Professionals lose an average of three hours per week on unnecessary meetings, which has a significant impact on their productivity and job satisfaction. This waste of time can often be attributed to poorly organized meetings with no clear agenda or where the topics discussed are not relevant to all attendees. The feeling that “this meeting could have been an email” is a common complaint among employees, indicating that many meetings are not effectively utilized.

The costs of these unnecessary meetings are not only time-bound, but also have financial implications for organizations. By using tools such as the Meeting Cost Calculator, companies can gain insight into the actual costs of meetings and make better decisions about whether a meeting is necessary. Reducing unnecessary meetings can lead to a more efficient use of time and resources, and can contribute to higher satisfaction and effectiveness among employees.

Related:

• Professionals spend about 60% of their time on work about work
• Start meetings on time for higher satisfaction and effectiveness
• Large organizations extinguish employees' passion

If employees always feel that they need to be available, even outside of work hours, it can cause a lot of stress. This constant stress can lead to health problems such as high blood pressure, sleep issues, and a weakened immune system. The feeling that you always have to be “on,” without a clear separation between work and personal life, can also harm your mental health and cause anxiety and fatigue.

Additionally, checking emails outside of work hours can also cause problems in relationships. The constant distraction and the need to handle work matters can reduce the quality of personal relationships. Partners and family members may feel neglected or frustrated by the continuous interruptions, which can lead to conflicts and a poorer relationship. It is important to set clear boundaries and discuss expectations to maintain a healthy work-life balance.

Finally, the pressure to check emails outside of work hours can contribute to feelings of anxiety. Employees may feel overwhelmed by the constant stream of work messages and the expectation to respond quickly. This can make them always alert and unable to relax properly, even in their free time. It is important for employers to have realistic expectations and encourage employees to set clear boundaries. This way, they have enough time to recover and ensure their well-being.

Related:

• The optimal amount of free time seems to be between 2 and 4 hours per day
• Working outside of normal working hours can undermine intrinsic motivation, as it prompts people to reflect on how they could have spent their day better if they had not worked
• Large organizations extinguish employees' passion
• A four-day workweek improves employee well-being without reducing productivity

People who have their own office talk 70% more often with colleagues than those who work in a large, open space. This is remarkable because many people think that those in an open office talk more with each other. But that’s not the case. In an open office, people are often less inclined to talk to each other. This is likely because they feel watched or because there are too many distractions. As a result, colleagues talk less spontaneously with each other, which is unfortunate for collaboration and new ideas.

Instead of talking directly to each other, people in open offices tend to send emails more often. Emailing can be convenient, but it’s not the same as a real conversation. For example, with emailing, you miss facial expressions and tone of voice. It also depends on what kind of person you are—some people are more introverted, while others are very social. However, the general pattern that emerges from the research is that private offices are preferred when it comes to promoting face-to-face interaction.

Related:

• Large organizations extinguish employees' passion
• An open office is a cheap short-term solution with high intangible costs in the long term

Research shows that extremely long work weeks backfire. If you work more than 55 hours per week, you actually perform worse than colleagues with shorter work weeks. This effect is not only temporary: studies show that long working hours can lead to a decline in important cognitive skills such as reasoning, vocabulary, and memory in the long run. The problem manifests itself as early as middle age, suggesting that the effects of overwork accumulate throughout one’s career.

The negative effects of long workdays go beyond just reduced mental sharpness. Employees who consistently work overtime make more mistakes, creating extra work. This leads to a vicious cycle: despite working more hours, productivity actually drops. The result is that less work is ultimately completed, despite all the extra hours put in. These findings hold true even when researchers account for other factors such as age, education, income, health problems, and sleep disorders.

The message is clear: working more does not automatically mean achieving more. On the contrary, those who consistently work more than 55 hours a week risk not only lower productivity in the short term but also lasting damage to cognitive functions. For both employers and employees, it is therefore wise to keep work weeks within reasonable limits, where quality takes precedence over quantity.

Related:

• The optimal amount of free time seems to be between 2 and 4 hours per day
• Modern work is unconfined work
• Large organizations extinguish employees' passion
• A four-day workweek improves employee well-being without reducing productivity
• Explore a map for each month’s cycle that not only includes things to do, but also things to avoid
• Try to get four hours of concentrated work into a workday, and never more than six
• “Revenge bedtime procrastination” is the deliberate delay of bedtime to regain control

Music production ensures that a song sounds clear and coherent. This process is called audio mixing. It involves adjusting the volume, creating space and depth, and ensuring a good balance between the different sounds. The goal is to create a piece of music where each component is clearly audible and works well with the rest.

During mixing, you use various techniques to control the dynamics of the music. This may mean using compression to manage the volume of certain elements, or equalizers to boost or reduce certain tones. It’s also important to apply effects like reverb and echo wisely. This helps create a sense of space and atmosphere, making the mix more lively and immersive.

