Meetings are generally easy to attend.

Show up at a certain place at a certain time, and you have successfully attended a meeting.

Working on our own time is more challenging.

It requires us to set aside all other distractions to focus on the task at hand.

Some people tend to default to meetings. It seems easier to “get something on the calendar” than it is to dedicate the five minutes of concentrated effort required to take care of business.

Obviously, a 30 (or even 60) minute meeting with multiple participants is much less effective than it would be for the one person to do the work they need to do, but we get stuck with a calendar full of meetings because it seems easier.

Pay attention during the next meeting you attend though. It’s shocking how often we’re willing to sit through a meeting yet fail to make the marginal effort required to carry through the actions items from that meeting.

Not all meetings are bad – there are plenty of times when they’re warranted.

But it’s worth keeping an eye out for meetings that are scheduled simply for convenience.

-Brandon