How Long Should a Meeting Be?
Why Meeting Length Matters
We’ve all been there, stuck in a meeting that feels like it’s going nowhere, watching the minutes crawl by while your to-do list quietly grows in the background. Often, these meetings stretch to fill the hour simply because the calendar said they could. There’s no clear ending, no urgent purpose, just a vague sense that time must be used, even if it’s not used well.
The cost of these overlong meetings goes far beyond lost minutes. They drain mental energy, reduce focus, and erode motivation. They leave little room for deep work, creative thinking, or even the most basic movement between sessions. And when meetings run back-to-back, there’s no time to reset, physically or mentally.
But the solution isn’t just to make meetings shorter for the sake of it. Meetings should be scheduled with intention, shaped around their purpose, and structured to create momentum, not drag it down. When we rethink how long a meeting needs to be, not how long it can be, we open more space for clarity, action, and even a quick stretch between calls.
This article explores how to find that sweet spot: the optimal meeting length that respects your time, keeps engagement high, and still gets the job done. Let’s make your meetings count and finish five minutes early.
Why Longer Doesn’t Mean Better
When it comes to meetings, longer doesn’t always mean better. In fact, it often means slower, less focused, and more draining. To understand why, we need to peek into the psychology of time, attention, and group behaviour.
Parkinson’s Law: Work Expands to Fill the Time Allotted
Coined by Cyril Northcote Parkinson in 1955, this principle explains a frustrating truth: if you schedule an hour for a meeting, the work will stretch to fill the hour, whether it needs to or not. Tasks that could take 20 minutes meander through polite small talk, repetitive updates, and drawn-out discussions simply because the clock allows it. Tight timeframes encourage sharper thinking, quicker decisions, and greater respect for everyone’s schedules.
The Ringelmann Effect: More People, Less Contribution
As meeting size grows, individual contribution shrinks, a phenomenon known as the Ringelmann Effect. With each additional attendee, the pressure to actively contribute decreases, leading to passive participation, social loafing, or even multitasking. Smaller, focused meetings not only keep things efficient, they increase accountability, participation and clarity.
The Cost of Context Switching
Every meeting is a mental reset. Switching from deep work to discussion mode, then back again, burns valuable cognitive energy. Studies show that it can take up to 25 minutes to fully refocus after an interruption. Frequent, long, or poorly timed meetings fragment the workday, disrupt momentum, and reduce overall productivity. Shorter, purposeful meetings help protect that focus, and the brainpower that comes with it.
The 60-Minute Meeting
Have you ever noticed that most meetings are automatically scheduled for a full hour? It’s not because every meeting truly needs 60 minutes, it’s because our digital calendars told us so.
Where Did the Hour Come From?
The 60-minute meeting is a relic of the analogue office era, borrowed from the structure of the school timetable and made default by early calendar software like Outlook and Google Calendar. These tools offered neat one-hour blocks by default, and over time, this convenience turned into a convention. It became normal to assume an hour was the “standard” meeting length, even if the topic at hand didn’t warrant it.
Most Meetings Don’t Need That Long
In reality, few discussions require a full hour. Many updates can be shared in 10 minutes. Quick decisions can be made in 20. Brainstorms often lose energy by the 40-minute mark. But when the invite goes out for 60 minutes, it signals to attendees that they’re expected to fill that time. And so they do, consciously or not.
Not every meeting needs an hour
There’s no magic number, but there is a smarter way to size your meetings: design them around purpose, not the default calendar block. Different types of meetings serve different functions, and they don’t all deserve the same amount of time.
Here’s a guide to help you right-size your meetings based on what you’re trying to achieve:
Status Updates: 10–15 minutes (or async!)
If everyone is just reporting on what they’re working on, consider skipping the live meeting altogether. A shared doc, team dashboard, or async video can keep everyone informed without stealing time from deep work. If you must meet, keep it short and structured, go around once, keep it moving.
Decision-Making Meetings: 15–45 minutes
The length depends on the complexity of the decision. Clear agenda? Key stakeholders present? Great, you may only need 15–30 minutes. But if trade-offs need to be debated, or multiple viewpoints explored, give yourself a bit more breathing room, just not a full hour by default.
