Fasting tips
Display Names
This is less important when you’re chatting with people you know well, but if you use Zoom to do a lot of sales calls, then this setting will ensure you never accidentally forget the name of the person you’re talking to. Go to Settings > Video and check “Always display participant’s name on their videos.”
Auto-copy Invite URL When Starting a Meeting
The Invite keyboard shortcut is great, but this setting takes things a step further. Found in General settings, this option makes it super easy to invite people to any meeting, without even going through the process of manually copying the invite URL.
Enable Shortcuts Outside of Zoom
This setting will double the power of all of the keyboard shortcuts above, and that’s not an exaggeration. Do you often have other windows open while in Zoom meetings? Well, with this setting, you can use your Zoom keyboard shortcuts even when you’re in another window. To turn it on, go to Settings > Keyboard Shortcuts and select “Enable Global Shortcut.”
Meeting Reminder (Mobile)
When I’m on the go, I don’t always know when a meeting is about to start. On my phone, calendar reminders often go ignored (there are so many of them that it’s just too noisy to keep up). So I set up Zoom reminders to ensure that I never miss an important scheduled meeting.
Disable Waiting Room
Zoom recently turned on a bunch of privacy-related settings by default. One of those is the waiting room, which requires you to admit each attendee individually. Our calls are mostly internal anyway (and it can take a while to admit 10+ people individually), so we turned this setting off under Settings > In Meeting (Advanced) > Waiting room. (Note: It takes a while to scroll through all the options on this page, so we suggest you CTRL+F “waiting room” to find it quickly.)
Touch Up My Appearance
This is more on the spectrum of “fun” than “useful,” but I love that it’s a feature. In Settings > Video, check “Touch up my appearance,” and Zoom will soften the focus on your camera, theoretically minimizing any issues with your skin.
Slack
We meet in Zoom, but we live in Slack. Which is why the Zoom/Slack integration is so helpful. You can use it to start Zoom meetings right from Slack. Just type “/zoom” in Slack to see all the options. We also use Slack’s recurring reminder feature to remind our team when the daily huddle is about to start, both 5 minutes in advance and right as the meeting is starting. To set this up, just type this into Slackbot:/remind #[roomname] every weekday at 9:55am that Daily Huddle is starting in 5 minutes! [zoom link]
Zapier
Zapier connects Zoom with hundreds of other apps, but perhaps the most useful integration of all is scheduling tools. When you schedule a meeting with someone, whether using Calendly or Google Calendar, rather than following up with that person to send them a Zoom meeting link, or manually updating the calendar invite with the link, you can have Zapier automatically add your Zoom link to the event, making meeting scheduling hands-free. Note: Want more advice on all things remote work? Subscribe to our email list!
Eat a Bigger Meal at 4-5 PM Before Starting
Once you are confident you can do a 24 hour fast, then I’d recommend eating dinner a little bit earlier and if you are nervous about the fast, make it a big meal! I suggest an earlier dinner because the second afternoon can be very difficult, and having a 5 PM cut off versus a 7 PM cutoff can make a world of difference mentally. Typically, I get off work at 5 PM. If I can go home and eat right away, this is a lot easier than if I have to wait until 7 or 8 PM.
Start with a 16 Hour Fast to Prepare for Your 24 Hour Fast
First, if you’ve never done a longer fast before, you should start with a shorter 16 hour fast. This way, you can get an understanding of how your body might respond to fasting. There are a number of interesting feelings I experienced when I fasted for the first time, and the first time I did it, it definitely was stressful and nerve wracking. But after doing it a few times, I now know how to cope with those thoughts and feelings. Starting slow with a 16 hour fast will allow you to experience some of the feelings involved with fasting and will help when you give the full 24 hours a go.