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How to be productive while waiting for meetings to start
How to co-ordinate working hours for a team distributed across time zones?Am I right to consider workload when new good ideas are suggested by my team?Time management strategies for reading policy or technical documentation at workHow do you deal with co-workers who respond to your emails without reading the whole thing, or don't read them at all?Auditing time while waiting for tasksHow to handle being late
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The problem: I cannot work normally when I know I will be interrupted any minute.
Example:
- My manager say we have a team meeting (all 12 members) with the big boss in 14:30.
- In 14:27 I am already in a standby mode and cannot continue working normally, because I expect to be called any minute.
- It's 14:35 nothing happens, everyone keeps on working. I text them in our skype chat "Aren't we supposed to go to the meeting already?", The response is "Why are you in a hurry? They will call us soon."
- It's 14:50 - nothing happens.
15:30 - we are finally called to the big meeting!- We sit in the conference room and another coworker (Tom) comes in and say "we need to talk about something important". Our meeting is called off and we return to our desks.
- The meeting with Tom is over after 5 mins. Again we are on a standby to start our meeting.
- 16:50 - nothing happens. Our managers do not inform us what is going on, are we having a meeting soon or not.
This is just one example. I was in situations like this many times and still can't cope with it and continue my work stressless. The pressure of being called just now is distracting me from thinking about my tasks. Sometimes is 5 min wasted, but sometimes it can be an hour.
Measures taken by now: I talked with my managers, they don't get me seriously and say "Don't think about it, just continue working". They are not willing to change this process, while the only thing I want is to be informed what's going on (Do I have to wait 5 mins or 1 hour for example)
Question: Since nothing can be done from their side, I want to ask what can I do from my side to cope with this problem. How to continue working normally and not waste time waiting? Are there any tricks to concentrate and ignore this standby situation?
Update: This meeting was about our team performance and our salary raises depending on that. I couldn't stay careless as I kept repeating in my mind what I would say about my projects.
time-management process
add a comment
|
The problem: I cannot work normally when I know I will be interrupted any minute.
Example:
- My manager say we have a team meeting (all 12 members) with the big boss in 14:30.
- In 14:27 I am already in a standby mode and cannot continue working normally, because I expect to be called any minute.
- It's 14:35 nothing happens, everyone keeps on working. I text them in our skype chat "Aren't we supposed to go to the meeting already?", The response is "Why are you in a hurry? They will call us soon."
- It's 14:50 - nothing happens.
15:30 - we are finally called to the big meeting!- We sit in the conference room and another coworker (Tom) comes in and say "we need to talk about something important". Our meeting is called off and we return to our desks.
- The meeting with Tom is over after 5 mins. Again we are on a standby to start our meeting.
- 16:50 - nothing happens. Our managers do not inform us what is going on, are we having a meeting soon or not.
This is just one example. I was in situations like this many times and still can't cope with it and continue my work stressless. The pressure of being called just now is distracting me from thinking about my tasks. Sometimes is 5 min wasted, but sometimes it can be an hour.
Measures taken by now: I talked with my managers, they don't get me seriously and say "Don't think about it, just continue working". They are not willing to change this process, while the only thing I want is to be informed what's going on (Do I have to wait 5 mins or 1 hour for example)
Question: Since nothing can be done from their side, I want to ask what can I do from my side to cope with this problem. How to continue working normally and not waste time waiting? Are there any tricks to concentrate and ignore this standby situation?
Update: This meeting was about our team performance and our salary raises depending on that. I couldn't stay careless as I kept repeating in my mind what I would say about my projects.
time-management process
add a comment
|
The problem: I cannot work normally when I know I will be interrupted any minute.
Example:
- My manager say we have a team meeting (all 12 members) with the big boss in 14:30.
- In 14:27 I am already in a standby mode and cannot continue working normally, because I expect to be called any minute.
- It's 14:35 nothing happens, everyone keeps on working. I text them in our skype chat "Aren't we supposed to go to the meeting already?", The response is "Why are you in a hurry? They will call us soon."
- It's 14:50 - nothing happens.
15:30 - we are finally called to the big meeting!- We sit in the conference room and another coworker (Tom) comes in and say "we need to talk about something important". Our meeting is called off and we return to our desks.
- The meeting with Tom is over after 5 mins. Again we are on a standby to start our meeting.
