First things… this isn’t the fancy dress kind of masks, these are the ones we slap on to pass as “normal”…
My pet mask: Eye-contact ping-pong
I process spoken words better if I let my eyes wander.
- Society insists eye contact equals honesty.
- Result: My brain runs a pointless background app… Look at the left eye? Right? Maybe the nose? Oh no, they just asked a question!
- By the time I pick a pupil I have missed half the conversation and nodded like a dashboard bobble head.
After 45 years of undiagnosed ADHD this dance is muscle memory. I have improved, and I now warn clients I may glance at the wall because it helps me listen, but the reflex is still there.
One tiny mask off, two million to go.
The hidden bill
This is arguably the least serious or consequential mask I have, and each mask can feel trivial on its own.
However, stack them and you get:
- End-of-day exhaustion that coffee cannot touch.
- Overwhelm arriving unannounced & eats your evening.
- The nagging sense you are a bad improv actor in someone else’s play.
Why drop the mask?
Because the world did not end when I explained my wandering-eyes habit. Colleagues shrugged, carried on, and I actually heard what they said.
Tiny shift, huge ROI.
If you are masking today:
- Identify the smallest, low-risk mask you can drop.
- Tell the room why – one sentence, no apology.
- Watch what doesn’t happen.
Odds are the sky doesn’t fall.
Your turn…
- What’s the mask that costs you the most energy?
- Have you tested life without it yet?
- If yes, what changed?
- If no, what would make it safe enough to try?
Drop a comment and let’s compare costume notes. The more we talk about masking, the less we need to do it.
