I recently had the “pleasure” of sitting through a 4-hour meeting for my job.
Thankfully, we took a 1-minute break half-way through. This was long enough for me to stand up and stretch my legs, but not long enough for me to escape from the building, run to my car, and drive home.
I loathe meetings. The only upside to them is they give me time to think.
Usually, I think about how much I hate meetings. Sometimes, I think about blogging.
This Was One Of Those Times
What can a meeting teach us about blogging? Quite a few things, it turns out. Here are five blogging-related thoughts inspired by a?4-hour meeting…
1. A Comfortable Seat?is a Must
Have you ever sat in an uncomfortable chair for 4-straight hours? It isn’t pleasant.
Inevitably, in addition to being uncomfortable, your chair squeaks every time you move. So, you spend 4 hours trying to move as little as possible.
Your back begins to hurt. Your butt goes numb. You begin to hallucinate (or maybe that’s just me).
The Takeaway for Bloggers…
As bloggers, we often spend more time sitting down than we realize. This is a problem when you consider bad desk chairs can lead to poor posture, reduced productivity, and even pain.
A treadmill desk (Dear Santa, please bring me one of these…) is the best option, but if you must sit make sure you’re sitting in a good-quality desk chair.
Your lower back will thank you.
2. Confrontation is Entertaining to Watch, But it Paints Both Parties in a Negative Light
In almost every meeting I’ve attended, two co-workers will snipe at one another. Sometimes it’s subtle. Sometimes it’s outright hostile.
Entertaining to watch? Absolutely. Positive reflection on the offending parties? Not even a little.
The Takeaway for Bloggers…
Stay classy.
If someone leaves you a snarky comment, don’t respond in kind. If someone tries to provoke you, take the high road. If someone offends your honor, buy a new one at Wal-Mart. (Wal-Mart sells everything.)
Whenever I visit a new blog and see the airing of dirty laundry, I don’t investigate. I don’t check to see who is in the right and who is in the wrong. No, I just immediately assume both individuals aren’t worth my time.
How you respond to criticism will leave an indelible impression about you in the minds of readers.
Respond accordingly.
3. Take Breaks!
I think my legs almost?atrophied as a result of sitting for 4-straight hours. The 1-minute break half-way through wasn’t nearly enough.
The Takeaway for Bloggers…
Step away from the keyboard every so often. Get up. Move around.
Taking breaks from blogging will recharge your batteries. They’ll give relief to your eyes. They may even spark your creative juices.
At a minimum, take a break once every hour. Even better… take a short break every half hour.
4. Get Enough Rest
“Right after lunch” is a popular time to have meetings.?When you’ve just eaten, most people are ready to fall asleep anyway. Calling a meeting,?dimming the lights, and talking about boring topics for 4 hours?is a recipe for disaster. You might as well hold the meeting inside a Tempur-Pedic?showroom.
Still, even when meetings aren’t immediately after lunch, there’s always one or two co-workers who begin to doze off during meetings. Some drool on themselves. Some of them snore.
The really unfortunate ones will begin talking in their sleep.
The Takeaway for Bloggers…
Make sure you’re getting enough sleep each night.
Bloggers might not have to worry about co-workers drawing on our faces while we nap, but we do have to worry about publishing incoherent drivel.
If you’re sleepy, you might just publish a post which is memorable, but for all the wrong reasons.
5. We’d All Rather Be Doing Something Else
I’m going to cut out the silliness for a moment. Let’s get?real and honest.
No one reading this dreams of sitting in meetings all day long. No one wants to be stuck in an office or cubicle day after day. No one dreams of long commutes filled with traffic, angry drivers, and unfunny radio DJs.
Want to know what I really think about when I’m sitting in a meeting?
“I wish I was home with my wife.”
This is why I blog.
I want to build my blog up to the point where it can meet our financial needs. I want to be able to quit my 9-to-5, Monday to Friday job. I want to blog for a living.
I want to be home with my wife.
I want to be able to drink coffee with her every morning on our couch. I want to be able to stop what I’m doing every thirty minutes, walk over to her, and give her a kiss on the forehead. I want to spend the bulk of my days with her, not with my drooling co-workers.
Every meeting I attend is a reminder of why I blog. They remind me to press on when?I’m tired of writing, reading, promoting, commenting, or any of the dozens of tasks associated with blogging. They remind me to keep going.
We all have dreams for our blogs, and we each have our proverbial “meetings” which motivate us to meet them.
What are yours?
Creative Commons Images via tiarescott.
