Mark Todd

If you sit in back-to-back meetings at work, read this: Microsoft's Human Factors Lab studied 14 participants across two days of video meetings. • Day 1: 4 back-to-back 30-min meetings. • Day 2: 4 30-min meetings with 10-minute breaks in between. Participants wore EEG caps to monitor electrical activity in their brains. The results were fascinating... The two key takeaways: Takeaway 1: Back-to-Back Meetings Promote Stress Back-to-back meetings created an accumulating buildup of stress in the brain. Anticipation of transitions caused further spikes. Short breaks in between meetings allowed the brain to reset and never experience the stress buildup. Takeaway 2: Breaks Promote Performance Back-to-back meetings resulted in negative levels of frontal alpha symmetry, a brain state connected to lower levels of engagement. Short breaks in between meetings resulted in positive levels, meaning participants performed better. Conclusion: Take More Breaks The conclusion of the study seems to be that short breaks in between meetings are necessary: • Eliminate stress buildup • Improve performance • Reduce impact of attention residue I started implementing 25-minute meetings into my schedule (a built in 5-minute break) and immediately noticed a positive impact. A short walk or some movement in that window provided a clear reset. 25-minute meetings also eliminate the 5 minutes of “how about the weather” low value chit chat most meetings open with. If you set the tone to dive in and stay focused, there are few things that take more than 25 minutes. Try it! If you enjoyed this or learned something, follow me @SahilBloom for more in the future.