- 16:50 - nothing happens. Our managers do not inform us what is going on, are we having a meeting soon or not.
This is just one example. I was in situations like this many times and still can't cope with it and continue my work stressless. The pressure of being called just now is distracting me from thinking about my tasks. Sometimes is 5 min wasted, but sometimes it can be an hour.
Measures taken by now: I talked with my managers, they don't get me seriously and say "Don't think about it, just continue working". They are not willing to change this process, while the only thing I want is to be informed what's going on (Do I have to wait 5 mins or 1 hour for example)
Question: Since nothing can be done from their side, I want to ask what can I do from my side to cope with this problem. How to continue working normally and not waste time waiting? Are there any tricks to concentrate and ignore this standby situation?
Update: This meeting was about our team performance and our salary raises depending on that. I couldn't stay careless as I kept repeating in my mind what I would say about my projects.
time-management process
The problem: I cannot work normally when I know I will be interrupted any minute.
Example:
- My manager say we have a team meeting (all 12 members) with the big boss in 14:30.
- In 14:27 I am already in a standby mode and cannot continue working normally, because I expect to be called any minute.
- It's 14:35 nothing happens, everyone keeps on working. I text them in our skype chat "Aren't we supposed to go to the meeting already?", The response is "Why are you in a hurry? They will call us soon."
- It's 14:50 - nothing happens.
15:30 - we are finally called to the big meeting!- We sit in the conference room and another coworker (Tom) comes in and say "we need to talk about something important". Our meeting is called off and we return to our desks.
- The meeting with Tom is over after 5 mins. Again we are on a standby to start our meeting.
- 16:50 - nothing happens. Our managers do not inform us what is going on, are we having a meeting soon or not.
This is just one example. I was in situations like this many times and still can't cope with it and continue my work stressless. The pressure of being called just now is distracting me from thinking about my tasks. Sometimes is 5 min wasted, but sometimes it can be an hour.
Measures taken by now: I talked with my managers, they don't get me seriously and say "Don't think about it, just continue working". They are not willing to change this process, while the only thing I want is to be informed what's going on (Do I have to wait 5 mins or 1 hour for example)
Question: Since nothing can be done from their side, I want to ask what can I do from my side to cope with this problem. How to continue working normally and not waste time waiting? Are there any tricks to concentrate and ignore this standby situation?
Update: This meeting was about our team performance and our salary raises depending on that. I couldn't stay careless as I kept repeating in my mind what I would say about my projects.
time-management process
time-management process
edited 15 mins ago
Dukeling
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10.3k3 gold badges27 silver badges51 bronze badges
asked 12 hours ago
NyagolovaNyagolova
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3805 silver badges13 bronze badges
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6 Answers
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oldest
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I'm assuming that advising you "just go on working" won't have much effect. The best compromise might be to try and find short, low-attention jobs that you can do around meeting time so you can instantly break off when you're called to the meeting and it won't matter if your mind isn't totally on the job.
These might be mundane administrative or housekeeping tasks (anything from cleaning your desk to sorting your email inbox or deleting unused files and documents), or other one-off tasks (conducting online research, interactions with nearby people, putting things in nearby places). If you can't easily think of these jobs, you could make a to-do list of such tasks in whatever format is quickest and easiest to access, and either tick them off as you do them, or if you don't have time after each task, revisit it in an idle moment and update the to-do list.
An alternative would be just to slack off around meeting time and search the web or play with your phone or chat with neighbors till you're called. If you're not going to get any work done, you may as well not try.
6
One additional suggestion: if what the OP is concerned about is what he's going to say in the meeting about his projects, spend some time writing and organizing a summary of his projects. If it's down on a piece of paper, ready to go, that may open up some mental space for working on other things. Ideally boiled down to a short set of notes so he's not reading from it, just using it as a reminder as he talks.
– DaveG
10 hours ago
I once had a boss who was habitually late to meetings he had organized, and this is what I would do too (it was somewhat of a programming role so I couldn't exactly "work normally" for an unknown, possibly brief period of time whether I had wanted to or not). Basically cleaned my desk, tidied my work area, organize my files, empty Downloads folders, etc.
– Alex M
3 hours ago
add a comment
|
Don't pay attention on all this meetings times at all. Since even management is so unprofessional, that they don't care, why you should? Concentrate on your stuff and only when meeting actually comes, you come in.
add a comment
|
... what can I do from my side to cope with this problem. How [can I] continue working normally?
