Kondo Your Meeting Calendar
In ways both in and out of our control, this is an era of less: Our worlds are smaller. Our functioning brain cells are fewer. But we can enter the new year resolving to do less, to grind less — and to spend a lot less time in meetings.
My colleague Damon Beres, editor-in-chief of OneZero, recently tweeted out this piece of inspiration:
Whether or not you manage a team, right now, today is a great time to follow suit. Summon whatever take-charge January energy hasn’t already been sapped by recent existential threats to American democracy. Use that energy to take a Marie Kondo approach to each of the ongoing meetings on your calendar.
Don’t ask if it sparks joy. That’s too much to ask of any meeting, especially when remote life eliminates the chance that it will include surprise snacks. But you might ask: Is this truly necessary? Does this accomplish something that a Slack/email/five-minute phone call does not? If the answer is yes, keep it on there. If not, toss it out (or make that suggestion to whoever owns the meeting, if it isn’t you). When it comes to demands on your time, minimalism should be the goal.
