How to implement 25/50 meetings in Google Calendar

Google calls it "Speedy Meetings." One checkbox in your settings and every 30-minute meeting you create becomes 25 minutes, every 60-minute meeting becomes 50. It is the fastest way to adopt the 25/50 framework.

Step 1: Enable Speedy Meetings

Open Google Calendar and click the gear icon in the top right. Go to Settings → Event settings. You will see a checkbox labeled "Speedy meetings". Check it.

Once enabled, Google Calendar automatically adjusts the default end time:

• 30-minute meetings end at :25 (5 minutes early).
• 60-minute meetings end at :50 (10 minutes early).
• Meetings longer than 60 minutes also get 10 minutes trimmed.

You do not need to remember to change the time manually. The default does the work for you.

Step 2: Set your default meeting duration

In the same Event settings section, look for "Default duration". Set it to 25 minutes for most meetings. This means clicking any time slot will pre-fill a 25-minute event instead of 30.

For longer working sessions, manually type 50 minutes. Google Calendar accepts any custom duration — you are not limited to round numbers.

Step 3: Update existing recurring events

Speedy Meetings only applies to events you create going forward. For your existing recurring meetings:

• Open each recurring event and click "Edit all events".
• Change the end time: :30 becomes :25, :00 becomes :50 of the previous hour.
• Add a brief note to the description: "This meeting uses the 25/50 format — we start on time and end early."

Tackle your own meetings first. Others will follow when they see the pattern.

Step 4: Use focus time and meeting buffers

Google Calendar offers "Focus time" blocks that automatically decline conflicting meetings. Use these to protect the transition gaps that 25/50 creates:

• After a 25-minute meeting, the 5-minute gap is yours. Do not let someone book over it.
• If you are in a Google Workspace organization, enable "Buffer time" in your working hours settings. This automatically adds padding between events.

Step 5: Leverage Google Meet timer

When a Google Meet call is attached to a calendar event, the meeting window shows a countdown timer. With a 25-minute event, participants can see the time winding down. Use this as a natural facilitator:

At the 20-minute mark, say: "We have five minutes left. Let's capture decisions and action items." The visible timer reinforces the discipline.

Step 6: Roll out to your team

If you are a Google Workspace admin, you can set Speedy Meetings as the organizational default. Go to Admin console → Apps → Google Workspace → Calendar → Sharing settings and configure the default event length.

For individuals and small teams, share this guide and ask each person to enable Speedy Meetings. It is a 30-second change that permanently shifts the default.

Common questions

Does Speedy Meetings affect events other people create?

No. It only changes the default duration for events you create. Other people's invitations remain unchanged unless they enable it too.

Can I set different durations for different calendar types?

Speedy Meetings applies to all calendars in your account. You cannot configure different defaults per calendar. For one-off exceptions, manually adjust the end time when creating the event.

Does this work on mobile?

Yes. The Speedy Meetings setting syncs across web, Android, and iOS. Once you enable it on the web, new events created on your phone will also use the shorter default.