Second Cup: Build in travel time, even on Zoom

Take a break between meetings to stay engaged

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is to build in travel time. Even if all
of your meetings are virtual ones, you will keep yourself

(00:26):
on schedule and you might be able to boost your
energy levels too. So back in the old pre COVID days,
people who worked in offices often needed to travel to
different meetings.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
You would check which conference room you needed to report
to for your one o'clock meeting, your two o'clock meeting,
and so forth. If you worked for a big enough company,
this could involve a reasonable hike. As a result, meetings
either needed to end a few minutes before the hour,
or they would generally all start a few minutes after

(01:04):
the hour. This is nothing more than the natural consequence
of people being unable to teleport, but it had some upsides. Namely,
people had to stand up and move around every hour
or so they'd get some steps in If your office
park had different buildings, you might also get some fresh air.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
Even if you had back to back meetings. There was
a little respite, at least for normal people without the
clout to have everyone.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
Come to them.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
These days, a great Many meetings are virtual, and that
is awesome. There's less commuting, less time spent on airplanes,
and that is better for people and better for the environment. However,
there is more of a temptation to have that one
o'clock meeting go right up until two o'clock and you

(02:00):
quickly click on over to your next link. Then you
go right to three o'clock and boom, you click on
the next one, and maybe you sneak a two minute
bathroom break in there somewhere. But if people don't need
to travel, then you don't technically have to end early
or start a little later, but it is still a

(02:21):
good idea to do so. People need breaks, They need
time to write down the to dos that come out
of each meeting. They need time to breathe and clear
their heads, which can help them avoid burnout. Taking a
few steps every hour or so is better for people's
health than sitting still. Moving around also helps boost people's

(02:45):
energy levels. So even if your meetings are virtual, build
in travel time. If you meet with a lot of
people from your same organization, then develop a culture where
you end all all meetings ten minutes early, as in
ten minutes before the hour for standard one hour meetings.

(03:07):
You could obviously also start all meetings ten minutes late,
which is really the same thing, but this is sometimes
hard to explain to outsiders or get them to adopt
it as easily when they are meeting with you. Ending
earlier tends to feel more natural. When you are developing
agendas for meetings, really lean into this. At ten point

(03:28):
fifty that ten o'clock meeting has wrapped up. If someone
sends you an agenda that goes for the full hour,
ask if it can be shortened by a few minutes
to allow for people to grab a coffee or think
about their notes, or just note that you will need
a few minutes of travel time. Maybe people won't even

(03:50):
think about it. Most people were in that habit a
few years ago, so unless you only work with people
whose careers began after twenty twenty, you will probably all
figure it out. And then when you do get ten
minutes in between meetings, don't just check email tempting as

(04:10):
that is. If you are at home, go outside for
a few minutes, take your bathroom break if you need one,
of course, but also focus on doing something active with
this open space. You might be able to boost your
energy levels by enough to make it through that next
zoom meeting. And if you've got more than five or

(04:31):
six of those on any given day, well I don't
need to tell you that you can use all the
energy boosts you can get in the meantime. This is Laura.
Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from him.

(04:59):
You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four then
Breakfast pod. You can also shoot me an email at
Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com That before Breakfast

(05:20):
is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much.
Should I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast
is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.