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Thank God for online meeting software, huh?
It's the only thing getting a lot of us through self-isolation, quarantines and stay at home orders—from both a business perspective and a social one as well.
Be that as it may, even the welcome semi-normalcy of a Zoom meeting can get a little stale. Nothing gives respite from a boring meeting like an interruption, right?
But how can you be interrupted when you're all alone?
Well, say no more: Zoomers are coming up with all kinds of clever ways to self-interrupt while self-isolating, and it's a hilarious game changer. Get ready to take notes.
The ingenious technique comes via the customizable background feature that's a part of Zoom's software. A few clicks and some uploaded media and suddenly you're meeting on a beach or ancient Greece or wherever you choose.
A video producer from Australia decided to take that feature to a whole new level—by filming himself walking in on himself and making it his Zoom background.
Today I made a Zoom background of myself accidentally walking in on myself in a Zoom meeting. https://t.co/Rl2AsjfZ7V— Dan Crowd (@Dan Crowd)1585890113.0
Absolutely ingenious.
The best part is when Dan does that little "Oh yikes, sorry" face before he goes back out the door. God is in the details, as they say.
Of course Crowd's hilarious Zoom innovation instantly went viral. As of this writing, it's been retweeted nearly 80,000 times and is approaching 440,000 likes. So it's obviously struck a chord with homebound workers everywhere.
So how did Crowd come up with this innovative stroke of comedic genius?
Well, as he told Mashable:
"Honestly? I was bored."
Well, there you have it: Boredom is the mother of invention, if you will.
Though Crowd definitely didn't see boredom would also be the mechanism that finally makes him go viral.
"If I'd known I could get this kind of engagement with five minutes of work, I wouldn't have tried so hard for the last 12 years."
Ah, the mysteries of the internet.
Of course, Crowd's innovation has sparked all kinds of similarly clever Zoom backgrounds.
@itsdancrowd I had the same like multiple instances of me hanging around. https://t.co/05G4KDXNGY— Metehan Korkmazel (@Metehan Korkmazel)1585912384.0
@itsdancrowd Inspiring. Here's myself walking around the wrong side of the kitchen and interrupting my webinar. Dam… https://t.co/X5Q1n7C0kg— johnny (@johnny)1585925189.0
@itsdancrowd I tripled my productivity with mine: https://t.co/cVzu1gVMti— Amit Serper (@Amit Serper)1585941503.0
@itsdancrowd Tried it 😂 https://t.co/PfCcJSXIHl— Justin Talusan (@Justin Talusan)1585964258.0
@ni_nad @itsdancrowd @f3ew Here you go ! https://t.co/3F27webKu6— Vishwesh ᕙ(⇀‸↼)ᕗ (@Vishwesh ᕙ(⇀‸↼)ᕗ)1585935758.0
People also created backgrounds using classic office locales, like this one from that hilarious viral video where a guy's kids interrupt him while on live television.
@itsdancrowd Here's one for next week https://t.co/xSUjmKf8Cj— Simon Ward (@Simon Ward)1585906434.0
And this shot of the office from, well, The Office:
@simonmward @itsdancrowd Here is mine https://t.co/4A0C7Ubg78— louiskanak (@louiskanak)1585922297.0
And the backgrounds gave plenty of people a hearty laugh.
@itsdancrowd This is the best thing to come out of this quarantine— Jake Dekker (@Jake Dekker)1585895645.0
@itsdancrowd @diana_a_leon brilliant— gabbie hanna (@gabbie hanna)1585961593.0
@itsdancrowd this is modern art— valeska (@valeska)1585969986.0
I didn't really believe the whole "great art comes from hardship" thing until I saw this https://t.co/9h89wrYahO— Staymas Insidely (@Staymas Insidely)1585911760.0
The hero we need https://t.co/ya9bMHEjFJ— Andrew Donaldson (@Andrew Donaldson)1586002925.0
So there you have it: this little game should kill at least half your workday today, maybe even the whole thing if you do it right. We're gonna make it through this after all.
If you're looking for ways to stay occupied, the F*ck I'm Bored! Activity Book For Adults is available here.