How to Achieve Productivity Gains by Reducing Meetings

Anyone else suffer from meeting overload? It’s a big deal. Simply put too many meetings means less time available for actual work, plus constantly attending meetings can be mentally draining, and often they simply are not required to accomplish the agenda items. At the same time sometimes it’s unavoidable. No matter where you are in your career, here are a few ways that I tackle this topic so that I can be my best and hold myself accountable to how my time is spent. I take 15 minutes every Friday to look at the week ahead and what is on my calendar. I follow these tips to ensure what is on the calendar should be and that I’m prepared. It ensures that I have a relevant and focused communications approach, and enables me to focus on optimizing productivity, outcomes and impact. 1. Review the meeting agenda. If there’s no agenda I send an email asking for one so you know exactly what you need to prepare for, and can ensure your time is correctly prioritized. You may discover you’re actually not the correct person to even attend. If it’s your meeting, set an agenda because accountability goes both ways. 2. Define desired outcomes. What do you want/need from the meeting to enable you to move forward? Be clear about it with participants so you can work collaboratively towards the goal in the time allotted. 3. Confirm you need the meeting. Meetings should be used for difficult or complex discussions, relationship building, and other topics that can get lost in text-based exchanges. A lot of times though we schedule meetings that we don’t actually require a meeting to accomplish the task at hand. Give ourselves and others back time and get the work done without that meeting. 4. Shorten the meeting duration. Can you cut 15 minutes off your meeting? How about 5? I cut 15 minutes off some of my recurring meetings a month ago. That’s 3 hours back in a week I now have to redirect to high impact work. While you’re at it, do you even need all those recurring meetings? It’s never too early for a calendar spring cleaning. 5. Use meetings for discussion topics, not FYIs. I save a lot of time here. We don’t need to speak to go through FYIs (!) 6. Send a pre-read. The best meetings are when we all prepare for a meaningful conversation. If the topic is a meaty one, send a pre-read so participants arrive with a common foundation on the topic and you can all jump straight into the discussion and objectives at hand. 7. Decline a meeting. There’s nothing wrong with declining. Perhaps you’re not the right person to attend, or there is already another team member participating, or you don’t have bandwidth to prepare. Whatever the reason, saying no is ok. What actions do you take to ensure the meetings on your calendar are where you should spend your time? It’s a big topic that we can all benefit from, please share your tips in the comments ⤵️ #careertips #productivity #futureofwork

I take a lot of meetings for work. By 3 PM, I was hyper-caffeinated and crashing. Not anymore ✌️ Here are a few tricks to finish the day with brain‑power (and patience) still intact:  1.  𝗦𝗵𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝟮𝟱 𝗼𝗿 𝟱𝟬 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀. Outlook & GCal have the toggle. Built‑in buffers = built‑in oxygen.       2.  𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼‑𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮. If it can’t state a purpose in the invite, it probably shouldn’t exist.       3.  𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝟭:𝟯𝟬 - 𝟯 𝗣𝗠 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 “𝗻𝗼‑𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘇𝗼𝗻𝗲.” That’s the natural circadian dip - use it for deep work or a walk.       4.  𝗖𝗮𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘀. More than that and half the Zoom tiles are passengers.       5. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽. After 2 back‑to‑back calls, schedule a 10‑minute outside walk. Movement > more caffeine.       6.  𝗥𝘂𝗻 𝗼𝗻𝗲 “𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱‑𝘂𝗽” 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴. A standing or walking call each hour keeps posture fatigue away.       7.  𝗦𝘄𝗮𝗽 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗺/𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Async updates free entire afternoons for real problem‑solving.       8.  𝗛𝘆𝗱𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮 𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗺. 16 oz every hour - trade for espresso #4.       9.  𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝟯𝟬 𝘀𝗲𝗰 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗽. Clears mental cache, prevents repetition.      10.  𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲. Delete anything recurrent that hasn’t produced value in 90 days.           𝗣𝗿𝗼‑𝘁𝗶𝗽: I let Sybill capture live notes & action items so I can stay fully present. Fewer keystrokes, zero context‑switching. Your 4 PM self will thank your 9 AM self for protecting its energy. Bookmark this list, test it for a week, and tell me how it feels. Anything you’d add? 👇

