Boosting Productivity

6 min readMar 15, 2025

The Case for Reducing Meetings and Increasing Deep Work

Excessive meetings have become a productivity killer in the workplace. Professionals often find their days consumed by back-to-back meetings, leaving little time for “real work.” A Harvard Business Review study found that executives spend nearly 23 hours per week in meetings — up from less than 10 hours in the 1960s. This paper argues that reducing unnecessary meetings can significantly boost productivity, drawing on insights from industry leaders and research on work habits.

A Personal Quest for Productivity

In 2025, I’m committed to embracing a new productivity ethos. Two key strategies I’ve identified as essential are cutting unnecessary meetings and blocking off substantial chunks of ‘deep work’ time. My journey has involved experimenting with various approaches. Initially, I tried dedicating a full day to deep work, but found that it wasn’t effective for me. Now, I’m planning to block off smaller, 4-hour segments to see if they yield better results. I understand that this shift may ruffle a few feathers, but I firmly believe that in the long run, it will enhance my productivity and make me far more valuable to the company.

The High Cost of Meetings

Studies show that about 15% of an organization’s time is spent in meetings, with senior executives spending up to 23 hours per week in them. A survey of 182 senior managers found that 65% said meetings prevent them from completing their own work, and 71% labeled meetings unproductive and inefficient — Harvard Business Review. Hours lost in low-value meetings are hours not spent on deep, meaningful work.

Reduced Deep Work & Focus

Frequent interruptions from meetings break up “flow” time. After any distraction, it takes an average of 23 minutes to refocus on the original task–University of California, Irvine. A day fragmented by back-to-back meetings means employees never get sustained concentration for complex tasks. As Shopify leadership noted, “Uninterrupted time is the most precious resource of a craftsperson.”

Employee Stress and Overtime

Meeting overload causes frustration and burnout. 78% of people say they’re asked to attend so many meetings that it’s hard to get their work done, and 51% have to work overtime or weekends to catch up on work due to excessive meetings–Atlassian. Unsurprisingly, 76% feel drained on days filled with meetings, eroding work-life balance and job satisfaction–Harvard Business Review.

Financial Waste

The time spent in unproductive meetings has real dollar costs, with estimates putting the annual cost of unnecessary meetings at $37 billion in wasted salaries and opportunity cost–Doodle 2019 State of Meetings Report. Trimming this fat can save the company money by reallocating employee time to value-generating activities.

Elon Musk’s Perspective on Meetings

Regardless of what you feel about Elon Musk’s political views, he has achieved remarkable success and has built some of the world’s most successful companies. Nobody can fault that. Musk is outspoken about minimizing time wasted in meetings, and he has instituted strict guidelines at his companies:

No Large, Prolonged Meetings: Musk advises avoiding large meetings unless they deliver value to everyone and keeping them very short. He views big meetings as bureaucratic time-sinks that waste “valuable energy and time.”
Cut Frequency — Only When Necessary: He warns against a culture of recurring meetings, advising to eliminate frequent meetings unless dealing with an extremely urgent matter. Once an urgent issue is resolved, there’s no need to keep meeting.
Leave if You’re Not Adding Value: Musk empowers employees to walk out of a meeting that isn’t useful. “It is not rude to leave; it is rude to make someone stay and waste their time,” he says.
Embrace Direct Communication: Musk encourages skipping needless hand-offs and meetings by communicating directly (e.g., one-on-one or via messaging). A quick text or email can often resolve issues without a meeting.

Musk’s aggressive meeting policies underscore a productivity-first mindset that any efficiency-minded leader can adopt.

Practical Alternatives to Unnecessary Meetings

Asynchronous Updates

Use written or recorded updates that people can consume on their own time through email, chat (Slack/Teams), or project management tools. This way, information flows without needing to gather everyone in a room. Modern tools even enable async video messages, significantly reducing meeting count.

Short, Focused Stand-ups

Replace hour-long meetings with 15-minute stand-up meetings, where each member briefly shares progress and blockers. This format, as used in Agile/Scrum methodologies, addresses the need for live communication without derailing the day.

