I think it is interesting what the use
of Outlook calendars and others has done to our scheduling habits. Everything
we schedule falls into 30 minute or one-hour increments. I mean Outlook
defaults to that, and we just tend to fill in the blocks. We all know that
calls and meetings do not always need to take up to 30 minutes or an hour (Note
to my assistant), but our calendars are full of nicely blocked meetings. Not
surprisingly, mine are color-coded.
Do you know why the maximum time limit for
a Ted Talk is 17 minutes? There has been a lot of study regarding attention
spans and the length of time we can focus. Several articles and podcasts have
recently addressed the power of a twenty-minute meeting, including an “At The
Table” podcast. There is power in knowing that you only have 20 minutes to accomplish
something; You have to act fast. There is also the popular concept of a huddle
or a stand-up meeting. The idea is to conduct a quick exchange of information, update
and move on with the day.
There are nice, neat, blocks in
Outlook. That does not mean that we need to use the full 30 minutes or hour.
Have the courage to schedule meetings, or end meetings, sooner. No need for a
meeting to take a full hour only because it was scheduled to do so.
Explore twenty minute magic…
