Many knowledge workers spend around 10-12 hours per week in meetings, with a significant minority exceeding 15 hours, and multiple studies show that reducing meeting load or adding meeting-free days improves focus, satisfaction, and productivity.
Share your team's results
Have you implemented 25/50 meetings on your team? We want to hear about it. Tell us what changed — the numbers, the friction, the surprises. We will review every submission and publish the best case studies here with your permission.
Send a message on LinkedIn with:
- Your team size and industry
- What you changed (meeting types, durations, calendar settings)
- What you measured (time saved, meetings on time, survey results)
- What surprised you
The research behind shorter meetings
The benefits of shorter meetings are well-documented in organizational research:
- Parkinson's Law states that work expands to fill the time available. A 30-minute meeting will use 30 minutes whether the content requires it or not. Shorter defaults force prioritization.
- Attention research shows that focus degrades significantly after 20–25 minutes. A 25-minute meeting aligns with natural attention spans. A 50-minute meeting with a structured break point at 35 minutes keeps engagement higher.
- Context-switching costs are well-studied in cognitive psychology. Back-to-back meetings with no gap force the brain to switch contexts without recovery. Even a 5-minute gap reduces cognitive load and improves performance in the next task.
- Microsoft's Work Trend Index found that back-to-back meetings increase stress and reduce the ability to focus and engage. Their research showed that short breaks between meetings allow the brain to "reset," reducing cumulative stress buildup.
Start your own case study
Every team that adopts 25/50 generates its own evidence. Track these three metrics for four weeks:
- Percentage of meetings ending on time or early. This should increase from week 1 to week 4.
- Total weekly hours in meetings per person. Even a small decrease compounds across the team.
- Self-reported meeting quality. A simple thumbs-up or thumbs-down at the end of each meeting. The ratio should improve.