Clear Agenda and Purpose

Insist on a clear agenda, goal, and end time for necessary meetings. Research shows that following a detailed agenda can cut meeting time by up to 80%–Harvard Business Review, yet only 37% of meetings in the U.S. use an agenda at all.

Smaller, Targeted Attendees

Use the “two pizza rule” (popular at Amazon) to keep meetings lean, inviting no more people than can be fed with two pizzas. A small, focused group encourages meaningful debate and respects everyone else’s time.

Case Studies and Examples

Shopify’s “No Meeting” Revolution

Shopify implemented a bold no-meetings policy in 2023, canceling all recurring meetings with more than three people and instituting no-meeting Wednesdays–Spotify. The company cut 10,000 events (about 76,000 hours of meetings) from the calendar for the year, seeing a productivity boost and projecting a 25% increase in completed projects.

Meeting-Free Days Boost Performance

A 2022 MIT Sloan Management Review study found that companies implementing “no-meeting days” each week reduced total meetings by 40%–MIT Sloan Management Review. These companies saw higher autonomy, better communication, improved engagement, reduced stress, and increased productivity.

Big Tech’s Low-Meeting Cultures

Many successful tech firms have minimized meeting overload. Facebook adopted “No Meeting Wednesdays” for uninterrupted work–Inc.com. Amazon’s “two pizza rule” and requirement for meeting organizers to prepare a written memo keep discussions focused and efficient–Amazon’s Leadership Principles.

Benefits of Cutting Down Meetings

Increased Efficiency and Output: Time previously lost in meetings can be reinvested in actual work. Employees gain hours for coding, writing, designing, or problem-solving, leading to more productive output.
Happier, More Engaged Employees: Scaling back unnecessary meetings improves employees’ day-to-day experience, reducing stress and boosting morale. Employees have ownership of their schedules and can prioritize important tasks without incessant meetings.
Better Decision-Making and Communication: Smaller, purposeful meetings with a clear agenda lead to crisper decisions and more open dialogue. Written communication and short targeted sessions encourage thoughtful contributions and faster decision cycles.

Recommendations and Action Plan

To streamline meeting culture and realize these benefits, the company should:

Audit and Eliminate Unnecessary Meetings: Conduct a calendar audit to identify and reduce any standing meetings that are not essential.
Set an end date or review date for any recurring meeting series.
Set “No-Meeting” Times or Days: Declare one morning or day per week as a no-meeting window for all, ensuring regular deep work periods.
Limit Meeting Size and Length: Implement guidelines to keep meetings small and short. Encourage meeting organizers to invite only necessary participants and set cultural expectations to end meetings once objectives are met.
Encourage Asynchronous Communication: Build an async-first communication culture using collaborative tools for updates and brainstorming, reducing reliance on meetings.
Adopt Daily 15-Minute Stand-ups: Replace lengthy status meetings with tight, time-boxed stand-ups for essential updates while enforcing a strict 15-minute limit.
Ensure Every Meeting Has an Agenda and Outcome: Introduce a policy requiring an agenda and defined outcome for every meeting. Allow attendees to suggest concluding early or scheduling follow-ups with smaller groups if the meeting lacks clear purpose.
Empower a “Respectful No” Culture: Encourage employees to decline or leave meetings that aren’t relevant, reinforcing time management over polite obligation.

In conclusion, unnecessary meetings are a fundamental productivity killer. By reducing meeting overload, companies can reclaim thousands of hours, save money, and empower employees to do more valuable work. Implementing clear meeting policies, promoting focus-friendly practices, leveraging async tools, and encouraging employees to decline irrelevant meetings can transform the meeting culture. Fewer, more purposeful meetings will yield improved efficiency, higher-quality work, and a workforce with the time and headspace to excel. The old joke “this meeting could have been an email” contains a truth smart businesses can leverage — indeed, many meetings should be an email, and everyone is better off when they are.