The ultimate goal of audio mixing is to create a smooth and balanced mix where instruments and vocals come together beautifully. This requires a keen ear for detail and an artistic sense of how different sounds complement each other. By listening carefully and making adjustments, the mixer can ensure that the final result is not only technically sound but also emotionally engaging for the listener.

Open offices initially seem like a smart financial choice. Companies can fit more employees into the same square footage, reducing rent costs per person. The setup costs are also lower—no expensive walls, fewer separate spaces, and simpler ventilation and lighting systems. For the finance department, the numbers look appealing in the short term.

But this apparent saving comes with a heavy price that becomes visible only later. Scientific research repeatedly shows that open offices have negative effects on employees' health, satisfaction, and productivity. Remarkably, no study measuring productivity found a positive effect of open offices. The often-heard claim that open offices promote collaboration is also not supported by empirical evidence.

The real costs of an open office are not in the setup but in what you cannot directly measure: reduced productivity, higher absenteeism, increased staff turnover, and dissatisfied employees. These intangible costs accumulate month after month and eventually far exceed the initial savings. What began as a financial advantage becomes an expensive mistake that can take years to rectify.

Related:

• An increase of 10 dB noise in the workplace reduces productivity by 5%
• Large organizations extinguish employees' passion
• Employees with a private office have 70% more face-to-face interaction compared to employees in an open workspace
• Active noise-cancelling headphones have no effect on your ability to concentrate in open office spaces

We live in a fast-paced world. But sometimes working slower is better. This is called ‘eufriction’. It means that a little resistance can be good. In the past, efficiency experts like Frederick Winslow Taylor thought everything had to be done as quickly as possible. But when we slow down a bit, we think more carefully about what we are doing. Just as exercising strengthens our muscles, working slower strengthens our thinking.

With eufriction, you consciously take more time. For example, when taking notes or planning something. By working calmly, you better understand what you are doing. You are not overwhelmed by too much information. You not only learn new things but also truly understand them. This way, you can actually use what you learn.

In short: when you work more calmly, you often do your work better. By not rushing, you have time to think. This not only leads to better results but also makes the work more enjoyable. You can also sustain it longer.

Related:

• Do the right thing, in the right way, and at the right moment
• Reserve quality time for reading; only with full attention can you make the shift from ‘reading for information’ to ‘reading for knowledge’
• Keep essential information in your mind so you can access it quickly without having to look it up
• Messy work environments have no effect on either creativity or executive functions
• Spend a little attention on planning and organizing your tasks, but not more than necessary; then, get to work
• Although time pressure makes us work faster, it does not automatically mean we work better
• Use AI to reduce unnecessary difficulties, not to avoid essential effort

This process ensures that each individual has the chance to formulate their thoughts without influence from others. It prevents dominant group members from dominating the discussion and allows for a wide range of ideas. By first thinking individually, participants can let their creativity flow without worrying about direct criticism or judgment from others. This often leads to a greater variety and originality in the generated ideas.

After writing down their own ideas, group members come together to discuss and further develop these ideas. This joint session provides the opportunity to evaluate, combine, and refine individual ideas. The group conversation can offer new perspectives and insights that individuals may have overlooked. Additionally, the interaction between group members can lead to synergy, where collaboration results in ideas that are better than the sum of individual contributions. By following this approach, the effectiveness of idea exchange is maximized and a productive and creative group dynamic is fostered.

Related:

• Use your own words to express your own thoughts

Time pressure can have a surprisingly positive effect on our productivity, especially when it comes to reducing ‘attention residue’. Attention residue occurs when we struggle to completely let go of our thoughts from a completed task, making it harder to fully concentrate on the next task. Research has shown that when people complete a task under high time pressure, they experience less attention residue. This is because the urgency and focus associated with time pressure help us to fully direct our attention to the task and let go of it more easily after completion.

While time pressure can sometimes be stressful, it can also be a useful tool to improve our productivity. It helps us stay focused and prevents us from dwelling on thoughts about completed tasks. This means we can switch between tasks more quickly and effectively, ultimately leading to higher overall efficiency and better performance.

Related:

• Before you start (a task, a work session, a project…), set a time budget
• Avoid excessive task switching to increase efficiency
• Link the desired behavior to a clear signal
• Attempting to do two or more attention-demanding tasks simultaneously reduces productivity
• Workers lose 9% of their time at work by toggling roughly 1200 times per day between applications and websites
• Although time pressure makes us work faster, it does not automatically mean we work better
• The human mind and brain lack the architecture to perform multiple tasks simultaneously

On one hand, some studies suggest that messy spaces can stimulate creativity. A 2013 study from the University of Minnesota showed that people working in messy rooms were more likely to come up with creative ideas than those in tidy offices. This may mean that a chaotic environment helps to think differently and come up with new ideas.

On the other hand, there are also studies that say messy places do not affect how well you can think. Research shows that the amount of clutter in a workspace has no effect on things like planning, attention, and problem-solving. This means that, although a messy environment may promote creativity, it does not directly impact how well you think.

