Everyone knows what it’s like to participate in a meeting they don’t feel they need to be part of. The kind of meeting that you think is just sucking your time away.
It’s bad enough when the person holding the meeting and the other participants are sat in the room with you, but what about when it’s during a teleconference call?
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Well, I’m going to give you some great tips on how to keep yourself busy when someone has called a boring meeting that you just don’t need to be part of.
Read the News or a Blog
When you end up in a boring call or meeting, you could just let your mind wander, twizzle a pencil on your notepad, etc. Or you could open up your favourite blog and read an article on, for example escaping your dreaded office job and how to do it.
You can also gravitate towards new sites and keep up with what is going on in the world. For those of you that aren’t great at multitasking, you could just browse the headlines.
This will make use of your time in this dreary teleconference call: you might find yourself a conversation starter for later on.
Check Your Emails
We all know how much time checking and responding to emails takes. So why not save some time whilst listening to a colleague drone on by checking and responding to any emails you may have.
Image via Essayontime
I’m sure you even have emails that have laid dormant for months, with you promising yourself that you will respond, as soon as you have chance. Now is your chance.
Look What to Eat for Dinner
If you’re a foodie, you could Google what to make in the evening. Even if you’re not much a fan of the culinary arts, you could always look for a restaurant to eat at in the evening.
Sift through the myriad reviews, whether they be about recipes or restaurants. Decide what you are going to have and save yourself time. Just listen out for your name and be ready with a standard answer when a participant in the conference calls upon you to say something.
Doodle
You probably are sitting there in a boring meeting right now, reading this. You may even have a notepad and pen beside you. So why not make use of them!
If you’re short on creativity, check the world wide web for inspiration. Search for the Monet inside you! Doodling can really be relaxing and doesn’t take much of your focus away from the conference call. This means that you can be at the ready when you’re asked to give your opinion on a certain matter.
Pace Around the Room
We sit down to work all day. We sit in the car, on the train. We are sat down a lot, maybe too much. So why not burn a few calories by pacing up and down the room. You could even do a few sit ups.
Take advantage of this time and do something in which you can keep your focus, listen to what is being said and do something for yourself. The main thing is here: don’t do too much. You don’t want to be out of breath when you are asked to say something.
Clean
Cleaning is boring, yes. Boring conference calls are also a drag. Double up the boringness by keeping busy – housekeeping. Just think, you are killing two birds with one stone.
You are saving yourself a job for later. If you are working from home, just remember to mute your microphone or use a handy noise cancelling app like Krisp.
Another good idea is to choose conferencing apps that have built-in noise cancellation or allow to mute yourself or other participants.
Write a Poem
Why not bring out your creative side. When was the last time you wrote a poem? Probably some years ago. Try jotting down a few words about anything: you could even write about this boring meeting you are currently in.
Remember: it doesn’t have to rhyme. Poems depend on how you read them so conjure your inner Wordsworth and see what you can come up with. You might surprise yourself.
Plan a Holiday
Sometimes it can be hard to decide where to go next. With cheap flights more and more readily available, you can explore places you may never have thought of going to before.
Get out your globe and give it a spin! With the internet at your fingertips, you can avoid the boredom of conference calls and arrange to whisk yourself away to far away lands.
The above examples are just some of the things that you could do to keep yourself busy during a conference call that you have no interest in.
However, it doesn’t mean that all conference calls should be treated this way and you still need to keep up with the conference call etiquette.
