The rise and fall of the video call is something many of us have lived over the last nine months. At first, they were the best way to keep in contact with friends, family and colleagues, offering a flicker of the intimacy we were missing from hugs and in-person banter.

After a while, though, they started to peter out. A weekend full of Zoom calls left me feeling trapped, tired and for some (me very much included) it became draining to try and replicate the dynamic of an in-person conversation through a laptop screen.

But as the anniversary of the first lockdown looms, a better method is yet to be invented – as far as I know, holograms are still a way off for a general household use. So, personally, I find myself re-entering the cycle of planning, dreading and then enduring video calls so I can maintain relationships with people that matter a lot to me, but that by now, I may not have seen in almost a year.

Zoom fatigue: How setting time boundaries can make video calls more enjoyable