My default meeting time is 25/50 minutes
Not 30/60 minutes.
Although this may sound weird at the beginning (and yes, you should change the default setting in your Google calendar), it has plenty of benefits.
Do you feel exhausted at the end of your workday? One back-to-back video meeting after another? When I start a new job, I typically spend the first weeks observing and talking to a lot of people. I did the same when starting my new role as Head of User Research. And I discovered an interesting pattern.
90% of the people I had scheduled a meeting with were not on time.
I looked a bit deeper into this, checked their calendars, and came up with a hypothesis: They can’t be on time, as their calendars are full of back-to-back meetings.
Time for something slightly different: the 25 minute meeting
I then tried a different setup: I set my default meeting time to 25 minutes. Not 30 minutes.
This has plenty of benefits:
- Punctuality: You will be on time for the next meeting as you have 5 minutes spare time.
- Breathe & rehydrate: Time to grab a glass of water. And take a few deep breaths (this, by the way, is one of the most powerful things you can do to reduce your stress level).
And it gets even better: A recent study from Microsoft suggests that short breaks even have a positive effect on the stress level: You will stay more relaxed during the day.
Results from Microsoft’s research
The result: Less stress
I can only encourage you all to try this out. Since I’ve been doing this, I feel less stressed, I’m always on time for meetings (which in my opinion is a sign of respect for my meeting counterparts) and my zoom fatigue has dropped.
Try it out. Today.
I’m curious to hear in the comments how it worked out for you. Please share your story.
Kilian Hughes is a manager and leadership coach in the field of UX, building up and leading teams since 2016.