A calendar full of meetings ≠ productivity It can be easy to fall into the mind trap that a fuller schedule means that you're doing more and delivering more to your company. I go through periods in which I allow myself to get way over scheduled and don't have time to do really important work. Then I fall way behind and work long hours to catch up. Doing good, productive work requires uninterrupted time. It requires focus, and it requires the discipline to allow myself to say no to meetings. Saying no to meetings, or forcing meetings to be focused and productive is an underrated skill - I admire those who are good at it. I love the Eisenhower Matrix of how to prioritize work. I think this can also be applied to determine if a meeting should be scheduled or not. For example... Is the topic urgent & important? = schedule the meeting ASAP (Note, I'm making the assumption that the topic can't be resolved via email, which >50% of meeting topics can be resolved via email) Is the topic not urgent, but important? = schedule the meeting for 2-3 weeks away, and ensure everyone is prepared for the meeting so it is focused and effectively, scheduling only the amount of time needed (If the topic, or part of the topic, can be resolved in the meantime via email, do that) Is the topic not important, but urgent? = make a decision on it, or call someone directly and discuss for <5 minutes, decide and move on Is the topic not urgent and not important? = don't even bring it up, move on Are there any tools or tips you have for eliminating meetings from your calendar so you have more time to do focused work? #productivity #meetings #management

Focus on getting things done, not on talking about getting things done Let's talk about meetings — I find myself questioning their true value. They seem to be a theatrical display of productivity, with too much time spent on formalities and too little on the matters at hand. Are they just a comfort blanket for the corporate world, providing a sense of progress? My guess is yes. I've been dodging meetings for years, ruthlessly declining invitations for gatherings that have an aim to “discuss” rather than “decide.” Only 3 out of 10 attendees speak while the others just bear witness, and what’s the outcome? More often than not, vague takeaways that get translated into concrete tasks post-meeting. Are we prioritizing talk over action? For a long time now, I've limited myself to a maximum of three meetings per day, which has drastically improved my focus and productivity. Now, I'm contemplating dialing it down further, reducing it to two and shrinking a typical half-hour call to 25 minutes. Every minute matters. The philosophy behind this? It’s simple — focus on getting things done, not on talking about getting things done. As a fan of deep work, I want to leverage the power of asynchronous communication methods, giving myself and others the space and time to think before responding. On calls, you're pressured to provide instant answers, often resulting in half-baked ideas. Here's my golden trio for effective communication: 📱 Slack for quick responses to urgent matters. ✉ Email to keep everyone in the loop on tasks that can wait. 📄 Google Docs for ideating, aligning, criticizing, and translating thoughts into actionable tasks. Meetings? They consume time and yield very little. If we have to resort to email and documents to clarify and finalize ideas post-meeting, then perhaps it's time to reconsider the necessity of the meeting itself. #Productivity #TimeManagement #DeepWork

Trust always outshines surveillance. →You're more than a series of updates. Meet Kate*. Every day, she was swamped, drowning in status updates. And she was on the brink of burnout. She spent all of her time: →Buried writing reports to justify her existence. →Proving she had impact with endless updates. →Sitting in meeting after meeting to "stay informed." Enough was enough. Here's how Kate reclaimed her time and got her life back: →She stopped going to those ridiculous 'pre-meetings.' →She said 'no' to meetings that didn't need her input. →She made her check-ins quick and to-the-point. I like to call it making "white space" in your calendar. Clearing out time isn't a luxury, its critical for keeping your mind and creativity alive. Kate changed how she worked by giving herself the space to breathe, think and be creative without interruptions. And guess what? You can do this too. Find a boss who trusts you to do great things without watching your every move. You deserve to be respected and have the freedom to do your best work. Don't let endless meetings dim your bright ideas. It's on you now. Look at your schedule. What meetings can you cut today to get back your time and creativity? It's YOUR time.  Take it back. *name changed for privacy

Productivity tip for 2024: Shorten the amount of time you allocate for scheduled meetings. I used to schedule meetings for either 1 hour for what I anticipated would be a long meeting or 30 minutes for a short one. Now I keep everything to 30 and 15—and the same amount of stuff gets done. How is that possible? With less time, everyone gets better prepared and stays more focused. It's Parkinson's Law in action: Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. The broader principle here is that when it comes to productivity, it's not about planning for big, bold changes, it's about actually implementing small, simple ones. Those add up to make a big impact.