Reclaim Your Calendar: How to Stop Meeting Overload and Focus on Real Work

From daily stand-ups to weekly status updates and ongoing project check-ins, company calendars are booked solid with back-to-back meetings, leaving many professionals with little time to focus on their actual work.

According to research from Microsoft, 68% of employees said they don’t have enough uninterrupted time to focus during the workday. This leads to a loss of productivity, engagement and resources, with one cost estimate in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

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How many meetings is too many?

According to Human Resources Director Magazine Canada, workers who attend more than two hours of meetings per day are more than twice as likely to report insufficient time for focused work.  

Chances are, most people are booked well beyond that threshold— and feeling the impact.

How can you cut down on virtual meeting overload and make the ones you do have as productive as possible? Read on for actionable tips.  

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For leaders: Tips to have fewer, more effective meetings

Of course, meetings are necessary to drive projects forward, get aligned on goals, assess performance and more. And the way you approach them influences productivity, morale and focus. Here’s how to build a culture of fewer, better meetings.

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1. Audit your current meeting load

Start by reviewing all recurring meetings across all teams. Ask:

• Does this meeting have a clear purpose?

• Could it be combined with another or replaced by a shared update?

Pro tip: Hold a “meeting reset week” during which teams cancel ALL meetings, assess the outcome and then only reinstate the ones that prove essential.

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2. Set "no meeting" time blocks

To help boost productivity, designate time windows each week (for example, Wednesday mornings or Friday afternoons) as “meeting-free zones” to give your team members dedicated periods to focus.

Altis tip: Every day from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., many of our teams have ‘golden time’ when they set no meetings and focus on their core work.  

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3. Embrace asynchronous collaboration

Instead of gathering everyone in a Zoom room, try asynchronous collaboration tools like these:

• Slack or Teams for on-the-fly written updates

• Loom to share short, engaging video updates and exchange ideas

• According to Loom, their users have 29% fewer meetings and complete projects 53% faster, thanks to more efficient, streamlined communication.

• Project management tools like Asana or Trello, which enable all team members to see upcoming project milestones and track progress to completion

Stat to know: A study by Miro found that 61% of knowledge workers feel asynchronous work helps reduce burnout—thanks to the added flexibility and reduced stress it provides.

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4. Require a purpose and agenda for EVERY meeting

Set a clear and helpful guideline: no agenda, no meeting. It’s a simple way to keep discussions focused and make the best use of everyone’s time.

To ensure consistency, share a simple agenda template company wide. It saves time, sets expectations and helps everyone come prepared.

Example company-wide agenda template:

• Meeting Title:

• Date/Time:

• Attendees:

• Purpose: (Why are we meeting?)

• Agenda Items:

• [Topic 1 – Owner – Time allocated]

• [Topic 2 – Owner – Time allocated]

• Desired Outcomes: (What do we want to decide, solve, or walk away with?)

• Next Steps & Owners: (To be filled in during the meeting)

Tip: Have the organizer share this agenda at least 24 hours in advance, so attendees can prepare or suggest edits ahead of time.

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5. Shorten the default meeting length

Who says you need to meet for 30 or 60 minutes at a time? Change it up. Try scheduling meetings for 25 or 40 minutes instead — and always end with next steps to avoid follow-up fatigue.

Bonus insight: Research shows that meetings (or work in general) tend to expand to fill the time allotted (also known as Parkinson’s Law). Cut them shorter to improve productivity and focus.

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For team members: Tips to take back your calendar

Even without a company-wide shift, YOU have the power to manage your time more intentionally. And when you do so effectively, you’ll notice a boost in your productivity, energy and job satisfaction.

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Here are some tips to regain control of your calendar:

1. Block your calendar for focus work

Your calendar is prime real estate, and if you don’t protect it, others will fill it in for you. One of the most effective ways to reclaim control is by proactively blocking time for deep, uninterrupted work. Whether it’s an hour each morning or a few afternoons per week, treat these blocks like non-negotiable meetings with yourself.  

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2. Push for clarity or decline thoughtfully

Not every meeting deserves a spot on your calendar — especially when it's unclear if you're actually needed. If you receive a generic meeting invite with no agenda or context, it’s perfectly reasonable to ask for more information before accepting.  

Example:

“Thanks for including me! Before I accept, could you clarify the purpose and if I’m needed for anything specific?”

This kind of response helps you protect your time, encourages meeting organizers to be more intentional and clarifies whether you actually need to attend in person. Sometimes, a quick update via email or Slack is all that’s really needed. And if it turns out you do need to attend, it also helps clarify what you need to do to prepare.

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3. Offer to send input ahead of time

If you’re already booked or need to protect your time for focused work, consider offering your input in advance. This is a great way to stay engaged without adding another live meeting to your calendar. It also helps move discussions forward and shows initiative, even when you can’t be in the (virtual) room.

Example:

“I’m committed to another project during that time, but I’d be happy to review the materials in advance and share my thoughts if that’s helpful.”

Stat to know: Slido found that over 90% of meeting organizers believe that at least some of their meetings could be replaced by asynchronous videos or presentations.

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4. Recommend async alternatives

Not every update needs a meeting and not every meeting needs to be a call. For quick updates, consider alternatives to a meeting — like Slack, shared documents or voice/video notes. It’s a small shift that can free up time and keep things moving.

Stats to know: Canadian HR Reporter found that:

• 59% of Gen Z and Millennials in Canada prefer instant messaging or email over traditional meetings or phone calls.

• Just 11% of them think calls and meetings are worthwhile.

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5. Use “speedy meetings” settings

In applications like Google Calendar and Outlook, you can set meetings to automatically end a few minutes early (e.g., after 25 or 55 minutes). This gives everyone a chance to regroup between calls and helps reduce context switching and fatigue from back-to-back meetings.

Pro tip: Enable this setting as your default, so it permeates across your schedule.

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Why it matters: Better meetings = better work

Meetings themselves aren’t the enemy. But unnecessary virtual calls with no agenda? Those need to go. When meetings are thoughtful and purposeful, they can help more work get done in less time.  

But when our calendars are packed with calls that don’t need to happen, the real work suffers — and so do the people doing it. Indeed reports that meeting overload can lead to burnout, disengagement at work and lost innovation.

Small changes make a big difference. Whether you lead a team or contribute as part of one, you can help shape a culture where meetings have clear agendas and real value, and there’s time left over for deep, focused work.

That’s an agenda everyone can agree on.