As your manager said, "Don't think about it, just continue working."
Are there any tricks to concentrate and ignore this standby situation?
Yes.
1. Know by experience that this type of meeting is fluid, rather than in stone.
2. Know that it has nothing to do with you.
3. Make notes (questions/comments/suggestions) in your phone.
4. You don't have to worry about forgetting them, because... #3
5. There is no pressure because nothing you say (no question or comment) will change the outcome, because...
6. The outcome is already decided. The big boss is just announcing it.
Nothing from you should indicate that "the big boss" is wasting your time.
Those are what I'd call "career limiting".
You've already mentioned this to your boss, which is fine.
But, don't mention it to your boss again - once is more than enough, since they're already aware.
One more piece of advice:
If the big boss asks for questions/comments/suggestions, limit yourself to either zero or one.
Especially zero (see #6 above).
add a comment
|
Just filter out the time from the message.
In fact you might as well filter out the complete message, since in your workplace "we have a meeting at 14:30" seems to mean "we may or may not have a meeting sometime today/this week/next year."
When you do finally get called to the meeting, don't feel bad about taking as long as you need to "close down" what you are doing to a state you can recover from.
If the meeting organizer complains that you are "late" for a meeting which actually started an hour late, simply reply "sorry, but your inability to organize your work schedule is not my problem."
Final piece of advice: never set an alarm to remind you about things that might not happen on time.
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It may or may not be applicable in this particular case, but I've found it a lot less stressful to work for an indeterminate time if I know I'll be able to take a minute or so to ‘park’ the work before going off to something else.
Especially if it's a task that involves a lot of thought, or juggling a lot of mental state, knowing I can spend a minute ‘dumping’ that to a piece of paper or text file lets me be much more productive and relaxed.
Of course, that's not always possible. But in my experience, if a meeting is at an indeterminate time or has been delayed, people are generally more tolerant and don't expect you to drop everything instantly.
(Conversely, one of the most frustrating jobs I had was one where interruptions averaged every 10 minutes, and people expected me to drop everything and instantly be not only listening to them, but also remembering exactly what they were talking about… This cartoon explains better than I can just how frustrating that can be!)
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If I was told there was a meeting about to start shortly, then I would probably do some small tasks until the time the meeting is supposed to start. If there is still no meeting going on, then I would continue with small tasks until ten minutes pass by. Once it is ten minutes after the meeting was supposed to begin, I would probably start working on major task items until I am preempted by the team lead, manager, co-worker, etc. that the meeting is actually about to begin.
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6 Answers
6
active
oldest
votes
6 Answers
6
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
I'm assuming that advising you "just go on working" won't have much effect. The best compromise might be to try and find short, low-attention jobs that you can do around meeting time so you can instantly break off when you're called to the meeting and it won't matter if your mind isn't totally on the job.
These might be mundane administrative or housekeeping tasks (anything from cleaning your desk to sorting your email inbox or deleting unused files and documents), or other one-off tasks (conducting online research, interactions with nearby people, putting things in nearby places). If you can't easily think of these jobs, you could make a to-do list of such tasks in whatever format is quickest and easiest to access, and either tick them off as you do them, or if you don't have time after each task, revisit it in an idle moment and update the to-do list.
An alternative would be just to slack off around meeting time and search the web or play with your phone or chat with neighbors till you're called. If you're not going to get any work done, you may as well not try.
6
One additional suggestion: if what the OP is concerned about is what he's going to say in the meeting about his projects, spend some time writing and organizing a summary of his projects. If it's down on a piece of paper, ready to go, that may open up some mental space for working on other things. Ideally boiled down to a short set of notes so he's not reading from it, just using it as a reminder as he talks.
– DaveG
10 hours ago
I once had a boss who was habitually late to meetings he had organized, and this is what I would do too (it was somewhat of a programming role so I couldn't exactly "work normally" for an unknown, possibly brief period of time whether I had wanted to or not). Basically cleaned my desk, tidied my work area, organize my files, empty Downloads folders, etc.
– Alex M
3 hours ago
add a comment
|
I'm assuming that advising you "just go on working" won't have much effect. The best compromise might be to try and find short, low-attention jobs that you can do around meeting time so you can instantly break off when you're called to the meeting and it won't matter if your mind isn't totally on the job.
