​Way back in April, HBR had an article about Zoom fatigue. Who knew that, five months later, we would still be relying on video conferencing as the work from home (#WFH) mandate continued?
 
It may be time to revisit that online conferencing checklist. Here are HBR's five things to help minimize feeling emotionally, mentally, and physically drained after online meetings, workshops, or conferences.
 
Fatigue is different than tiredness, something which can be cured with a good night’s sleep. Fatigue is a pervasive lethargy, a lack of physical and mental energy and motivation. 
 
Why are virtual meetings so exhausting? Many of us attended in-person meetings just as frequently but are surprised to find that online sessions are much more draining.
 
First, we have to focus much more intently to absorb information. There are no sidebar exchanges or quick, clarifying questions to the person sitting next to us.
 
Second, it is much easier to be distracted. Who can see that you are checking email, texting a friend, or reviewing a document? No one, that’s who. But while you are doing those things, you aren’t truly listening. And then there are interruptions from pets, spouses, and children who are also sharing the same space. 
 
Last but not least, video requires a different level of showing our attentiveness. To prove that we are paying attention, we have to look directly at the camera. We aren’t granted the reprieve of the visual breaks we would be granted during in-person meetings. 
 
Below are the five research-based recommendations HBR suggested to help alleviate, or at least minimize, Zoom fatigue.

Many of us believe that our education and technical prowess make us employable. Sure, those things may get our resume read more closely and even get us in the door of a company.

When surveyed, CEOs listed four primary characteristics of an invaluable employee:

1. Adaptability: These people are ready and willing to change, to learn from experience and be flexible as the need arises. They are open to new ideas, new situations, new solutions and are more resilient and able to connect with their colleagues even in the midst of uncertainty.

2. Able to receive constructive feedback:  Individuals who are able to hear constructive feedback from their leaders and peers and use that information to improve are highly valued. They view feedback as a growth opportunity and don't take criticism personally.

Businessman, author, and philanthropist David Novak believes there's a tremendous lack of recognition in the world today, something he calls global recognition deficit.
 
According to a Gallup poll, only 33% of workers are actually engaged in their jobs. That leaves close to 70% of people who are simply going through the motions at work. They aren’t engrossed in their work, aren’t motivated, or inspired.
 
Novak believes this can be attributed to the lack of recognition, not only in the workplace but in the world. There are multiple studies and statistics that support this conviction including these stats based on research by OC Tanner as well as studies done by Novak’s own company.

• 79% of employees that quit their job state the primary reason for them leaving was a lack of appreciation.
• 65% of Americans claimed they weren’t recognized at all in 2018
• 82% of employees feel their managers don’t recognize their contributions
• 60% state they are motivated more by recognition than money

We all have goals and dreams, things we aspire to achieve. But there are those of us who seem to make steady progress toward these achievements while others of us always seem to fall short.
 
What is the defining factor between these two groups?
 
People who fail to make progress toward their goals don’t take the time to reflect on what didn’t work. Instead, they continue on with the same habits, attitudes, and decisions that lead them to their current place of stagnation.
 
This is like a ship’s captain setting a course at the outset of the voyage and never making adjustments, even after encountering winds, strong currents, and storms that pushed the ship off course. 
 
On the flip side, successful people regularly take time to reflect on the past. This is as important as planning for the future, and in fact, helps guide them toward aligning their behaviors, habits, schedules, and decisions with their desired outcome of success.

Find your passion and you’ll never work another day in your life.
 
We’ve all heard people say this, or maybe we’ve even been given this advice. We’re told we will wake up each and every day feeling like life is a vacation. Work will be easy and fun. We will be excited, motivated, and inspired because we will live every day doing what we love.
 
But what if you’re someone who doesn’t have a passion, or hasn’t discovered it yet? Or maybe the thing you’re passionate about can’t financially support you and your family?

What then?
 
To paraphrase Steve Jobs, passion helps you persevere during the tough times. 

It doesn’t mean life will always be fun or easy. But doing something you are passionate about will keep you in the game, give you the mental and emotional fortitude to hang in there when quitting seems like the easiest option.  
 
