Reclaim Your Career: 5 Strategies to Navigate Meetings and Boost Productivity

Meetings are destroying your career.

Meetings are doing something to us beyond being a drain on our time and productivity.

They are a tax on our energy and mental health.

Here are 5 methods that I’ve found to work for me to navigate meetings…

1. Be selective: not every meeting requires your participation. It’s as simple as that.

2. Use voice messages (!): if people are looking for your input on a topic, email or Slack them. Or even better, send a voice message to the group or individual. Voice messages are better than text: you don’t have to type, plus they make the message more personal.

3. No agenda no meeting: if there’s no agenda agreed for the meeting or if it is not int he meeting invite, then I decline the meeting.

4. Cancel recurring meetings: most of these become obsolete after some cycles, don’t be afraid to cancel.

5. Use walks: if you absolutely have to attend a conference call, could you turn it into a solo walk or a team walk? Be outdoors and get into a better energy flow!

What are your methods to navigate meetings?

#corporatelife #meetings #efficiency #mentalhealth

Chart courtesy: Microsoft 2023 WTI Report