How many times - especially on zoom - do you get stuck in a meeting or conversation? Whether or not you know the person, the feeling of having your time sucked into the void is excruciating. What are your options? 1. Interrupt 2. Wait it out 3. ? I think those are literally the only options available to us as reasonable human beings. How should we decide what to do? I definitely don't have the answer to this in the meantime, but I have found with certain people I'm exposed who have the tendency to ramble onnnnnnnnnnnnnn and onnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn... <div style="width:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:53%;position:relative;"><iframe src="https://giphy.com/embed/i1EupQlyJi1jy" width="100%" height="100%" style="position:absolute" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/love-life-infinite-i1EupQlyJi1jy">via GIPHY</a></p> The best way to deal with them is to front run the pain. Set a hard time limit on the conversation "I have a hard stop in 30 minutes..." Or preface the conversation by saying you have a quick question and then you have to run. Or otherwise set the stage for you to be able to interrupt when needed and have something to point to which can soften the blow to their ego. But once you're in it, you've got a choice to make, and it ain't a pretty one. Do you allow them to spew disgusting ego juice all over your afternoon or do you viciously rug pull their train of thought? Obviously the descriptions of the two options are hyperbolic, but it's fun. The best answer, I think, after writing these ~275 words on the topic, is to use as much grace, tact, and love as you can muster, and save your time IF you have something pressing. To listen to somebody deposits social currency into the vault of your relationship. If you've got nothing else to do, might as well make the deposit. But if you value your time doing other things more than the potential withdraw from your relational piggy bank, then just rip the band aid off early, get it over with, and move on (maybe send a text later acknowledging your faux pas should you care enough about the relationship). A caveat - this will not work out well if the person is baring their soul to you. Cutting them off will probably damage the relationship. Really think hard about whether you want that. But if they're talking about nonsense and you've got other things to do, then you need to prioritize your time and put an end to your suffering. They're being selfish or unaware anyways, so even if they get their feelings hurt they did it to themselves. This isn't a perfect system, but hopefully it gives you a few options in the form of a mental decision tree for how to operate in this scenario while preserving as much social currency and time as possible. Good luck, and happy interrupting!