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You know the feeling: Youre replying to emails, navigating open tabs, responding to direct messages, when suddenly, it happensyour standing weekly 2 p.m. gets canceled abruptly. Giving everyone 30 minutes back today, the organizer says. A rush courses through your nervous system: Youre free. Nothing about this recurring meeting is particularly onerous or necessarily stressful. And yet, at this moment, you feel like a burden has been lifted. Maybe you even audibly sigh in relief. That sudden sense that all is right in the world has a psychological cause, Dr. Wilsa Charles Malveaux, a psychiatrist in Los Angeles, explains to Fast Company. A neutralized threat in the brain Our body is responding to the release of stress, Charles Malveaux says. Between jobs, families, social obligations, and more, many of us feel overextended. At work, in particular, it can feel as though theres no option to say no to something, like having to attend a meeting. So when a meeting gets canceled, It takes the responsibility of havingor wantingto say no away, which leads to that sense of relief, Charles Malveaux says, noting that biologically, Were getting a sense of I can breathe again. Were programmed to anticipate threats, primarily through the amygdala, the structure in our brain that senses and responds to fear. Once it activates your fight-or-flight system, the brain releases cortisol, which often lingers after a threat so that we remember how to recognize it and respond for the future, Charles Malveaux says. So, weekly catch-ups, as harmless and banal as they may be, could actually activate an elevated sense of threat tied to anxieties around being on time, or having to show up and present a certain way in a meeting, she adds. When you no longer have that, you feel that release. But the reason why a particular meeting may trigger someones internal threat system depends on the individual. An invitation for introspection Beyond the joy of suddenly having extra free time to plow through piled-up tasks or ditch work early, there may be additional insights you can glean about yourself when certain meetings get canceled. Its probably not all of our meetings getting canceled that makes us experience an absolutely electric sense of newfound freedom, Charles Malveaux says. Its probably just some of them. If were really paying attention to what adds stress to our day-to-day work life, and what does not, it could lead to some helpful introspection. Maybe certain meetings make us feel pressure to perform, or maybe theres a colleague in that weekly meeting who triggers us. We can use that kind of personal examination to gather information and potentially move more mindfully throughout our workday. Understanding what types of meetings push us into an emotionally heightened state can help us approach them with a better attitude. Or, in the right environment, we may be able to approach our employers with those concerns and insightssomething that could shift the companys culture across the board. Its a two-way street: Employers need to be receptive to the idea that all-hands-on-deck-style meetings, for example, may not be the healthiest option for everyone. Long-standing gripes Meetings in general remain a contentious aspect of professional life. Data shows that many of them truly do waste time and drain workers to be less productive. As the workplace at large has been reexamined and reimagined in the post-pandemic era, redesigning meetings has become more of a topic of discourse. Sometimes a meeting can just be an emailand if removing it from workers calendars can lower stress levels, why not do it? Building a work culture that understands the difference between necessary and unnecessary meetings is a top-down issue, Charles Malveaux says. After all, theres only so much most workers in an organization can do to control the problem. Employers and upper-level management should really look at what is actually necessary for optimal function and performance of your organization, versus control, which is a way a lot of people erroneously use meetings, she says. A reframe That may be easier said than done, and the fact of the matter is that a lot of us will still be sitting through meetings wed rather avoid as part of being in the workforce. Dealing with the resulting stress is all about energy management, Charles Malveaux suggests. Energy management is a fairly individualized journey, and includes keeping track of the things that drain us, versus those that fill us back up, and making sure we book time for the latter, she says. If youre consistently finding yourself immensely relieved every time a meeting gets canceled, it might be worth zooming out and making sure your energy is being refilled elsewhere in your lifeand not just being depleted constantly at work. Doing an hour or so of something we hate or dont want to participate in is going to feel a lot different from an hour of something that invigorates us, Charles Malveaux says, noting, Making sure that we tune into those things that make us feel good and then schedule time for [them] is key, and it takes intentionality on the individuals part. Making space for breaks can help keep burnout at bay, whether its just five minutes of silence in your car or a walk in a nearby park. Sounds like the perfect way to spend the time gained from that canceled meeting.
