Telework tips: How to set up the perfect home office for remote work
If you’re working from home, here are some tips to stay productive and make sure your home office is optimized for remote work.
Problem solved, USA TODAY
The conference took over Bob Jordan’s calendar. Now, Southwest Airlines’ CEO is taking action on the issue.
He closes his calendar three afternoons a week to avoid back-to-back meetings that take him away from important tasks that only a CEO can handle.
“I think when you’re first starting out, it’s easy to confuse being busy with going to meetings with leaders,” Jordan said during a roundtable discussion at the New York Times’ Dealbook Summit earlier this month. “What I’m trying to do in 2026, and you guys will think I’m crazy… is to be completely open Wednesday through Friday afternoons.”
“What’s it for? To work on what needs to be worked on, to think about what’s important right now, to call people to talk to,” Jordan said. “Because I’m convinced that everyone doesn’t have time for ‘work’ and confuses going to meetings with work.”
How meetings took over the calendar
Whether it’s one-on-one meetings, all-hands meetings, Zoom or Teams meetings, meeting bloat continues to clog calendars. Unnecessary meetings—ones with too many people and no clear purpose, ones that keep drones running for too long, go off topic, or devolve into gripe sessions—lead to exhaustion for already overscheduled employees, lower productivity, and dissatisfaction at the top of the office. According to SurveyMonkey research, employees are most frustrated by meetings that may have taken place via email or text.
For years, administrators have tried to control the flow of out-of-control meetings by tightening agendas and shortening meeting times. They have held standing meetings, walks and talks. They even encourage people to drink a glass of water beforehand and let nature take its course. But workplace observers say the frequency of meetings, which increased during the pandemic, continues to increase.
According to Philip Arcole, founder of Worklytics, people spend more than half of their meeting time multitasking, and one-third of attendees don’t speak at all.
“Meeting hygiene is a matter of organizational design, not just an individual productivity preference,” said Future of Work strategist Stephanie Fraone in a post on LinkedIn. “Meetings are incredibly valuable for coordination, decision-making, and relationships. But without intention, structure, and standards, they risk crowding out the work they are meant to support.”
Meetings take up your most productive time
Due to hiring freezes and layoffs, many employees are already juggling multiple people’s jobs, not to mention dealing with constant messages and other interruptions.
The more time you spend in meetings, the less time you spend doing “deep work” or focusing without distractions.
Microsoft workplace research shows that the most productive parts of your workday are often hijacked by other people’s schedules.
Half of all meetings take place between 9-11 a.m. and 1-3 p.m., when circadian rhythms naturally make most people more productive. More than half of all meetings are ad hoc calls without a calendar invite, and 1 in 10 meetings are scheduled at the last minute.
Employees say their days are getting longer and their days getting darker on weekends because they’re inundated with meeting invitations, forcing them to work early or stay late to pursue tasks that require a higher level of concentration. According to Microsoft, meetings held after 8 p.m. are up 16% year over year.
According to Microsoft’s Work Trends Index study, “For many people, the workday now feels like a whirlwind of chaos, reacting to other people’s priorities and losing focus on what matters most.” “In a time when every moment counts, that drift can quietly drain your energy and slow your business progress.”
4 tips for hosting a great meeting
Benjamin Laker, a leadership professor at the University of Reading’s Henley Business School, and his colleagues studied the impact of meetings on productivity and found that a 40% reduction in meetings led to a 71% increase in employee productivity.
Not all meetings are bad, Laker said. In fact, they can be essential for collaboration and innovation.
“Meetings are a great way for teams to come together, exchange ideas and work towards a common goal,” Laker told USA TODAY in 2023.
We asked Laker for some tips on how to conduct a proper meeting. he said:
Before scheduling meetings, determine the purpose of each meeting. Make sure your goals are clearly defined.
Ask yourself if you can communicate the information in another way, such as email, Slack, or Teams messages.
Keep meetings short and focused. Schedule the meeting for as long as you need and make sure everyone sticks to the agenda.
Limit the number of people attending the meeting and only include those who need to be there.
