What do you do when a meeting or presentation has you counting sheep instead of actively participating?
I ask myself three questions:
1. Am I well-rested? My ability to creatively assess an idea plummets when I’m exhausted. If I feel chipper, I keep asking questions. If not, I take few moments to reboot. You can guzzle an energy drink, scream in a closet, or do what I do: get your heart racing for at least a minute with some sort of physical activity, change your socks, and throw on a fresh shirt. It works for me.
2. Am I reacting to a person or an idea? I often find myself saying “Oh please, please, make this stop. I’m so bored” because I’ve let my reaction to a person cloud my view of the content being presented. When I’ve identified why I’m disinterested, I can move forward with the content and leave moaning about boredom for later.
3. What would I change? If I’ve reached the third question, it means I’m well-rested and focused on the content. If I’m still disinterested, I start taking notes. I’ll outline content, bullet suggestions, and note possible points to improve. Often, it takes only a few minutes of taking notes before I’m back in the saddle and participating in the presentation.
Actively using these questions has saved me from wasting countless hours waiting for presentations and meetings to be over. Those of you who work for progressive tech companies that provide you with massages and live flamingoes…might not need this. For the rest of us who can’t bring crayons to meetings, knowing how to engage in spite of boredom is a very useful skill.
Do you have any special techniques you use to stay focused when you’d prefer to drift off?
photo credit: markhillary
I have to overcome my natural tendency to believe meetings rarely serve a purpose. I find that all too often people have called them because it is a legitimate way of avoiding actual productivity. I realize that I push this too hard, and so I try to be positive in every meeting, and to participate constantly. I also doodle, but have to be careful because if they get too elaborate, I attract my neighbor’s attention at the table and we both get busted.
David
Hi David,
I’m with you on the doodling! Just like trying to stay awake to drive a car fully of happily sleeping people is torture, so attempting to focus when all the people around you are playing tetris on their crackberries is a real pain.
I’ve been to quite a few meetings that were called simply because leadership had reached a block and the only thing they could think of to do was to call a meeting. These are the most boring…they also present the best opportunity to make a real difference with some fresh insight.
Wow, this totally takes me back to the drudgery of my old office jobs. Too many times I fought boredom or sleep. And I totally feel left out because I never once saw a flamingo or got a massage. (sigh)
But, I remember always doing something physical. Before a meeting I’d jog up and down a flight of stairs, or do some yoga in one of the bathroom stalls. (Hmm … there’s an e-book there, I think. 9-5 Office Bathroom Yoga – Staying Awake Through Another One of Your Boss’s Focus Meetings.)
Anyway, fun post.
I’m sorry I brought you back to a less-than-joyous part of your life!
Perhaps I simply get bored easily (which is nobody’s fault but my own) and as a result I still use these steps often.
Yoga in bathroom stalls? I’ll buy it! =)
“Do you have any special techniques you use to stay focused when you’d prefer to drift off?”
OMG, what a question to ask me to answer in an open forum!!
Susie,
Thank you for holding back. If I ever have a blog that requires proof of age-above 21 I’ll certainly be happy to see what you come up with for comments.
For now, it’s anybody’s guess. =P
@Yoga in bathroom stalls? I’ll buy it! =) : LOL
If, I am really really bored, I just shut down my self from the presentation and get back to my lists and start planning next steps, what to do … etc…