#IHateMeetings #Overwhelmed #WorkLifeBalance
Do you find yourself drowning in a sea of endless meetings, feeling like your productivity is taking a nosedive? Are you struggling to stay focused during those back-to-back Zoom calls that seem to never end? You’re not alone. I used to feel the same way until I realized that there are practical solutions to this common problem that can help you regain control of your time and energy.
Identifying the Problem
I have 12 required meetings a week, with 4 of them packed into a four-hour slot on Mondays. This schedule leaves me feeling drained, unproductive, and isolated. It’s challenging to contribute meaningfully when I can barely keep my eyes open during these marathon Zoom sessions. Even after raising my concerns with my manager, I was met with a dismissive response. As a software engineer, I felt lost in a sea of meetings that seemed never-ending.
Feeling Overwhelmed
The sheer number of meetings can be overwhelming, leading to burnout and decreased job satisfaction. It’s no wonder that many of us dread Mondays, knowing that it will be filled with endless discussions that may not even be relevant to our roles.
Solutions that Work
After much trial and error, I found a few strategies that helped me navigate my meeting-heavy schedule and regain some sense of control over my time:
- Set boundaries by politely declining non-essential meetings that do not align with your goals and responsibilities.
- Opt for walking or standing meetings to break the monotony of sitting in front of a screen for hours on end.
- Limit meeting durations and set clear objectives to ensure a more focused and productive discussion.
- Take breaks between meetings to recharge and refresh your mind.
Increasing Productivity
By implementing these practical solutions, I was able to reclaim my time, boost my productivity, and feel more engaged during my team meetings. It’s essential to prioritize your well-being and advocate for a work culture that values efficiency and meaningful collaboration.
Don’t suffer in silence if you’re overwhelmed by meetings. Take proactive steps to address this issue and create a healthier work environment for yourself.
Remember, you’re not alone in hating endless meetings. By implementing these strategies and advocating for change within your workplace, you can reclaim your time and energy and thrive in a more productive and fulfilling work environment.
It’s kind of funny. When I started getting into programming I thought oh it would be great. I just work and build stuff and be done. I won’t need many meetings. Well turns out it’s the opposite and the job I left in finance was much more like i described. Definitely think there needs to be a rework in meeting culture for software
Your manager is not very helpful. Have you asked your teammates if this bothers them too? Have you brought it to the retrospective and offered an alternative solution (spread meetings out to better times)? Do these 12 meetings include a daily standup?
I like meetings when I don’t have a lot to do because they break up the day a little. When there’s something more urgent that I have to do then they become a nuisance.
Only 12?
The annoying part is that so many of those meetings come from people who are just trying too hard
There are so many times where the business and the developers agree on what is being done and how to do it, project is going fine, then a middle manager type starts scheduling meetings so he can ask you tons of questions about data he doesn’t understand. Or ask you why you’re doing it this way and not that way (because ‘this’ way is what business asked for). Always gets hung up on the parts of the project that matter the least
mid level dev here:
1 required 15min standup each day, and a sprint planing every other week are required.
Thats all. I actually get stuff done. My senior mates do have some more infrastructure or planning required meetings, but i think its just an extra every other week.
I have something almost as bad. I’m remote on a small team with someone who wants to play teacher. Seems like every hour he has some reason he wants us all to jump on a slack huddle, and these huddles often last over an hour. Whether he wants to explain something to us or get us all on the same page for a quick deployment, everything takes forever and he has a million questions and answers he wants to go over. Don’t get me wrong, he’s very thorough and a great, supportive teammate. You never have to worry about asking a dumb question or needing help. But it’s like every goddamn little thing has to be this long slack huddle and I just want to do my work.
If you have standups everyday, try pitching to your team to only do standup meetings 2-3 days a week. My team does this, and on the off days we just do something where you just post your status in chat. Its awesome and saves so much time! Also just curious, besides standup and grooming what other types of meetings are required every week?
It sounds like you should just find a new job with an engineering environment more suited to how you want to work. When you do interviews make sure to understand how they view meetings.
If you can opt out, then opt out.
If not, then make the best of it. Use the meetings for practice behavioral interviews, do product demos, demonstrate senior level leading product, architectural, tech discussions, etc.
Fully engage.
If you don’t like something, try to change it.
Dude I work at a productive company and even I feel this way, there is something about corporate processes that just require so much bullshit communication just to get things moving. I enjoy a productive planning session or triaging, pair programming, any situation where it makes sense to connect. Hell, I get that with larger projects I might need to be involved as a leader.
That said, no developer should have more meeting time allotted than development time. Managers, I can kind of get. I recently left my management role where I was swamped between planning and recruiting that I couldn’t maintain my development skills. Now I’m back in development and sheltered from most bullshit but even then, it’s at least 1.5 if not 2.5 hours of meetings per day.
If I could get down to 1 hour of scheduled meetings minimum, that would be great. I like doing 15 minute check-ins bi-weekly with my reports and hate stand-up more than 15 minutes. I shouldn’t need to attend a planning meeting every single day, especially when decisions are still being made.
Turn your camera off, do work while the meeting is running, keeping an ear out for your name being mentioned.