Guide · after-work · 3 min read
The five minutes after a difficult meeting — a straightforward guide, when you are doing this for the first time
Back-to-back meetings leave no room to come down. Five deliberate minutes changes the next hour.
Start here
This is not complicated. It is inconvenient, which is why most people skip it.
If this is your first go, stay with the plainest version of the instructions.
If you only do one thing from this page, do the first point below. It is first because it removes the most friction for the least effort.
What helps
If something was said that stung, note it and decide to deal with it tomorrow. Most things look smaller after a night.
Move: stairs, a corridor, a walk to get water. The physical reset is faster than the mental one.
Do not replay it in your head with better answers. That rehearsal is satisfying and completely useless.
What to do when it does not work
Write down what actually happened, not what you felt about it. The two get mixed up within about ten minutes.
If you have to send a reply, draft it and wait an hour. Angry emails written in five minutes take weeks to undo.
Do not go straight into the next thing. Even sixty seconds of standing up changes how you carry the last meeting into the next one.
Questions people ask
What if I need to speak up in the meeting?
Prepare one sentence in advance. Most people who cannot speak up are missing an opening line, not courage.
Should I send a follow-up straight away?
A factual one, yes. An emotional one, no. Write it, then leave it for an hour.
Written for people who want the practical version. No accounts, no tracking, no newsletter wall.