The Mute Button You Never Think About

Every job has a version of the mute button.

For me, it's quite literally the mute button.

Since a particularly bad bout of coughing last year, I've found myself reaching for it during online counselling sessions whenever I feel a coughing fit coming on.

Most clients probably never notice.

They continue sharing what's on their mind while, for a few seconds, I'm trying to get the coughing under control before unmuting and continuing the conversation.

It's become one of those tiny parts of my work that no one sees.

And it got me thinking...

Every profession probably has its own version of the mute button.

• The teacher who pauses for a sip of water before continuing a lesson.

• The presenter who silently hopes their voice holds out until the end.

• The customer service representative who takes one deep breath before answering the next call.

  
  

The countless little adjustments people make every day so they can still show up for others.

We often judge someone's performance by what we can see, but there's usually an invisible layer of effort that never makes it into the picture.

Maybe that's true of more people than we realize.

So now I'm curious...

What's the "mute button" in your profession?