I used to think the weekly team meeting was a total waste of time.

I'd just zone out for the full hour while my manager droned on. Now I bring a notepad and actually write down one action item from each person's update, which forces me to pay attention. It's still boring, but at least I know what Greg in accounting is supposedly working on. Does anyone else have a trick for surviving mandatory meetings that don't directly involve you?

3 comments

3 Comments

abbyd362mo ago

I do the same thing with taking notes. It's like we've all turned into professional meeting fakers. I catch myself doing it everywhere now, like pretending to read a menu while waiting for a friend or actually folding laundry during a boring TV show. The goal is just to look busy enough that no one asks you a real question.

kelly612mo ago

Ever wonder if we're all just pretending to be busy to avoid real life?

miawalker9d ago

My wife caught me the other day staring at my phone with the calculator app open for like ten minutes straight during a commercial break. I wasn't even doing math, I was just staring at numbers hoping she wouldn't ask me to talk about our weekend plans. It's gotten so bad I'll grab random mail off the counter and pretend to read it super intensely while I'm walking past someone. The other night I spent a solid half hour "organizing" my junk drawer just to avoid a phone call I didn't want to take. And the thing is, it works every single time. Nobody ever questions the busy person with the clipboard or the stack of papers.