Yesterday, I wrote about priming as a generic concept. Today, I thought I'd narrow that down specifically to the concept of meetings. And the day before the start of a new work week is the perfect time to be doing that.

This is the day I sit down and prepare for the upcoming week. And a part of that preparation is to consider meetings scheduled throughout the week and determine which ones I should attend and what I should get out of them.

This process is essentially priming myself for the upcoming meetings.

When I go into a meeting without an understanding of what I want out of it, it is very likely that I end up being a member of the audience and not a proactive contributor. But, when I've primed myself for it, then I know to intervene when things are not going in the direction I want, and it makes me a much more proactive contributor.

As the saying goes, "If you don't know where you are going, then any road will take you there." This is true with meetings as well. When you don't what you want out of a meeting, then no matter what happens in it, you end up feeling it was a productive use of your time.

It's essential to prime ourselves for meetings.