Note: This is an extension of a LinkedIn post from August 21, 2021.

With many of us working from home these days, the remove video meeting is king. Calendars are filled with back-to-back Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams appointments. And after a day full of them, you may be feeling mentally drained. Here are some things to try to keep you centered and maintain your sanity:

1. Take a meeting via phone instead of screen. Not every meeting needs faces in boxes and screen sharing.
2. Schedule your meetings for 25 or 50 minutes. Use the extra time in between to stand up, stretch, and look outside a window for a few moments.
3. Schedule yourself for lunch. Don’t bring a screen to lunch. Actually eat some lunch.
4. Schedule yourself for a short walk around your neighborhood or head to a park and take a quick stroll.
5. Schedule yourself for solo work time. Pick the time of day you are most productive solo.
6. Stick to your plan. Reschedule meetings that conflict with it.

Note: This was originally a LinkedIn post on August 1, 2021.

Today, August 1, is the 37th anniversary of my family moving to the United States from Athens, Greece.

Picking up and moving to a new country is such a big change. As an adult now, I can hardly imagine doing it! And while I know it wasn’t an easy transition, I’m grateful to my parents for deciding to go ahead with it, given the opportunities that were made available to us all.

Thanks to that move 37 years ago, I’ve met countless friends and colleagues and made hundreds of memories. The educational and professional opportunities have been unmatched. And about 20 years ago I became a naturalized citizen so I could vote.

I firmly believe our country is stronger thanks to immigrants. From the migrant farmer who picks your produce to the medical researcher finding a cure for your disease, immigrants have been a cornerstone of the development of the United States.

I’ve yet to meet an immigrant who doesn’t want to leave this country in a state better than they found it. They’re bought into this country, warts and all, and they don’t want to take what is here for granted.

Next time you see someone with an unusual last name or an interesting accent, politely ask them where they or their families hail from. And remember that, regardless of citizenship, if that person is choosing to be here, at some level they’re American, too.