Is your meeting schedule draining your energy? Research shows meetings can keep you from taking small breaks throughout the day (like a short walk or a casual conversation) to restore your energy. Here’s how to make your schedule work for you—not against you. First, focus on the relative proportion of meeting time to individual work time on a specific day, not just the total hours spent in meetings. A reasonable balance between meetings and individual tasks allows for essential breaks and energy replenishment throughout the day. Next, pair high-pressure meetings with low-pressure tasks (or vice versa) instead of packing all your intense work into a single day (or time of day). Finally, adopt a more holistic approach to your workday schedule. Before putting a meeting on your calendar, ask yourself: How will this scheduling decision impact the rest of my workday? Will it lead to back-to-back high-pressure meetings or tasks in a single day? When else could I do this meeting or task to create a more even distribution of meetings, individual work, and breaks?
This tip is adapted from “Arrange Your Meeting Schedule to Boost Your Energy,” by Chen Zhang et al.
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