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How to stay engaged in virtual meetings

New research from Harvard University says working -from-home means longer work days and more meetings.

GREENSBORO, N.C. — We’re close to one year mark into the pandemic and many people are still working from home. With the new variant strain of COVID recently identified, remote work will continue to be a reality for an undetermined amount of time.

Recent research by two Harvard University professors, Raffaella Sadun and Jeffrey Polzer, revealed that by working at home made the workday longer by an hour on average and more after work hours emails as well as “with most workers at home, the average number of meetings increased, too.”

Here are suggestions on ways to stay interested and engaged during your work meetings.

 You have to be strategic when you plan your meetings. This means to give yourself breaks between meetings. This will let you get a snack to increase your energy. 

Or, you can take a brisk walk, jumping jacks at your work station, or walk into another room in your house. Change your scenery for a few minutes.

If you can’t change your back-to-back meetings, then there are things you can do at your desk. You can stretch at your desk. Squeeze your toes to release tension. Have a squeeze ball to squeeze tightly to release tension. Stand up for your zoom video call. 

Also, focus on the goal of the meeting. What is it that you need to accomplish in the meeting? And get it done.

Earlier I mentioned scheduling breaks between meetings when you can. A suggestion to maintain focus is to schedule your most important meetings during times when you’re most alert and have a peak of energy. 

If your energy level is higher in the morning, then have your most important meeting of the day during the morning. Do the same in the mid-afternoon or end of the day, if your energy peak is at these times.

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