These might be mundane administrative or housekeeping tasks (anything from cleaning your desk to sorting your email inbox or deleting unused files and documents), or other one-off tasks (conducting online research, interactions with nearby people, putting things in nearby places). If you can't easily think of these jobs, you could make a to-do list of such tasks in whatever format is quickest and easiest to access, and either tick them off as you do them, or if you don't have time after each task, revisit it in an idle moment and update the to-do list.
An alternative would be just to slack off around meeting time and search the web or play with your phone or chat with neighbors till you're called. If you're not going to get any work done, you may as well not try.
6
One additional suggestion: if what the OP is concerned about is what he's going to say in the meeting about his projects, spend some time writing and organizing a summary of his projects. If it's down on a piece of paper, ready to go, that may open up some mental space for working on other things. Ideally boiled down to a short set of notes so he's not reading from it, just using it as a reminder as he talks.
– DaveG
10 hours ago
I once had a boss who was habitually late to meetings he had organized, and this is what I would do too (it was somewhat of a programming role so I couldn't exactly "work normally" for an unknown, possibly brief period of time whether I had wanted to or not). Basically cleaned my desk, tidied my work area, organize my files, empty Downloads folders, etc.
– Alex M
3 hours ago
add a comment
|
I'm assuming that advising you "just go on working" won't have much effect. The best compromise might be to try and find short, low-attention jobs that you can do around meeting time so you can instantly break off when you're called to the meeting and it won't matter if your mind isn't totally on the job.
These might be mundane administrative or housekeeping tasks (anything from cleaning your desk to sorting your email inbox or deleting unused files and documents), or other one-off tasks (conducting online research, interactions with nearby people, putting things in nearby places). If you can't easily think of these jobs, you could make a to-do list of such tasks in whatever format is quickest and easiest to access, and either tick them off as you do them, or if you don't have time after each task, revisit it in an idle moment and update the to-do list.
An alternative would be just to slack off around meeting time and search the web or play with your phone or chat with neighbors till you're called. If you're not going to get any work done, you may as well not try.
I'm assuming that advising you "just go on working" won't have much effect. The best compromise might be to try and find short, low-attention jobs that you can do around meeting time so you can instantly break off when you're called to the meeting and it won't matter if your mind isn't totally on the job.
These might be mundane administrative or housekeeping tasks (anything from cleaning your desk to sorting your email inbox or deleting unused files and documents), or other one-off tasks (conducting online research, interactions with nearby people, putting things in nearby places). If you can't easily think of these jobs, you could make a to-do list of such tasks in whatever format is quickest and easiest to access, and either tick them off as you do them, or if you don't have time after each task, revisit it in an idle moment and update the to-do list.
An alternative would be just to slack off around meeting time and search the web or play with your phone or chat with neighbors till you're called. If you're not going to get any work done, you may as well not try.
answered 10 hours ago
Stuart FStuart F
5871 silver badge7 bronze badges
5871 silver badge7 bronze badges
6
One additional suggestion: if what the OP is concerned about is what he's going to say in the meeting about his projects, spend some time writing and organizing a summary of his projects. If it's down on a piece of paper, ready to go, that may open up some mental space for working on other things. Ideally boiled down to a short set of notes so he's not reading from it, just using it as a reminder as he talks.
– DaveG
10 hours ago
I once had a boss who was habitually late to meetings he had organized, and this is what I would do too (it was somewhat of a programming role so I couldn't exactly "work normally" for an unknown, possibly brief period of time whether I had wanted to or not). Basically cleaned my desk, tidied my work area, organize my files, empty Downloads folders, etc.
– Alex M
3 hours ago
add a comment
|
6
One additional suggestion: if what the OP is concerned about is what he's going to say in the meeting about his projects, spend some time writing and organizing a summary of his projects. If it's down on a piece of paper, ready to go, that may open up some mental space for working on other things. Ideally boiled down to a short set of notes so he's not reading from it, just using it as a reminder as he talks.
– DaveG
10 hours ago
I once had a boss who was habitually late to meetings he had organized, and this is what I would do too (it was somewhat of a programming role so I couldn't exactly "work normally" for an unknown, possibly brief period of time whether I had wanted to or not). Basically cleaned my desk, tidied my work area, organize my files, empty Downloads folders, etc.
