After four days of an intensive offsite, most of my colleagues were quiet and tired. It’s that type of business trip that makes you dream about a vacation to recharge your social batteries.
But what do you do when your working week consists of calls, meetings and other human interactions? I wrote about efficient meetings already, but where do we find the energy to run those meetings with an open mind and a smile on our faces? Time to share another cheat code.
As I preached here, the solution to the problem starts with acknowledging it properly. Let’s sort out why social energy diminishes at all by taking virtual meetings as our example.
Every meeting requires us to juggle agendas, read body language (which is harder online) and rapidly switch mental gears, especially in a moderator/leader role. This constant context‑shifting leads to meeting fatigue, where your brain literally runs out of bandwidth.
When we interact with other people, it isn’t just talking. It’s decoding signals – tone, facial expressions, hints, unspoken expectations. Virtual calls demand even more nonverbal bandwidth, which depletes our social reserves over time.
Managers make hundreds of micro‑decisions per day and, over time, decision fatigue sets in, turning each new interaction into an effort.
I remember that in court days, I was so tired of interacting with people for the whole day and dealing with conflicts, requests, even demands – that I started to slowly hate people who came to the courtroom, drawing the line between “us” and “them”.
To avoid this state, I learned to refill my tank and the first step is to measure the actual level of energy. That helped me to understand where I stood and how fast the depletion is. The methods are nothing new, though: journaling, retrospective, micro check-ins.
I scheduled a timer twice a day to rate my level of social energy, then at the end of the day, jotted down how full the social tank is and what depleted or filled it. After the “social pulse” had been checked, I knew what to address but still had to figure out how.
I started to read what I could and ask more experienced colleagues, collecting a handful of insights. Here is the thing I learned: if you want to manage your energy like a pro, you can’t just wing it. You need to build small rituals that refuel you. Not next week, not on vacation – today. In between calls, during breaks, in the way you schedule your hours and shape your workspace.
The good news was that I had already used some of these tools and tricks. There are two main “protocols” that work exceptionally well for me personally.
1️⃣The first one I onboarded since I first got on stage with my fellow Rostov hip-hop bro P.Voll as a part of our 12 PM duo.
Every meeting or presentation can be a show – this approach gave me confidence, helped me to keep it interesting and engaging, and also taught me to prepare and rehearse. After many years, it became a natural way of doing it.
Shifting my perception of the most challenging and demanding meetings as a performance helped a lot in both reaching the best results and getting supercharged by good results and positive feedback.
2️⃣The second approach that helped is the realization that each interaction teaches me something. As a growth addict, I always look for insights to apply in my life – and each interaction has them, if you look close enough.
This taught me to pay attention, be open-minded, make mental notes and care about what people say, even if I strongly disagree.
But if these things are not something you can or want to do, here are some other tips that are easier to implement in your day-to-day social routine.
⏸️Pause, Reset
Sometimes all you need is 90 seconds. No music, no doomscrolling, just sit still with no distractions and thoughts. Breathe (discussed more here), meditate. If you’re not into meditation apps or breathing techniques, call it a “reset button” instead.
These tiny breaks lower perceived stress and improve focus. I use them before I jump into a particularly packed meeting block or after a high-pressure conversation.
🌳Nature, Movement
If I go for a 6-minute walk around the block, I come back more focused. And when I start my day with physical activity like fitness or a light jog with Hunter, then this state lasts at least until lunch.
Science confirms this: short exposure to nature + light physical movement boosts cognitive recovery and lowers cortisol. If you can step outside, do it. If not, open a window and do 10 jumping jacks (my wife even does that during meetings where she is not on camera).
⬇️This brilliant guy talks about it in this (and many other) episodes ⬇️️
🤔Know Your Recharge Style
Not everyone recharges the same way (that’s why I always say that my posts are relevant to my ways of doing things, yours may be different… very different!)
If you’re extroverted, you might feel better after a walk-and-talk meeting or by venting to someone for 5 minutes after a draining call.
If you’re introverted, alone time is sacred so snooze your notifications and treat it like a client/teammate 1-on-1 meeting (because honestly, you are the client).
📆 Your Calendar Is a Battery Indicator
Every “yes” in your calendar is a little energy withdrawal and every break is a top-up (I’m sure there is an app for that, and if not, you have Firebase Studio or Replit to make it).
Design a “budget” system based on how you feel about smaller and bigger meetings, and keep the track of it.
😌Take It Easy
Often, the pressure is self-inflicted – even in unwinding!
Face the truth, you won’t journal for 20 minutes between meetings but you might check some memes (with doggos, I hope). Instead of aiming high and burning out, aim realistically.
Meetings and offsites aren’t going anywhere, people will keep being people, looking for social interactions and trying their best to balance it.
For managers, it might always involve a bit more drain than for others. But you get to decide how to manage your energy (you are a manager after all 🥁).
Create moments to pause and build habits that replenish.
Because you can’t be a powerhouse if your battery’s fried ⚡
Retrieving Thoughts 