There is a big difference between work that makes us happy and work that is meaningful. The way many people talk about finding our passion makes it sound like this will make us happy.  But if we find work that has meaning, it may be potentially more challenging but it also gives us a higher level of career fulfillment and satisfaction. 
 
If we get caught up in the “passion trap,” many of us will be on an endless search, leaving us feeling disillusioned. In our quest for happiness over meaning, we might end up overlooking or dismissing some really great career opportunities. 
 
Instead, let’s reframe how we view work. 
 
Sometimes, we need to find work that works for us. This means assessing our lives at this point in time and making responsible decisions. What this doesn’t mean is staying in or taking a job we hate or that sucks the life out of us. But it is absolutely acceptable to work in a job that you aren’t passionate about if you need to pay the mortgage, pay off student loans, or support yourself.  That is perfectly okay and for many of us, this is realistic and responsible. We can find meaning in work that works for us where we are, right now.
 
Passion shouldn’t always be the driving force for work. If that were the case, there would most like be a LOT of us who simply wouldn’t be employed.
 
Instead, if we apply the best of ourselves to something and do our utmost to learn and grow, quite often we can find meaningful work. It won’t always be fun. It won’t always be easy. It sure as heck won’t feel like every day is a vacation. But it will be fulfilling.  
 
To hear more about this topic, listen to the Pick the Brain podcast episode called “What we’ve been told about passion is BS.”

​Making the most of our time means knowing what tasks we need to do, when to do them, and how to accomplish the best work in the shortest amount of time.
 
In short, we have to decide every day what tasks strategically align with our objectives at work, at home, in life.
 
There is no magic way to achieve this but rather multiple ways to increase our personal ROI.
 
Urgent VS Important
Our brains are drawn to immediately respond to urgency. But just because something is urgent does not equate to it also being of high importance. Urgent tasks highjack our attention from important work that advances us toward our goals.  Before undertaking any task, ask yourself, “Is this important?” If not, make a note of it to address later instead of dropping everything to tackle it immediately.

Many of us have been in a job that makes us unhappy and the thought, ”I should quit!” has crossed our minds on occasion.
 
Of course, there are just bad days, which are to be expected and we can put behind us. But there are really are bad jobs, terrible places to work, and awful managers.
 
For those who really do desperately want to quit, to get away from your horrible workplace, annoying co-workers or abusive managers, we may hesitate to actually do anything about it, because right on the heels of that impulse to get out come a multitude of other thoughts that keep us from resigning.

Each of these excuses may sound like the voice of sanity, offering perfectly good reasons why it is the better, smarter decision to stay and endure that bad job just a little longer, but upon closer examination, these excuses keep us trapped in jobs that slowly but surely wear us down.

Here are 10 of the most common bad excuses for staying in an awful job.

#1 “Things might get better”
That jerk manager might be promoted out of there. That annoying co-worker could quit. That mound of overwork could suddenly disappear.
​
On the other hand, things might also get worse. Or they might not change at all. If you’ve already done your best to improve your job situation and nothing’s has changed, just waiting around for things to improve by themselves make little sense.

​As humans, we innately form immediate impressions about those we meet.
 
For over 15 years, social psychologist and Harvard Business professor, Amy Cuddy, and her colleagues, Susan Fiske and Peter Glick, have been examining first impressions, arriving at a very interesting conclusion.
 
And no, physical appearance isn’t the primary factor.
 
Cuddy has authored a book, Presence, that details many of the study’s findings. The book states that when we meet someone for the first time, we unconsciously ask ourselves two vital questions:
 
First: Can I trust this person?
 
Second: Can I respect this person?
 
In a nutshell, this initial judgment is one of whether we feel good or bad about this person. Warmth and competence are the two critical variables, accounting for approximately 80 percent of our overall evaluations of people. 
 
According to Cuddy, though the majority of people would prefer to be perceived as capable, especially when it comes to interviewing for a job opening, trustworthiness and warmth play a bigger part in first impressions.
 
States Cuddy, “From an evolutionary perspective, it is more crucial to our survival to know whether a person deserves our trust.”