– Alex M
3 hours ago
6
6
One additional suggestion: if what the OP is concerned about is what he's going to say in the meeting about his projects, spend some time writing and organizing a summary of his projects. If it's down on a piece of paper, ready to go, that may open up some mental space for working on other things. Ideally boiled down to a short set of notes so he's not reading from it, just using it as a reminder as he talks.
– DaveG
10 hours ago
One additional suggestion: if what the OP is concerned about is what he's going to say in the meeting about his projects, spend some time writing and organizing a summary of his projects. If it's down on a piece of paper, ready to go, that may open up some mental space for working on other things. Ideally boiled down to a short set of notes so he's not reading from it, just using it as a reminder as he talks.
– DaveG
10 hours ago
I once had a boss who was habitually late to meetings he had organized, and this is what I would do too (it was somewhat of a programming role so I couldn't exactly "work normally" for an unknown, possibly brief period of time whether I had wanted to or not). Basically cleaned my desk, tidied my work area, organize my files, empty Downloads folders, etc.
– Alex M
3 hours ago
I once had a boss who was habitually late to meetings he had organized, and this is what I would do too (it was somewhat of a programming role so I couldn't exactly "work normally" for an unknown, possibly brief period of time whether I had wanted to or not). Basically cleaned my desk, tidied my work area, organize my files, empty Downloads folders, etc.
– Alex M
3 hours ago
add a comment
|
Don't pay attention on all this meetings times at all. Since even management is so unprofessional, that they don't care, why you should? Concentrate on your stuff and only when meeting actually comes, you come in.
add a comment
|
Don't pay attention on all this meetings times at all. Since even management is so unprofessional, that they don't care, why you should? Concentrate on your stuff and only when meeting actually comes, you come in.
add a comment
|
Don't pay attention on all this meetings times at all. Since even management is so unprofessional, that they don't care, why you should? Concentrate on your stuff and only when meeting actually comes, you come in.
Don't pay attention on all this meetings times at all. Since even management is so unprofessional, that they don't care, why you should? Concentrate on your stuff and only when meeting actually comes, you come in.
edited 12 hours ago
Mister Positive♦
76k44 gold badges245 silver badges294 bronze badges
76k44 gold badges245 silver badges294 bronze badges
answered 12 hours ago
Andrei SuvorkovAndrei Suvorkov
2856 bronze badges
2856 bronze badges
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add a comment
|
... what can I do from my side to cope with this problem. How [can I] continue working normally?
As your manager said, "Don't think about it, just continue working."
Are there any tricks to concentrate and ignore this standby situation?
Yes.
1. Know by experience that this type of meeting is fluid, rather than in stone.
2. Know that it has nothing to do with you.
3. Make notes (questions/comments/suggestions) in your phone.
4. You don't have to worry about forgetting them, because... #3
5. There is no pressure because nothing you say (no question or comment) will change the outcome, because...
6. The outcome is already decided. The big boss is just announcing it.
Nothing from you should indicate that "the big boss" is wasting your time.
Those are what I'd call "career limiting".
You've already mentioned this to your boss, which is fine.
But, don't mention it to your boss again - once is more than enough, since they're already aware.
One more piece of advice:
If the big boss asks for questions/comments/suggestions, limit yourself to either zero or one.
Especially zero (see #6 above).
add a comment
|
... what can I do from my side to cope with this problem. How [can I] continue working normally?
As your manager said, "Don't think about it, just continue working."
Are there any tricks to concentrate and ignore this standby situation?
Yes.
1. Know by experience that this type of meeting is fluid, rather than in stone.
2. Know that it has nothing to do with you.
3. Make notes (questions/comments/suggestions) in your phone.
4. You don't have to worry about forgetting them, because... #3
5. There is no pressure because nothing you say (no question or comment) will change the outcome, because...
6. The outcome is already decided. The big boss is just announcing it.
Nothing from you should indicate that "the big boss" is wasting your time.
Those are what I'd call "career limiting".
You've already mentioned this to your boss, which is fine.
But, don't mention it to your boss again - once is more than enough, since they're already aware.
One more piece of advice:
If the big boss asks for questions/comments/suggestions, limit yourself to either zero or one.
Especially zero (see #6 above).
add a comment
|
... what can I do from my side to cope with this problem. How [can I] continue working normally?
As your manager said, "Don't think about it, just continue working."
