How to Put an End to Back-to-Back Meetings
You’ve probably seen advertisements for the Sleep Number bed. It’s the one where you change how firm or soft you want your mattress to feel by adjusting the Sleep Number setting. What if you could do the same for the volume and length of meetings you participate in? This cap would be your Zoom number.
In other words:
How many meetings (virtual, hybrid, or in-person) should you have in a day?
How long should they be?
Which meetings shouldn’t be meetings?
There’s no correct answer. Your Zoom number will vary based on the nature of your work and may also fluctuate based on the season. A great place to start with figuring out your number is to:
Identify your top priorities for the week. Start with your top two.
Estimate how much time you need to complete them.
Review your calendar and see how many meetings you have scheduled this week and their combined length. Does the number and length of the meetings leave time for you to complete your top priorities? If not, your de facto Zoom number may be too high.
If you want to lower your Zoom number, try time blocking your non-meeting activities, such as writing a grant proposal or working on the budget. Time blocking can help you carve out the space to focus on your top priorities. It’s a time management method that asks you to divide your day into blocks of time for each activity or priority.
For example, this week, you need to spend an hour working on the agenda for your next board meeting and two hours researching a potential program area. At the beginning of the week, set appointments on your calendar for the allotted time, and make sure the appointments are set to “busy.” That way, when someone tries to book a meeting with you, you already know those two priorities are accounted for in your schedule.
For meetings that are absolutely necessary, you can focus on strategies to make them more impactful and productive, such as using these templates for more intentional meetings.
The volume of virtual meetings has increased alongside our reliance on tools like Zoom to sustain collaboration and connection in a remote-first world. But the truth is our time, energy, and attention spans are limited in comparison. And if you don’t get control of your schedule, it will control you.