As we emerge from isolation and return to a more social world, self-awareness and empathy are critical in helping to navigate through the micro-moments that make up our days. Brush off your skills and be prepared to connect with kindness.

1. Making the Most of Micro-Moments
When Everyone’s a Bit Rusty

2. • It would be easy to say that we’re at
an especially strange point in dealing
with the COVID-19 pandemic — but
really, everything’s been pretty
strange for a long while now.
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3. • So much is happening around the
world: fears of COVID variants,
stalling vaccination rates, and
businesses re-opening or extending
remote operating plans.
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4. • As individuals, we face continued
worries about health and finances,
the uncertainty of what’s ahead, and
the fatigue of keeping it all together.
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5. • The ideas of “identifying pain points”
and “reducing friction” are especially
challenging in a world where we’re all
facing such personal and sensitive
challenges, making it easier to miss
out on or mess up moments that
matter.
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6. • The expression “I don’t get out much”
used to have a totally different sense.
• Over the past year, most of us have
had drastically fewer in-person
interactions.
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7. • However, as many resume more in-
person activities, we may be a bit
rusty.
• You probably don’t make as much
small talk with people in your own
home as you might with a grocery
store cashier or a bank teller.
• Plus, you and the person
you’re talking to may be wearing
masks and trying to social distance—
an awkward physical and social
dance.
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8. Be Self-aware

9. • Expecting that everyone will
suddenly build up amazing
emotional intelligence during one of
the most challenging times in recent
history is unrealistic.
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10. • We can offer suggestions for EQ
leadership and best practices in
cultivating emotional intelligence, but
it’s important to acknowledge that
there’s no perfect guidebook for how
to behave in every possible situation.
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• Instead, self-awareness is a solid
place to start.
• A daily practice like meditation,
prayer, or journaling can help us to
keep in touch with ourselves, as
strange as that may sound.

12. • Regularly connecting with a friend,
family member, or therapist can be
helpful, too, especially if you’re
feeling too overwhelmed to process
things by yourself.
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• According to CDC data, 42 percent of
US adults reported symptoms of
anxiety or depression in December of
2020 — up from 11 percent during
the first half of 2019.

14. Be Other-aware

15. • It’s always difficult to truly know what
someone else is going through. While
the pandemic has grouped us all into
the same boat, it’s a really big boat.
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16. • Consider the way you start the body
of an email:
• “Hope all is well!” may seem like a tone-
deaf line, but “Hope you’re hanging in
there!” just seems silly and “I hope that
you and your family are safe and healthy
and avoidingthe worst of this situation!”
is a little heavy.
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17. • Consider how you start a phone call,
online meeting, or grocery store
encounter:
• Take your pick: “How are you?” “How’s it
going?” “What’s up?”
• While any of these might seem like safe
openers, it’s hard to tell what you might
get back in return.
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18. • You probably don’t really know all
that's going on in someone else's life,
which is a good reminder: Avoid
making assumptions.
• “We’re all in this together” is true, but
the details absolutely vary.
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19. Be Forgiving

20. • Even if you wake up perfectly
balanced, write in your journal, drink
green tea, and then proceed into the
day with full self-awareness, you’re
still likely to trip at some point.
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• Maybe you snap at your partner
because you’re upset that your
internet dropped during an important
meeting.
• It happens. Pause, reset, and forgive.

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• Even if you enter every interaction
prepared to amp up the empathy,
you’re likely to encounter someone
else in a difficult situation and a
different state of mind.

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• Maybe you just got a new job, but the
person you’re sharing the news with
has just been fired.

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• Maybe you’re excited to share that a
loved one has recovered, but the
person you’re talking to has just
admitted a loved one to the hospital.
• It happens. We’re not mind-readers.

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• From personal to professional
situations, your awareness of these
micro-moments can help improve the
quality of your interactions and the
experience of all involved.

26. Want more?
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27. Have we met socially?

28. Thank you!