Are there any tricks to concentrate and ignore this standby situation?
Yes.
1. Know by experience that this type of meeting is fluid, rather than in stone.
2. Know that it has nothing to do with you.
3. Make notes (questions/comments/suggestions) in your phone.
4. You don't have to worry about forgetting them, because... #3
5. There is no pressure because nothing you say (no question or comment) will change the outcome, because...
6. The outcome is already decided. The big boss is just announcing it.
Nothing from you should indicate that "the big boss" is wasting your time.
Those are what I'd call "career limiting".
You've already mentioned this to your boss, which is fine.
But, don't mention it to your boss again - once is more than enough, since they're already aware.
One more piece of advice:
If the big boss asks for questions/comments/suggestions, limit yourself to either zero or one.
Especially zero (see #6 above).
... what can I do from my side to cope with this problem. How [can I] continue working normally?
As your manager said, "Don't think about it, just continue working."
Are there any tricks to concentrate and ignore this standby situation?
Yes.
1. Know by experience that this type of meeting is fluid, rather than in stone.
2. Know that it has nothing to do with you.
3. Make notes (questions/comments/suggestions) in your phone.
4. You don't have to worry about forgetting them, because... #3
5. There is no pressure because nothing you say (no question or comment) will change the outcome, because...
6. The outcome is already decided. The big boss is just announcing it.
Nothing from you should indicate that "the big boss" is wasting your time.
Those are what I'd call "career limiting".
You've already mentioned this to your boss, which is fine.
But, don't mention it to your boss again - once is more than enough, since they're already aware.
One more piece of advice:
If the big boss asks for questions/comments/suggestions, limit yourself to either zero or one.
Especially zero (see #6 above).
answered 8 hours ago
J. Chris ComptonJ. Chris Compton
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Just filter out the time from the message.
In fact you might as well filter out the complete message, since in your workplace "we have a meeting at 14:30" seems to mean "we may or may not have a meeting sometime today/this week/next year."
When you do finally get called to the meeting, don't feel bad about taking as long as you need to "close down" what you are doing to a state you can recover from.
If the meeting organizer complains that you are "late" for a meeting which actually started an hour late, simply reply "sorry, but your inability to organize your work schedule is not my problem."
Final piece of advice: never set an alarm to remind you about things that might not happen on time.
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Just filter out the time from the message.
In fact you might as well filter out the complete message, since in your workplace "we have a meeting at 14:30" seems to mean "we may or may not have a meeting sometime today/this week/next year."
When you do finally get called to the meeting, don't feel bad about taking as long as you need to "close down" what you are doing to a state you can recover from.
If the meeting organizer complains that you are "late" for a meeting which actually started an hour late, simply reply "sorry, but your inability to organize your work schedule is not my problem."
Final piece of advice: never set an alarm to remind you about things that might not happen on time.
add a comment
|
Just filter out the time from the message.
In fact you might as well filter out the complete message, since in your workplace "we have a meeting at 14:30" seems to mean "we may or may not have a meeting sometime today/this week/next year."
When you do finally get called to the meeting, don't feel bad about taking as long as you need to "close down" what you are doing to a state you can recover from.
If the meeting organizer complains that you are "late" for a meeting which actually started an hour late, simply reply "sorry, but your inability to organize your work schedule is not my problem."
Final piece of advice: never set an alarm to remind you about things that might not happen on time.
Just filter out the time from the message.
In fact you might as well filter out the complete message, since in your workplace "we have a meeting at 14:30" seems to mean "we may or may not have a meeting sometime today/this week/next year."
When you do finally get called to the meeting, don't feel bad about taking as long as you need to "close down" what you are doing to a state you can recover from.
If the meeting organizer complains that you are "late" for a meeting which actually started an hour late, simply reply "sorry, but your inability to organize your work schedule is not my problem."
Final piece of advice: never set an alarm to remind you about things that might not happen on time.
answered 3 hours ago
alephzeroalephzero
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It may or may not be applicable in this particular case, but I've found it a lot less stressful to work for an indeterminate time if I know I'll be able to take a minute or so to ‘park’ the work before going off to something else.
Especially if it's a task that involves a lot of thought, or juggling a lot of mental state, knowing I can spend a minute ‘dumping’ that to a piece of paper or text file lets me be much more productive and relaxed.
