Case Study: Rescued My Medical Writing Meeting With A 60-Second Meditation

"This entire thing needs to be re-written." As my brain registers these words uttered by the clinical lead during a meeting, a wave of panic and frustration runs through my body.

The background: I am writing a clinical study report for one of my clients, and we have been working on this document for the last 4 weeks.

Draft 1, which I wrote, was considered too lengthy.

I made Draft 2 lean.

A request came in to make it even leaner, which I did.

Then the management reviewed it, and now we are in a meeting where they are requesting for Draft 3 to be even bigger than Draft 1.

All good and a normal game for medical writing. Except that I have less than 4 hours to re-write an 80-page document. At this point, I don't have the slightest idea of how to make everyone happy; the team themselves don't know what they want. They work in oncology drug development. Read: stretched too thin, juggle too much, sleep too little.

I am leading this meeting, and I need the team to decide what this document should look like. In short, I can't afford waves of panic and frustration ruling my thinking.

While my team ponders something irrelevant, I mute myself and go for an emergency 60-second meditation session.

1. Look at the horizon for 30 seconds.

TIP: This is a reliable technique to broaden your perspective and calm the nervous system. Get out of the stress-oriented tunnel vision and allow your eyes to register what is happening on the periphery or in the distance. Instantly calming.

2. Assess my inner state.

Ok, I very rarely get irritated during my meetings.

So, what's happening? Aha, my daughter got sick and woke me up at 5:40 am. I am missing at least an hour of sleep, and my immune system might be fighting a cold.

So, I acknowledge a part of me that is tired, send her some compassion, and promise a nap after the meeting is done.

TIP: Recognizing our feelings, allowing them, and giving some nurturing presence is the fastest way to work through challenging emotions.

3. Connecting with my heart

I remind myself that I am doing medical writing for a reason. My team is not trying to throw the wrench into the works. They are brilliant, capable people, united by one mission - deliver medicines to people who will die without them. Five people in my family faced cancer - brain, breast, prostate, colon, and lung; 2 passed away, 3 alive. The teams I work with literally keep my loved ones alive. And they probably don't realize the difference they make. It is my goal to support them the best I can.

The whole 3-step process took about 60 seconds. I went from being stressed to being composed and collected, which allowed me to run the meeting and then update my document without much drama.

That's why I meditate. So that I have the presence of heart and mind when it matters.