandemic, it gets tiresome for her to grasp the knowledge as shared by a screen.
“With a baby at home and a flood of webinars lined up each day, I feel mentally exhausted,” she adds. Bulbul Sharma, a teacher by profession, is going through similar stress. “The pressure is too much with the sudden and complete shift to online classes. Processes and protocols are changed every day, and adjusting to the changes so frequently is a lot more challenging than what it appears. The day starts really early, but we are unable to wrap up the work even till very late at night,” says Sharma.
This new normal has led to a sense of confusion among her colleagues, school authorities and parents. “With the increase in the screen time for teachers and no one to address our issues, the exhaustion has started affecting our physical and mental health. Communication with students is also on the surface level. The limitations of the digital medium show when the child feels tired and disengaged. The newness of the medium has also worn off, as we see low attendance in class every day,” says Sharma. Psychoanalytic psychotherapist Zehra Mehdi, who works with Volunteers Collective, speaks with The Morning Standard on the necessity of taking a digital detox during these uncertain times.
“Digital detox is recommended because it is about taking a break from electronic devices such as smartphones or computers. During the pandemic, when everything is taking place over a digital screen, this idea becomes all the more essential.” Mehdi advises limiting your screen time, and do everything else which stops you from scrolling through your social media. “Read, walk, cook, do gardening, but do not watch Netflix in this break as it would defeat the entire purpose.”
Experts say Don’t Get Too Close to The Screen
The new normal has led to a sense of confusion among school authorities and parents. Many working professionals are having a difficult time to adjust to too much screen time. Along with all of the house work which has increased during the pandemic, it can also get tiresome for adults to grasp all the knowledge shared by a screen.