Of course, that's not always possible. But in my experience, if a meeting is at an indeterminate time or has been delayed, people are generally more tolerant and don't expect you to drop everything instantly.
(Conversely, one of the most frustrating jobs I had was one where interruptions averaged every 10 minutes, and people expected me to drop everything and instantly be not only listening to them, but also remembering exactly what they were talking about… This cartoon explains better than I can just how frustrating that can be!)
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It may or may not be applicable in this particular case, but I've found it a lot less stressful to work for an indeterminate time if I know I'll be able to take a minute or so to ‘park’ the work before going off to something else.
Especially if it's a task that involves a lot of thought, or juggling a lot of mental state, knowing I can spend a minute ‘dumping’ that to a piece of paper or text file lets me be much more productive and relaxed.
Of course, that's not always possible. But in my experience, if a meeting is at an indeterminate time or has been delayed, people are generally more tolerant and don't expect you to drop everything instantly.
(Conversely, one of the most frustrating jobs I had was one where interruptions averaged every 10 minutes, and people expected me to drop everything and instantly be not only listening to them, but also remembering exactly what they were talking about… This cartoon explains better than I can just how frustrating that can be!)
add a comment
|
It may or may not be applicable in this particular case, but I've found it a lot less stressful to work for an indeterminate time if I know I'll be able to take a minute or so to ‘park’ the work before going off to something else.
Especially if it's a task that involves a lot of thought, or juggling a lot of mental state, knowing I can spend a minute ‘dumping’ that to a piece of paper or text file lets me be much more productive and relaxed.
Of course, that's not always possible. But in my experience, if a meeting is at an indeterminate time or has been delayed, people are generally more tolerant and don't expect you to drop everything instantly.
(Conversely, one of the most frustrating jobs I had was one where interruptions averaged every 10 minutes, and people expected me to drop everything and instantly be not only listening to them, but also remembering exactly what they were talking about… This cartoon explains better than I can just how frustrating that can be!)
It may or may not be applicable in this particular case, but I've found it a lot less stressful to work for an indeterminate time if I know I'll be able to take a minute or so to ‘park’ the work before going off to something else.
Especially if it's a task that involves a lot of thought, or juggling a lot of mental state, knowing I can spend a minute ‘dumping’ that to a piece of paper or text file lets me be much more productive and relaxed.
Of course, that's not always possible. But in my experience, if a meeting is at an indeterminate time or has been delayed, people are generally more tolerant and don't expect you to drop everything instantly.
(Conversely, one of the most frustrating jobs I had was one where interruptions averaged every 10 minutes, and people expected me to drop everything and instantly be not only listening to them, but also remembering exactly what they were talking about… This cartoon explains better than I can just how frustrating that can be!)
answered 4 hours ago
giddsgidds
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If I was told there was a meeting about to start shortly, then I would probably do some small tasks until the time the meeting is supposed to start. If there is still no meeting going on, then I would continue with small tasks until ten minutes pass by. Once it is ten minutes after the meeting was supposed to begin, I would probably start working on major task items until I am preempted by the team lead, manager, co-worker, etc. that the meeting is actually about to begin.
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If I was told there was a meeting about to start shortly, then I would probably do some small tasks until the time the meeting is supposed to start. If there is still no meeting going on, then I would continue with small tasks until ten minutes pass by. Once it is ten minutes after the meeting was supposed to begin, I would probably start working on major task items until I am preempted by the team lead, manager, co-worker, etc. that the meeting is actually about to begin.
New contributor
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If I was told there was a meeting about to start shortly, then I would probably do some small tasks until the time the meeting is supposed to start. If there is still no meeting going on, then I would continue with small tasks until ten minutes pass by. Once it is ten minutes after the meeting was supposed to begin, I would probably start working on major task items until I am preempted by the team lead, manager, co-worker, etc. that the meeting is actually about to begin.
New contributor
If I was told there was a meeting about to start shortly, then I would probably do some small tasks until the time the meeting is supposed to start. If there is still no meeting going on, then I would continue with small tasks until ten minutes pass by. Once it is ten minutes after the meeting was supposed to begin, I would probably start working on major task items until I am preempted by the team lead, manager, co-worker, etc. that the meeting is actually about to begin.
New contributor
New contributor
answered 1 hour ago
Gary DrocellaGary Drocella
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43 bronze badges
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