Thread by @GrandaCarlos

#WFH fatigue is real — which is why I'm challenging my team to streamline or cut back on select meetings so we actually have the time and space to think and innovate. Don't know where to start? Here are 3 exercises we use at @googlecloud to help prioritize everyone's time:

Exercise 1:
Pick three meetings in the next calendar week that you can shorten, cancel/decline, or group with another meeting. Read my comment to this post for tips on how to pick which meetings you should cancel.

To help identify these meetings, ask yourself:
- Do you have any meetings where the key decision-makers aren’t able to join the meeting, or where information critical to achieving the meeting goal is not yet available?
- Is your participation necessary? What is your role?

- Do you have multiple meetings with the same group of people where topics could be combined?

- Meetings tend to expand to the time allotted — do you have any 30-minute syncs that could be 15 minutes?

- Do you have a recurring meeting that could be adjusted in terms of cadence?

For the meetings you decline or cancel, make sure you let the organizer and/or the participants know why you declined. There’s an opportunity here to empower someone on your team to lead something and demonstrate you value people's time.

Exercise 2:
Find a time next week where "future you" will wish that you had a break between meetings. Block that time so that you’ll have a chance to prep for a meeting, switch buildings, take a biobreak, eat, etc. “future you” will thank you! :)

Exercise 3:
Find one meeting next week without an agenda; if you own it, send one out, if you don't own it, ask for one to be shared— they help us all stay on track.

Exercise 4:
Keep track of if you're getting at least 1 valuable thing out of every 15 minutes spent in meetings. If not, reconsider your attendance at similar meetings in the future and share feedback with the organizer if applicable. Your time is valuable!