Category:
E-Commerce
As our attention spans and cognitive abilities are increasingly damaged by digital overuse and AI-mediated shortcuts, the ability to focus deeply and learn something in depth is quickly becoming a critical skill. Never have we had such broad access to information. And never have so many people felt unable to concentrate long enough to truly master anything. Learning is everywhere, yet depth feels elusive. In a world where artificial intelligence can retrieve, summarize, and recombine information faster than any human, what remains valuable is the capacity to incorporate it. And for that to be possible, you need to stay with a subject long enough for it to transform you. To develop judgment, sensibility, and embodied understanding. {"blockType":"mv-promo-block","data":{"imageDesktopUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2026\/01\/PhotoLVitaud-169.jpg","imageMobileUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2026\/01\/PhotoLVitaud-11.jpg","eyebrow":"","headline":"\u003Cstrong\u003ESubscribe to Laetitia@Work\u003C\/strong\u003E","dek":"Women power the worlds productivity its time we talked more about it. Explore a woman-centered take on work, from hidden discrimination to cultural myths about aging and care. Dont miss the next issue subscribe to Laetitia@Work.","subhed":"","description":"","ctaText":"Learn More","ctaUrl":"http:\/\/laetitiaatwork.substack.com","theme":{"bg":"#2b2d30","text":"#ffffff","eyebrow":"#9aa2aa","subhed":"#ffffff","buttonBg":"#3b3f46","buttonHoverBg":"#3b3f46","buttonText":"#ffffff"},"imageDesktopId":91472264,"imageMobileId":91472265,"shareable":false,"slug":""}} Engineering scarcity in a world of abundance It is striking that some of the wealthiest people on the planet are actively trying to recreate conditions of scarcity for learning. Silicon Valley billionaires famously send their children to schools with no screens. The goal is to give the young brains of their offspring the chance to build attention, memory, and imagination without constant digital solicitation. And to give them an edge over hyperconnected, cognitively eroded plebs. Conscious of the erosion of their cognitive abilities, more and more people attempt to engineer artificial information scarcity for themselves. They block websites, silence notifications, use distraction-free devices, or retreat into deep work bubbles. A growing number deliberately swap smartphones for so-called dumb phones, accepting inconvenience in exchange for cognitive space. Among younger generations, a curious trend has emerged on TikTok: videos of people filming themselves doing absolutely nothing. What looks like absurdity is, in fact, a rebellion against overstimulationa desire to recover the ability to sit with oneself without external input. All these strategies point to the same intuition: Abundance without boundaries is not liberating. It is paralyzing. And learning, in particular, seems to require limits to flourish. Learning when the future is radically uncertain This matters all the more because learning has lost one of its traditional motivations: predictability. For decades, acquiring skills was tied to relatively stable professional trajectories. You learned accounting to become an accountant, law to become a lawyer, engineering to become an engineer. The link between effort and outcome was broadly intelligible. Today, nobody knows which skills will be valued among future white-collar workersor whether many of those will still be hired at all. Entire professions are being reshaped, fragmented, or automated faster than educational institutions can adapt. In such a context, learning can feel strangely demotivating. Why invest years mastering something that may soon be obsolete? And yet, this very uncertainty may make deep learning even more meaningful. When external guarantees disappear, learning becomes less about employability and more about orientation, about building internal resources like discernment, aesthetic sense, and intellectual resilience. This is where Taoist-inspired approaches to learning suddenly feel increasingly relevant. Whats Taoism? As one of the great spiritual traditions of China, it is traditionally associated with the Tao Te Ching, attributed to Lao-Tzu (around the 6th century BCE), and later texts such as the writings of Zhuangzi. At its core lies the concept of the Taooften translated as the Waythe underlying, ever-changing principle that governs the natural world. Taoism is not a doctrine of control or optimization. It emphasizes alignment rather than domination, and harmony rather than performance. One of its central ideas is wu wei, often mistranslated as nonaction but better understood as effortless action: acting in accordance with the natural flow of things rather than forcing outcomes. Another key idea is pu, the uncarved block, symbolizing simplicity, openness, and unconditioned potential. Taoist wisdom consistently warns against excessof desire, of knowledge, of interventionand values emptiness, slowness, and restraint as conditions for clarity. In short, Taoism offers a sharp lens through which to rethink how we learn today. A lesson from Fabienne Verdier: scarcity as a teacher I was reminded of this while reading Passenger of Silence, French artist Fabienne Verdiers remarkable account of the 10 years she spent in China in the 1980s, studying calligraphy and immersing herself in