Problem-Solving: 30–60 minutes
When collaboration is essential and the issue is complex, it’s worth investing time, but aim for a structured conversation. Frame the problem clearly, outline possible solutions, and assign responsibilities. Don’t let the time expand just because the problem is sticky.
Brainstorming: 20–45 minutes
Creativity thrives under constraint. With a good facilitator and clear prompts, a 30-minute session can spark plenty of ideas. If you need more, split into multiple short sprints across a few days rather than dragging through one long, exhausting block.
1:1s: 15–30 minutes
Whether it’s a check-in with a team member or a line manager, short and focused is often more productive than rambling. Come with topics, use the time well, and if you’re done early, end early. Not every 1:1 needs the full half-hour.
Team Check-ins: 15–30 minutes
These are great for connection, morale, and alignment, but they still need a clear agenda. Start with wins or updates, address blockers, and finish with next steps. Resist the urge to “fill time” if everything important has already been covered.
Information Sharing: Ask if it needs to be a meeting at all
One of the biggest time drains is using meetings to deliver information that could’ve easily been shared via email, Slack, or a Shared Document. Ask yourself: Is real-time discussion required? If not, be kind to everyone’s calendar, and share it asynchronously.
Start Strong: The First 5 Minutes Set the Tone
How you open a meeting shapes everything that follows. Attention is high (for now), energy hasn’t yet dipped, and people are quietly assessing: Is this going to be a good use of my time? What you do in the first five minutes sets the tone for everything that follows.
Start on time
Not just out of respect for people’s schedules, but because it signals intent. A meeting that begins with focus is far more likely to end with results.
Start with purpose.
Clarify why the meeting is happening. A short, confident statement at the beginning can ground the group and give everyone a shared sense of direction.
“We’re here to review the feedback and make a final call on next steps.”
Clarify the outcomes.
Frame what you want to walk away with. Not just a vague “discussion,” but a decision, a shortlist, a plan, or shared clarity. Defining the destination helps people contribute with purpose.
Outline the structure.
Let people know how the meeting will run. Who’s leading each part? How much time is allocated? When should input be given? This avoids confusion and gives the meeting shape.
“First we’ll do a quick round of updates, then Alex will present the draft. After that, we’ll use the last 15 minutes to align on action points.”
A purposeful opening sets expectations, primes attention, and gives the group a shared roadmap. If things drift, you can recalibrate. If time runs short, you can prioritise. When people understand the plan, they’re more likely to engage, and less likely to mentally check out.
It gives everyone a clear role in moving the meeting forward, not just sitting through it. Sets the tone early, and you’re far more likely to get the outcomes you need.
End Early: Leave Breathing Room
Back-to-back meetings are the fast track to burnout. When one call ends at 11:00 and the next begins at 11:00, there’s no room to breathe, let alone move, reflect, or reset. That’s why one of the simplest, smartest moves you can make is to end your meetings early.
Aim for 25-minute or 50-minute blocks instead of the standard half-hour or hour. This subtle shift creates space, without cutting into the substance of your meeting.
Why does it matter?
Finishing five to ten minutes early gives you time to:
Recap key points and next steps while people are still present (and paying attention).
Allow for questions or clarifications without running over.
Mentally reset before diving into the next task or call.
And that small buffer? It’s an ideal moment for a micro-break. Stand up. Stretch. Take a quick lap around the room or outside if you can. These short active breaks help regulate energy, improve focus, and offset the cumulative effects of hours spent sitting still.
Ending early isn’t about doing less. It’s about doing what matters, and giving people time to recover, reflect, and refocus. The best meetings don’t just respect the clock. They give you some of it back.
Summary: Shorter Meetings, Sharper Focus
This isn’t just about trimming the fat off your calendar. It’s about reclaiming your energy, your attention, and your ability to move, think, and do meaningful work.
When meetings are timed with intention, when they start with purpose, stay focused, and end with breathing room, they give more than they take. You leave with clarity, momentum, and direction, not just another item on your to-do list.
So the goal isn’t fewer meetings for the sake of it. It’s better meetings: meetings that start strong, end early, and respect the finite resources of time and focus we all have.
Reclaim those lost minutes. Use them to move, reset, or simply think. Because sharper meetings don’t just save time, they give it back to you.
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