If we schedule a 25-minute meeting, do we take 5 minutes before the next one to get up from our desk?
If we opt for a 45-minute meeting, do we make use of that 15 minutes to stand up, talk to a colleague and even take a walk? Or do we schedule an overlapping meeting and hop off at the 30-minute mark?
I had a great chat with Courtney Anderson, a culture officer at a Fortune 50 company who also coaches working parents on burnout, stress and time management.
She pointed out one big thing that has been lost in the Zoom/Teams/WebEx world: No one thinks to get up and take a walk. We used to have to walk to a meeting – or fly. We had time to think or just move. Now we go from one meeting to the next. And it’s not good – not good for personal wellbeing, not good for a company that should want some creativity and thought from workers.
Courtney talks in more detail about this on The Company of Dads podcast, which will air in a month or so. But she led me to add a detail to something that is core to our corporate conversation.
We’ve promoted #CareShifts for several years now. They’re a way of working where Lead Dads, Working Moms or caregivers in general agree to work a set number of hours synchronously – say 9:30am to 3:30pm – and then before or after that time, do work that requires more thought or isn’t as dependent on other people responding.
Care Shifts are good for employees, but they’re great for companies looking to maximize parental productivity, retain key employees who might otherwise look to leave a company and help people organize their time. Just one problem – if you go back to back in meetings, six hours straight is closer to nine hours in the pre-2020 world of work. No way you’re not maximizing your productivity. You’re also risking serious burnout.
Courtney noted that one of her managers requires a walking meeting once a week – off screen, outside, connecting and talking with colleagues but doing so while moving.
Another thought came from Mike Malloy, a recent podcast guest, who leans into time boxing to get work done, help his clients and be a Lead Dad. He knows that too often our task will fill however much time we have. So, he sets a time limit, shuts off all distractions and does the work. Then he gets up and does something else.
How he came to this is telling. He said the reality to his workday drove him to time boxing because during the work day he is bouncing from task to task, getting little deep-thinking work done.
Now I’m going to take a walk.