Chinese artistic and philosophical traditions. (Until March 2026, some of her striking works are being exhibited at the Cité de lArchitecture museum in Paris, offering a visual echo to the intellectual journey she describes.) Verdier recounts the ascetic teaching methods of her calligraphy master. The caricature comes to mind immediately: the merciless master in Kill Bill, forcing Beatrix Kiddo to repeat the same gesture endlessly, withholding validation until the student is almost broken. Repeat and repeat and repeat the same strokeuntil boredom, frustration, and despair surface. Wait months, sometimes years, before being deemed worthy of moving on. Prove motivation, patience, and humility before even being accepted as a student. At one point in her book, Verdier recounts a decisive moment of collapse after being asked to paint endlessly the same strokesone that her master greets not with concern, but with joy. After months and months of training, I burst out one winter morning in front of my master:I cant go on anymore; I dont know where I am. In short, I dont understand anything anymore.Goo, good.I dont know where Im going.Good, good.I dont even know who I am anymore.Even better!I no longer know the difference between me and nothing.Bravo! The more I fumed, the more delighted he became, his face radiant with happiness and amazement. He was hopping with joy, tears in his eyes. I went on, overwhelmed by an inner pain, thinking he hadnt understood what I was saying:After all these years of practice, I realize that I am still just as ignorant in the face of the universe. I will never manage to accomplish what you are asking of me.Yes, that is exactly it, he said, clapping his hands with joy. He danced in place with an incomprehensible delight. At that moment, I thought he was delirious.You have no idea how much pleasure youve just given me! There are people for whom an entire lifetime is not enough to understand their own ignorance. 5 Taoist principles of learning we could all adopt 1. Learning as transformation, not acquisition: In Taoism, knowledge is not something you accumulate but something you become. The Tao Te Ching repeatedly suggests that true understanding comes not from adding more, but from stripping away the superfluous. Mastery is not about collecting credentials or information, but about internal change. Learning is successful when it alters how you act in the world. 2. Patience as a prerequisite: Lao-Tzu famously writes: I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. Patience is a condition for learning to occur at all. Progress cant be forced. Growth unfolds in its own time, like the seasons. In learning, waiting is not wasted time but part of the processespecially when what is being learned is judgment, taste, or sensibility. 3. Scarcity and simplicity as cognitive discipline: Taoism consistently warns against excess. The ideal learner is not surrounded by infinite resources but protected from distraction. Fewer tools, fewer references, fewer stimuli allow attention to settle. As Lao-Tzu notes: When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you. 4. Process over outcomes: Taoist wisdom is skeptical of linear progress and measurable outcomes. Learning does not move smoothly from beginner to expert; it circles, deepens, stalls, and restarts. This stands in stark contrast to modern learning cultures obsessed with efficiency, milestones, and KPIs. If you focus too much on results, you miss the internal transformations that constitute real mastery. 5. Boredom and not-knowing as thresholds: Perhaps the most radical principle is the role of boredom. Taoist practices value stillness and emptiness as gateways to insight. In learning, boredom is often the point where superficial motivation collapsesand where something deeper can begin. To tolerate boredom, uncertainty, and silence is to resist the constant stimulation of digital environments. Learning humility in an age of hubris Taoism dismantles the illusion of mastery and domination. It reminds us that knowledge is always partial, that control is fragile, and that force ultimately backfires. Water defeats rock.Those who claim to know do not truly know. Learning, in this tradition, is inseparable from the recognition of ones ignorance. Verdiers master does not celebrate her despair out of cruelty, but because she has finally reached a point where ego, certainty, and ambition collapse. Only then can real learning begin. This stands in sharp contrast with our contemporary climate of hubristechnological, economic, and politicalwhere confidence is rewarded more than doubt. Taoist learning offers a counter-ethic. It teaches that in brutal times, restraint may be the most radical form of resistance. {"blockType":"mv-promo-block","data":{"imageDesktopUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2026\/01\/PhotoLVitaud-169.jpg","imageMobileUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2026\/01\/PhotoLVitaud-11.jpg","eyebrow":"","headline":"\u003Cstrong\u003ESubscribe to Laetitia@Work\u003C\/strong\u003E","dek":"Women power the worlds productivity its time we talked more about it. Explore a woman-centered take on work, from hidden discrimination to cultural myths about aging and care. Dont miss the next issue subscribe to Laetitia@Work.","subhed":"","description":"","ctaText":"Learn More","ctaUrl":"http:\/\/laetitiaatwork.substack.com","theme":{"bg":"#2b2d30","text":"#ffffff","eyebrow":"#9aa2aa","subhed":"#ffffff","buttonBg":"#3b3f46","buttonHoverBg":"#3b3f46","buttonText":"#ffffff"},"imageDesktopId":91472264,"imageMobileId":91472265,"shareable":false,"slug":""}}
