How to stay focused during a meeting?
1. Choose your seat carefully
Don’t imitate the bad students who rush to the back of the classroom and sit by the window or against the radiator. Position yourself facing the teacher, away from exits and high-traffic areas.
How to stay focused during a meeting?
A monotone from the presenter, a PowerPoint presentation that goes on forever, too much information to digest… How can you avoid falling asleep at a meeting in these situations? Keeping your concentration in a meeting is a difficult exercise, especially when you're under stress or when you have to answer a dozen urgent e-mails. According to a recent survey, executives stay focused for an average of 52 minutes and one in three falls asleep. How can we improve?
These ten tips from Accor’s meeting specialists will help you stay awake and fully focused at your next meeting.
Don’t imitate the bad students who rush to the back of the classroom and sit by the window or against the radiator. Position yourself facing the teacher, away from exits and high-traffic areas.
Ignore anything that might come between you and the presenter in the room. Ignore noises, don’t be distracted by latecomers or those tapping away on their smartphones. Get rid of toxic thoughts and forget your personal problems: live only in the present.
Not being distracted doesn’t mean being indifferent. Watch the moderator and other participants, read their facial expressions, study their gestures and pay attention to them when they speak.
Remember to take notes so you don’t lose track of the meeting. Annotate important points, refer from time to time to the agenda or documents provided by the organizer before the meeting.
Concentration in meetings is above all a question of attitude. Be active, don’t hesitate to ask questions and share your ideas when the organizer invites you to do so.
When you feel your mind wandering, remind yourself what the meeting is about. What are its objectives? Why were you called? What do the organizer and your superiors expect of you?
For many professionals, the smartphone is an indispensable accessory, but it has no place in the meeting room. If you can’t go more than an hour without consulting your cell phone even though you’re not expecting any urgent calls, don’t settle for meeting mode and turn it off.
Take advantage of breaks to hydrate, have a coffee or snack, go to the bathroom and take a few steps to get active. Avoid turning on your smartphone or talking about work. A few minutes’ disconnection is essential to better reconnect with the host when you resume.
Breathing is very important for staying focused. Breathe in and out slowly and deeply ten times in succession several times during the meeting. This exercise will help you channel your emotions and maintain your focus.
Quality sleep is fundamental to improving your productivity at work and your concentration during meetings. Make sure you get the hours of sleep you need, especially the night before a meeting.
If you remember the ten tips we’ve just given you, good news:
you stayed focused throughout your reading!
It remains to be seen whether you’ll be able to put theory into practice at your next meeting.