One day. One conference room. One chair. Too many slides.

My attention span is uhm, what was I saying? Oh, yeah. It's short. Short attention.....zzzz. Short attention span. And when it's pushed to it's limits, my ability to engage is hindered. As is my ability to maintain a pleasant facial expression. And posture.

Even when the information is interesting. When I need to listen. When I want to listen. The muscles in my shoulders tighten up. My eyes wander. And the monkey mind is alerted: think of stuff. What's for dinner? What are Twinkies made of?

I can't really ask my team to accommodate my attention span with shorter, punchier meetings. Over several days. With lattes. And dancing gnomes.

I need help. And I am not asking for the sake of bloggy conversation. I'm seriously asking: WTH is a girl to do? I'm gonna stand up right now. And then I am going to come back and check my blog comments every 15 minutes (right, monkey? Will that do it?).

Any good idea of what to do during a day full of meetings to stay engaged?

Comments

• Anonymous
  January 12, 2010
  play buzzwords alternate between good attendee and bad attendee - totally messes with people :)

• Anonymous
  January 12, 2010
  I've found the best way to stay engaged is to be engaged.  (Not engaging, just engaged.)  If you want something from the meeting take it.  If the meeting isn't giving you what you want and you don't have control, step out.  If you do have control, use it.

• Anonymous
  January 12, 2010
  stu - OK, we did have a little fun with your good attendee/bad attendee recommendation! mike- not sure that helps much. There's some protocol here that doesn't involve stepping out if you are having trouble concentrating.

• Anonymous
  January 13, 2010
  Stay fed and watered. Ensure you're drinking enough water. Everyone is different, but for me this means a glass per hour meeting. Between meal breaks - munch on a small handful of almonds every 2hrs or so to keep your energy up. Almonds are small enough and portable - you can take them with you to any meeting. You may be surprised how much these two changes will improve your ability to get through a long day of meetings. Good luck! Jen Kelly.

• Anonymous
  January 13, 2010
  Think like a manager! Hire someone else to attend the meetings so that you can play golf, play games on facebook, and come up with stupid ideas. Sorry. Sour grapes.

• Anonymous
  January 14, 2010
  Gum. But chew quietly and slowly. Cadence your chewing!

• Anonymous
  January 14, 2010
  Jen - nice recommendations. I'm going to try them next time. df - LOL. Add to that list: write inane and only moderately entertaining blog posts. :) Native - Cadence. Heh.