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[observer3]

LOVE the despair mugs.

We have a bullying and abusive chair. I have a fantasy that one day at a meeting we will all hold up signs that say "respect" when he starts one of his nasty shouting rants.

Ok, so this will never happen, but it is a good thing to daydream during meetings.

[ucprof]

I bought a light laptop that I often bring to university committee meetings.  If the meeting is short and I am engaged, then I do not open it.  If the meeting is long and there is a lot of discussion that does not involve me then I open it and get work done.  If the committee does not like it they can kick me off - no skin off my nose.  For dept meetings I often bring my cellphone/PDA in case I want to discretely check email.  We will have a day-long meeting for the dept in a couple of weeks and you better believe my laptop will come with me.  I doubt others will mind.
Fortunately most of my dept is sensible and respect that some of us have a lot more paperwork to do - I am part of a subgroup in my dept that is unusually active in bringing in federal funding - but we also have tons of reporting, propopsals etc. some of which can be done during the longer faculty meetings.  If it's a toss up between having to stay up late to get something done or doing it in the meeting, it will be done in the meeting.  Some of my less-funded colleagues have benefited from ICRs back to the dept on my grants .... so hopefully they understand.

[scotia]

I am tempted to put the 'Worth' mug into the mailbox of one of my colleagues who appears to be determined to monopolize meetings and tell me how to do my job (I now have to chair some meetings). This would not be so bad were it not for the fact that his interventions on procedure and his 'helpful' comment frequently make him look like an idiot, but he is completely oblivious to the fact. I certainly need to find some way of keeping him under control as I would like the meetings to be a focussed forum for multiple opinions, and short, and so would most (all? - maybe not his closest ally) of the other attendees.

[thundering_m]

I am tempted to put the 'Worth' mug into the mailbox of one of my colleagues who appears to be determined to monopolize meetings and tell me how to do my job (I now have to chair some meetings). This would not be so bad were it not for the fact that his interventions on procedure and his 'helpful' comment frequently make him look like an idiot, but he is completely oblivious to the fact. I certainly need to find some way of keeping him under control as I would like the meetings to be a focussed forum for multiple opinions, and short, and so would most (all? - maybe not his closest ally) of the other attendees.

Videotape. Seriously. "So no one has to take notes, and so we can provide a more complete transcript for the people who couldn't be here today, we're simply going to videotape. Then we'll take turns reviewing it and writing down minutes to be sure we all recall the same decisions."
.
Then approach said bombast with this logic: " You contribute so much and have obviously thought about each and every item on the agenda to a great extent. Would you mind being the first reviewer?"
Then see what the guy comes up with (e.g. some reflection), but no matter what: "Now that you've seen how we interact as a group, do you have some ideas for getting everyone engaged in the process? The cohesive, cooperative relationships are actually more important than the particular projects at this point in our development as a functioning committee."
Bossy guy may be so focused on the task he feels like a conduit for ideas, not a person in a relationship; he is also not focused on the future and the idea of building bridges and paths for future tasks. But you knew that. This strategy might make it self-evident to him, with some guidance.

[alohafromhere]

Knit.  It keeps you busy, you make something, it's meditative, calming, you can listen while you knit (I use the line: "studies have shown knitting increases focus and retention", and if anyone protests you can -- if you are a woman -- cry gender-bias foul; if you are a man, oh hell, do the same.  In our faculty meetings, I started knitting a year ago, and now half the back row is populated by knitters.  I'm not even any good at it, just knit, no purl.  Everyone gets scarves for birthdays, Christmas, whatever.  Ravelry.com has cool stuff for knitters.  Have at it -- knitting is saving my sanity this week -- and all the weeks to come.

[melba_frilkins]

Yes, knit. Or crochet. It's much easier to learn and lots of fun. You can graduate up to fine lace which means you have very little to carry around (just a ball of thread and a single crochet hook).

Now, there are meetings where productive things actually get done. I'm not talking about those. Then there are the ones that are a waste of time. Ideally, I get myself off those committees, but sometimes there isn't a choice. My solutions are:
-Shameless doodling
-Looking at each person and think of a good thing about them that I appreciate or admire (this either puts you in a good mood or keeps you occupied for a long time).
-Giving each person a virtual make-over (hair, shoes, clothes, the works) and/or give the room a make-over.

My problem is not so much keeping myself occupied. I mean I could sit for two hours in an empty room and happily pass the time. My issue is keeping myself from starting to care about some of the pointless issues that come up, and most importantly to not volunteer for more work.

[higherandhigher]

Take notes.
Even if you will throw them out and/or never look at them again.
Even if they make no sense.
Even if they are illegible.