I always have such a hard time focusing during calls or meetings. Usually taking notes will help me focus but once someone starts going off on a tangent or discussions start that don’t apply to my area of work, I’m gone for the rest of the meeting. Please tell me somebody has some good tips or tricks (preferably non-medicated ones).

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Maybe have a set of questions that you always want answered by the end of the meeting. Answer them as you go. And as long as you have those questions answered, you got what you needed out of the meeting and don’t worry about the rest of the chatter.

1. What account is this meeting for?
2. Is this a new or existing project?
3. Is this a follow up from a previous meeting?
4. Are we answering anything in this meeting from the last meeting and if so what?
5. If this is a new project, what is the ask?
6. Do I have what I need to move forward with the ask?
7. What is my role?
8. What are my next steps?
9. What is expected of me for the next follow up?
10. What is the timeline?

*of course those questions are relevant to my role, so just write out questions that would be relevant to your role, if different.

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Thanks for sharing the set of questions. I will definitely try these out. Fingers crossed they work.

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Hey OP, if you notice that at a certain point that you're losing your attention in the same reoccuring meeting because a lot of the discussion doesn't impact you, it's actually worthwhile to talk to your boss about it. Ask them if that meeting actually needs to be that long or if it makes sense for you to be in the whole meeting. If you will be productive elsewhere, it's a worthwhile ask. No one needs useless meetings.

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I understand where you're coming from. I would still recommend to provide that feedback for your boss. Your boss might be able to help you connect the dots on what you should focus on or heck, they might even share the same sentiment as you.

And if you find yourself agreeing, maybe tag team to suggest to the meeting lead how to improve. If you guys are both in agreement, it's very likely other people at that meeting are feeling the same way.

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