The Kinda Sneaky Way Two Co-Workers Trick Their Job Into Scheduling Fewer Meetings
PeopleImages | Shutterstock They can be helpful, but most of the time, too many meetings are an inefficient use of everybody’s time, especially workers with full to-do lists waiting off camera.
So, how do you protect your focus time from a boss or colleague who never tries an email conversation before booking up your calendar? Two half-sly, half-genius co-workers shared a tactic to create no-meeting days for themselves on LinkedIn, and spoiler alert: it worked even better than they expected.
The sneaky trick two co-workers used to avoid useless meetings at work
These two BFFs started scheduling fake meetings with each other to avoid 'time thieves'
In a LinkedIn post, one worker admitted she sent fake meeting requests with her office BFF, hoping to protect her productivity time. She explained that colleagues kept scheduling meetings during the time she'd blocked off to focus on work, leaving her days completely consumed by meetings.
She's not alone. While she admits she’s now much more direct about blocking time that clearly says "No Meeting Wednesday, ask before booking," not everyone has the freedom to take control of their calendar and avoid inefficient meetings that eat up their time.
creveleo | Shutterstock.com
Especially when these meetings could arguably be handled in an email, it's frustrating to stay after hours trying to catch up on the work you spent all day discussing in mandatory meetings.
These days, she uses Wednesdays to catch up on work her team needs from her and tackle tasks that require her full attention. Sometimes, she even takes an hour and a half to make a latte and read a book, only to find the next three hours are some of her most productive of the week.
She admitted that some days require back-to-back calls, but without boundaries, meetings could easily consume her entire workweek.
Too many meetings often mean less time for actual work
Many corporate employees believe inefficient meetings and the meeting overload that follows are the biggest challenges to their productivity on the clock. They end up staying late, working more hours, and bringing work home because they spend more of the day talking about what they have to do instead of doing it.
Amorn Suriyan | Shutterstock.com
While it might seem shady, carving out focus time and setting boundaries that let you get the job done while you're clocked in is actually quite genius. You're no longer beholden to time thieves, as the LinkedIn post writer calls them, who schedule meetings without considering someone's time or whether it can be handled over email.
Meeting FOMO partially explains why we all have full calendars, from organizers to attendees
Many people experience a fear of missing out, or “FOMO,” at work surrounding meetings. That's why people attend meetings they don't always need to attend, and why organizers sometimes invite employees who don't actually need to be there, just to make sure nobody feels left out.
However, protecting specific days and time slots on a calendar as meeting-free zones helps people combat that FOMO, and instead focus on their to-do lists and obligations. Employees often have the power to work out their calendar battles, even if they have to do it in undercover, eccentric ways.
Iryna Inshyna | Shutterstock.com
Of course, according to Harvard Business Review experts, organizers and leaders should feel responsible for managing meeting FOMO at work.
Whether that means deconstructing the idea that meeting attendance signals commitment, making optional invitations very clear, or intentionally leaving people off meeting lists, with a note about prioritizing other work, they need to balance transparency and productivity.
They proved that protecting your calendar can actually make you more productive
An MIT study found that reducing meetings by 40%, usually by implementing two meeting-free days during the week, led to an average 71% increase in employee productivity. If your office won't create these dedicated no-meeting days, sometimes you may have to carve them out yourself.
Whether you block off time on your calendar and ask colleagues to check with you before scheduling over it, or create fake meetings (you do you), protecting your focus time is essential if you want to get your work done without burning yourself out on meeting overload.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a senior editorial strategist with a bachelor's degree in social relations & policy and gender studies, focusing on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human-interest stories.
