What to Do When Meetings Are Overrunning Your Schedule

Many professionals complain that they are struggling to cope under the burden of too many meetings. If you find that meetings are eating up far too much of your working week, then you can use the following scheduling and time management tips to lessen their harmful impact on your productivity.

For many people, the problem is simple: they attend too many meetings that simply aren't necessary. If you find yourself sitting in too many meetings where you have nothing to contribute, then consider declining future invitations to attend. You don't have to come up with an elaborate excuse not to attend a meeting; simply be honest and say that your schedule is currently filled with too many meetings and you are struggling to complete all your work in the time available. You could ask the meeting organizer to send you a copy of the minutes to show that you are interested in the subject of the meeting, even if you don't have time to attend.

Some meetings are necessary, but they drag on far longer than they should. You can make meetings shorter and more efficient by always setting an agenda and deciding on a time at which the meeting must end. The pressure to get through all the items on the agenda by the end of the meeting is likely to prevent people from wasting time by discussing unrelated issues.

Another problem with meetings is that they break up the workday into short sections, during which it can be difficult to get any meaningful work done. If you find yourself frequently struggling to concentrate after a meeting has disrupted your afternoon, then consider scheduling all your meetings on the same day, so that you have the rest of the week free to get on with your work.

Changing the meeting culture in an organization can be tough, but it can also have huge benefits. Cutting down on the number of meetings can reduce frustration and stress among employees and improve productivity across the organization. If you work in a company that requires you to attend far too many meetings, then consider talking to your manager to find out whether it would be possible to cut down on the number of meetings that everyone has to attend.

Ultimately, freeing yourself from the trap of attending too many meetings involves being assertive and taking control of your own schedule. Don't allow pushy colleagues to pressure you into attending too many meetings that you know won't be useful to you. Instead, prioritize the most important meetings, turn down invitations to less useful ones, and use your leadership and time management skills to keep the meetings you do attend as short as possible.

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