Category:
E-Commerce
Quiet quitting. Silent space-out. Faux focus. Call it what you want, a lot of todays workers are going through the motions on the surface while quietly powering down beneath it. Nearly half of Gen Z employees say theyre coasting, and overall U.S. employee engagement sits at a decade low. When engagement fades, performance becomes performative. But disengagement isnt just a problem to solve, its a signal to heed. Employees arent turning off. Theyre trying to tell us something. As CEO of SurveyMonkey, Ive witnessed how curiosity can be the cure to the workplace phenomenon resenteeisma state of resentment combined with absenteeismwhich is often fueled by the current economic uncertainty, high-profile layoffs, and the always looming threat of a recession that compels employees to stay in difficult jobs. Here are a few best practices: When you ask better questions, you reveal truer truths By asking better questions, you can get to the heart of what employees really need. A few small shifts in your approach to asking can make a big difference. Ask about feelings and solutions separately. Instead of asking, What do you think about manager-employee communications? Ask, How do you feel about manager-employee communications? Then, separately, What do you think would make it better? Dividing feelings and solutions into two distinct categories enhances understanding of each, providing a better roadmap to real change. Keep it simple. Avoid double-barreled questions that blur answers. Instead of asking, How satisfied are you with your managers communication and support? Ask two clear questions: one about communication and one about support. Be receptive to harsh truths. When you ask questions with a genuine interest in the answers, employees will be more likely to open up, share ideas, and re-engage. Asking harder questions often reveals truer answers that get to the heart of the matter faster. Youll hear frustrations, confusion, and even criticism. But discomfort is often where innovation starts. Plan to be uncomfortable, and you wont be disappointed. Be clear about anonymity. Anonymity can surface more honest feedback, but its not always the best route. Sometimes youll want to follow up on a great idea or recognize the person who shared it. Either way, be transparent about whether feedback is anonymous. People will keep sharing when the ground rules are clear. Make every day listening second nature Too often, conventional check-ins like annual reviews and quarterly surveys feel like impersonal boxes to check. Approached clinically, managers are more likely to miss early signs of disengagement. When people feel like their feedback is lost in a dashboard, they stop providing it. Employees know when feedback requests are performative, and they respond as such. Sincere listening needs to be lighter, faster, and less formal. You can normalize curiosity in small, consistent ways, including: Ask a simple question at the end of a team meeting: Whats standing in your way today? or What can we improve this week? Run short, focused pulse surveys that take 60 seconds or less to answer. Follow up verbally when something needs clarification, rather than using email or Slack. Share one piece of feedback youve acted on recently. My team has seen that a five-minute feedback loop can reveal what a 50-question survey misses. Its less about frequency and more about follow-through. When employees see their input lead to action, trust grows, and engagement follows. Take every comment seriously Even the tiniest morsel of feedback can spark outsized change. A lone remark can connect teams, bridge silos, and turn passive frustration into active progress. One of the best examples Ive seen came from a deceptively simple comment in a benefits survey from our Chief People Officers team. While the overall feedback was positive, one person asked: What about the janitorial staff? This simple yet powerful question led her team to re-evaluate benefits for the vendor partners who keep our offices running every day. Within months, she expanded health insurance, paid time off, and transportation benefits to all contract employees. The ripple effect of this change was immediate. Our contractors said they felt more motivated, and regular employees were proud to work for a company that took care of everyone under its roof. That motivation and pride translated into stronger engagement, higher productivity, and a more unified culture. All of it started with a single comment, taken seriously. Start small, stay curious Resenteeism isnt just a blip. Its a signal. If we know how to listen, we can turn that signal into strategy. The key is to start small and stay consistently curious. Ask one question. If you dont get specific feedback, such as a vague All good! or Its fine!, reframe it: What part of this experience didnt land for you? If its a 9 out of 10, what would make it a 10 out of 10? You cant reverse disengagement overnight, but you can make incremental progressand progress compounds. Its a philosophy my team and I try to live by: better is better. What question will you ask today?
Category:
E-Commerce
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