The Mental Warm Up Before Sitting Down
Launch library · evergreen read
The minutes immediately before an interview begins are worth protecting deliberately: a moment to set aside whatever came before, review the shape of the coming conversation, and arrive genuinely present rather than still half occupied by the last task completed. Even a few unhurried minutes can noticeably change how present an interviewer feels once the sitting actually begins.
Interviewers who skip this transition often carry residual distraction into the first several minutes of a sitting, and a subject can sense when the attention across the table is not fully arrived, however subtly that absence shows itself. A subject can often sense, without being told, whether the person across from them has truly arrived.
A short, simple ritual, however small, tends to help: a few quiet minutes, a review of the key questions, a deliberate breath before the door opens. The specifics matter less than the discipline of making the transition on purpose. The specific ritual matters far less than the simple discipline of making the shift on purpose each time.