First, what impacts knowledge workers’ energy is not the sheer amount of time they spend in meetings, but the relative proportion of meeting time compared to what they spend on individual tasks. We found that, on a given day, the more time knowledge workers dedicate to meetings relative to their own individual tasks, the less they engage in small break activities (e.g., a short walk, casual conversations, brief fun reading) to restore their energy during that day. The absence of such break activities, which are crucial for periodic replenishment, harms their workday energy. The impaired energy in turn has a negative impact on the knowledge workers’ task performance, creativity, and job satisfaction at work.
“Arrange Your Meeting Schedule to Boost Your Energy” by Chen Zhang, Gretchen M. Spreitzer, and Zhaodong (Alan) Qiu (Harvard Business Review)
Solid research here that really resonates. Go and read it.
Investigations of a Dog 