Meeting madness needs to stop

👋 Hi all,

It's wild that we’re already 75% done with 2023, and the final quarter has started. Also, I am very proud that this newsletter is already going out to 350+ people worldwide after two months; thank you, and I am closer to my 10k goal within one year.

Today, we close the week with a bang and why you should cut the amount of your meetings in half. At least. Also, a heads-up to reconsider your Netflix subscription and a book recommendation for the cozy winter coming from one of my favorite writers.

See you on Tuesday,

Bas

Since I’m home from earlier this year because of my burn-out (more on that another time, doing better, thanks for asking), my meetings drastically declined to zero. Before I hit the pause button on my work life (doctor’s advice, but a good call in hindsight), I was in at least ten weekly meetings. Most of these were recurring discussions with my team or peers around me in the group I’m a partner of.

The meetings that came on top of those were the spontaneous meetings with (new) clients. You can imagine all these meetings add up and can be draining energy. Some meetings give power, but most slots aren’t always as necessary as they seem in my humble experience.

While I was stuck on my own for weeks at my kitchen table during the lockdowns in the eye of the pandemic, I also had a lot of meetings. The biggest differentiator was that they all were online, in breakout rooms, or happening on Slack. But most of my calls were brief, shorter, and to the point. After a while, I skipped most small talk (without being an asshole) to get to what the meeting was supposed to be about. I lost this advantage regarding time saved when we got back to offices and lunch tables face to face.