Vocabulary in Context

Remote communication can be stressful because there are none of the  cues that help you read a room.

You could take a walk around the block at a certain time of day or even a breathing or stretching routine before you sit – whatever it takes for you to  the transition between work and home.

One disadvantage of real-time communication is that the pace of information exchange can make misunderstandings more likely. For more complicated or provocative topics, try sending audio-only voice recordings or some other form of communication.

When the pandemic chased many of us out of our offices, we found that we were under the new remote rules of work: too much screen time; a lack of boundaries between work and home; endless video calls.

Staring at heads on a screen offers only a pale imitation of real human connection. Social anxiety only makes this worse.

When working remotely, use your workspace to help you  good boundaries. Even if your desk is in your kitchen, make it feel like a workplace.

You could schedule downtime or recharge time after performances. Oprah does this, as do many introverted performers and CEOs. You could consider the time of day. Think about when you can typically  the energy to be on and save other times for quiet work.

Finally, if you’re a manager, you have a special role to play to help employees protect their pace, place, and space. Manage the room during video calls. Even remotely, chatty extroverts tend to .