Everyone hates meetings.
But they don’t hate them enough to actively remove them from the calendar. Once you become a senior dev, a leader, or a manger, the number of meetings starts creeping up.
I learned this the hard way so you don’t have to.
Here are some tips I use to cut down my meeting time.
🧠 The Right Mindset: A Meeting is an Output, Not an Outcome
All meetings are optional. They’re just one way to achieve a result.
Don’t assume any meeting is a must.
At the end of the day, your performance is not measured by how many meetings you have joined. It’s measured by how much impact you have made.
I’ve heard people proudly say things like, “I joined so many meetings today!” Stop thinking like that. If your workplace rewards “output” instead of outcomes, there will be more and more meetings. And those meetings are only there for wasting your time.
Some meetings are necessary, but most meetings are not. Start measuring the outcome of a meeting, not how much time you spent in it.
Ask Yourself: Am I required in those meetings?
Once you have established the right mindset, let’s start reviewing the calendar.
At the end of each day, look back and ask:
Did those meetings help move the project forward?
Did they unblock anything?
Most importantly, does it make a difference if you were not in that meeting?
People often invite everyone “just in case”, but that’s usually not necessary. But 90% of the time they don’t need you. They can note action items and follow up on Slack instead. If you find yourself adding no value in a meeting, consider skipping the next one. Talk to the organizer first, and confirm if your presence is really needed.
Then Ask: Is the Agenda Effective?
Some meetings have the right purpose, but the wrong agenda.
Take a weekly project sync, for example. It’s important, but it often turns into a round of status updates that could’ve been shared in Slack. Everyone talks about what they did, and nothing actionable comes out.
A proper sync should focus on decisions and blockers, not just progress reports.
If you feel a meeting is drifting off-track, talk to the facilitator and ask, “What do we want to achieve with this meeting?” If there’s still value, keep it. If not, you just earned yourself some free time 🎉
Are Those 1-on-1 Meetings Necessary?
In your 1-on-1s with your manager, what do you usually talk about?
Most managers use 1-on-1s for two things:
Unblocking the team member
Gathering input for performance evaluation
If you rarely feel productive in these meetings, try adjusting the frequency.
If it’s weekly, suggest switching to biweekly.
After a few weeks, see if anything changes.
If nothing does, congrats, you’ve successfully freed up another slot on your calendar!
Also, if you’re deep in a project and prefer to stay focused, ask your manager beforehand: “Do you have any specific topics for our next 1-on-1?” If not, suggest skipping it that week.
Again, your value comes from your impact, not the number of meetings you attend. If focusing on your project matters more, say so confidently.
Bonus Tip: Move Meetings to Make Your Day Easier
Don’t feel obligated to attend meetings at that specific time when it’s on the calendar. Instead, you should be in control of your time.
Find the best time for meetings: Identify your most productive hours, morning or afternoon, and protect them for deep work. Schedule meetings during your more collaborative hours. For example, I rarely schedule meetings in the morning. That’s when I’m best at deep work, not decision-making or discussions.
Last Words
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People often want to attend every meeting out of fear they'll miss something important or that decisions will be made against their interests. The best meetings are the ones that don't happen at all. Think in workshops, not meetings—only invite those who actually need to do the work. And find effective ways to keep everyone else informed.