workaday Wednesday

Tips for success at any workplace meeting:

1. Bring a pen and paper. There’s always a chance they might come in handy, plus they make you look more official while you wander around the building looking for the meeting room.

2. Or just a pen. Fiddling with a writing utensil is fun and distracting for you and your coworkers — depending on how much you like them, you are either saving them from boredom or driving them bonkers — it’s a win-win.

3. Just paper can work in a crowded meeting, if you can get away with folding stuff. Like a fan. Instant popularity!

4. If you can get away with it, bring your whole bag. That way all your stuff is with you, in case you need a snack, or to suddenly evacuate the building.

5. Figure out which aspect of meetings is the most bothersome to you and see if you can alleviate it in some way. For me it’s when a meeting is scheduled to begin and end at specific times and then doesn’t. Bringing stuff with me — snacks, water, a pen and paper so I can at least work on a grocery list or play anagrams or something — makes it easier.

Mirrored from The Marci Rating System.