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Comment by tastysandwich | Hacker News Reader

Maybe it's just me, but I find meetings to be way more mentally fatiguing than, say, coding. Even if I'm just listening in.

A 1.5hr meeting cooks me. After a showcase, which can go for 2 hours, I'm done for the day.

However what works for me isn't having a rest, or flicking through YT for some quick mental rewards. A good walk, or doing some gardening, mowing the lawns - basically anything physical - helps me regenerate. Especially being outside.

That's been a big benefit of working from home. Yesterday at lunchtime I just went out back with a skillsaw and cut a whole bunch of wood for an hour (not random cutting, I need it for a project haha). Came back in feeling great!

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Listening in on meetings is one level of fatigue, but hosting/leading meetings is a whole other level for me. Having to multi-process in order to:

1. Keep discussions on track

2. Give everyone a chance to participate

3. Watch the time and make sure that all topics are covered

4. Take notes

5. Think about what is being discussed and participate

is incredibly exhausting. After leading 2-3 meetings, I feel like I've used up all my mental energy for the day. And as I a writing this, I realized that after leading a meeting, I typically hop out to the kitchen and grab a bite to eat. Maybe that's an instinctual need to refill the calories I expended thinking? Or maybe it's just a reward am seeking after the tiring task...

For me the above is part of it. And our company culture isn't big on sending out minutes (which is bad and good).

The bigger thing that tires me out is the wild context switching of one meeting after the next, on very disparate topics. I'm often left still thinking about something from before, and have to jump to a wildly new topic with my full attention. It's exhausting.

Weird thing is, you can strengthen this muscle. After years of academia I became able to sit in presentation after presentation and listen to every detail.

At first I could do it for 20 mins, and after a decade I could listen to about 2 or 3 days worth.

It was mostly inane nonsense designed to further someone’s career rather than actual science, but still I could pay attention almost perfectly for hours on end.

In industry I see people switching off after 20 mins in presentations that are actually interesting! Just need to work out your ears.

God yes. If I’m properly ”in the flow” as they say (although it’s rare), then I feel more energetic.

Meetings, especially ones I’m barely relevant to but forced to attend, could probably be an effective sleep aid.

Me too, I could in some days code for an entire day and feel tired but content. Listening in on a meeting for 1.5 hours cooks me as well, especially when I am expected to briefly participate and I can’t take my attention away from it. I love audiobooks and podcasts but there’s something about meetings that makes it feel exhausting.

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