Amanda Lamb: I'm in a meeting

Prior to the pandemic, our family life was hectic. We were all busy with work, school and activities that took us outside the house.

Now, I feel that intensity creeping back in—the only difference is that it’s happening from the confines of our home.

I usually check in with my 17-year-old daughter about dinner each night. She has a small window between swim practice and dance to eat. I have a small window between the 6 p.m. news and dance to feed her. But lately, when I ask her what time will work for her she greets me with: “I have back-to-back meetings.”

I have to chuckle a little at this—a 17-year-old who has stacked “meetings” like a financial advisor in a bear market. But, she is telling the truth. She has an internship and is involved in several organizations outside of school.

I try to do most of my online interviews and meetings in the basement. I usually put a note on the door that says: “Zooming, don’t disturb.”

So, somehow we’ve figured out even during a pandemic how to stay on the treadmill of life. Frankly, I think it’s a change that is here to stay. When people don’t have to get in a car and drive to a meeting, there are less excuses not to attend. And, If you’re like me, while in-person communications are so much more engaging, they simply take more time. I tend to be much more efficient in online meetings because I am not a fan of sitting in front of a little screen.

Hopefully, in the future, we will find a happy medium between the efficiency of online communication and the joy of face-to-face communication which may take more time, but feeds the soul in ways that seeing someone on a screen never can.

And frankly, teenagers have the rest of their adult lives to attend meetings. I look forward to the day when my daughter doesn’t have time for dinner because she’s hanging out with friends face-to-face. Fingers crossed that day will eventually come ...