Ultimately, it seems that the effect of a messy workplace depends on personal preference. Some people are inspired by clutter, while others work better in a tidy space. It is important to discover which environment suits you best, as there is no clear answer to whether clutter affects creativity or cognitive ability.

Related:

• People with a wandering mind (ADHD) are motivated by actions that captivate, create, compete, or complete
• Sorting emails into folders wastes a lot of time; use one archive folder and search for emails when you need them instead
• Physical cues affect our state of mind and can be used to switch between different productive modes
• Working slower promotes deeper thinking processes and better results
• When starting a new habit, routine, or project, it is important to consider the future maintenance costs that may arise
• Give your mind time to wander
• Work-related interruptions help you stay more engaged during your workday

Storing information is super important for knowledge management, but you also need to understand why you’re keeping it. By clearly writing down why your notes are important, you immediately give them context and meaning. This not only helps you remember the information better but also makes it much easier to recall why you found it important later on. Adding a simple “motive” field to your notes can really help. This ensures you pause to consider why you’re keeping something, leading to more conscious knowledge management.

Documenting your motive also helps you handle information with less stress and more focus. You become more aware of what you store and why, which improves your overall knowledge management. By using this approach, you can not only organize your notes better but also extract much more value from all the information you gather.

Related:

• Writing is the best medium for deep thinking
• Capture your mind wandering while reading; get into a conversation with the author

This is because environmental noise has a significant and negative impact on cognitive tasks that require concentration. Noise pollution leads to increased mental load, making it more difficult for employees to concentrate and causing errors to occur more quickly. This effect is particularly noticeable in tasks that require a longer duration and a high level of accuracy, such as problem solving or complex calculations.

Additionally, research shows that noise pollution does not directly affect the effort of employees, but it does affect their ability to think clearly. This means that employees may not be aware of the negative impact of noise on their performance, as they are still putting in the same amount of effort. However, the quality of their work suffers, resulting in lower productivity.

Related:

• A moderate level of background noise enhances creativity
• Active noise-cancelling headphones have no effect on your ability to concentrate in open office spaces
• An open office is a cheap short-term solution with high intangible costs in the long term

Research shows that a little background noise can help you think more creatively. This is because a moderate noise level, such as 70 decibels, stimulates your brain to think in a different way. This allows you to be more creative, as you look beyond the obvious solutions and discover new ideas. It’s similar to the effect of a café or a busy street, where the constant noise distracts your thoughts just enough to flow freely without becoming overwhelming.

On the other hand, too much noise, such as 85 decibels or more, can actually be detrimental to your creativity. At this high noise level, it becomes harder to think clearly, which can reduce your creativity. It’s like trying to solve a difficult problem in a concert hall; the loud noise makes it difficult to concentrate and think clearly. Therefore, it’s important to find a balance in the noise level of your environment if you want to be creative. A little background noise can be helpful, but too much can be counterproductive.

Related:

• An increase of 10 dB noise in the workplace reduces productivity by 5%

By setting aside time for tasks that are not urgent but important, you create space to think strategically and work on long-term goals. This prevents you from constantly being in a reactive mode, where you’re only focused on putting out fires. It gives you the chance to be proactive and concentrate on what truly matters, ultimately leading to greater satisfaction and less stress.

Time blocking is an effective technique that can help with this. By reserving specific time blocks in your schedule for these important tasks, you protect this time from daily distractions and urgent requests that often come your way. This ensures that you consistently make progress on important projects without feeling overwhelmed by the pressure to do everything at once. Additionally, planning these blocks can help you structure your workday better and use your energy more efficiently.

Related:

• Before you start (a task, a work session, a project…), set a time budget
• Creative tasks are best done while low on energy
• Most knowledge workers check their email within the first 30 minutes of the day
• The human mind and brain lack the architecture to perform multiple tasks simultaneously
• Try to get four hours of concentrated work into a workday, and never more than six
• Allow small tasks to accumulate until you can efficiently complete them in batches
• Work in 90-minute cycles separated by 20-minute breaks
• In general, people perform better in the morning hours than later in the day

Writing is often seen as the best medium for deep thinking because it offers you a structured way to organize and explore your thoughts. When you write, you force yourself to formulate your ideas clearly and coherently. This process of turning vague thoughts into concrete words helps you better understand and analyze difficult concepts. Additionally, writing allows you to look back on what you have written, so you can revise and improve your thoughts. This reflective aspect makes writing a powerful tool for deep thinking and self-discovery.

Moreover, writing is a way to acquire and process new knowledge. As some writers say, they write not only about what they already know but also to learn about what they do not yet understand. This learning process during writing stimulates critical thinking and creativity, as it challenges you to make new connections and consider different perspectives. By writing, you are essentially having a conversation with yourself, in which you ask questions, seek answers, and deepen your understanding.

Finally, writing offers a lasting and tangible way to capture thoughts. This allows you to revisit and evaluate ideas later, which is important for building knowledge and insight. Unlike fleeting thoughts or conversations, writing provides you with a permanent record that you can review and expand upon. Thus, writing becomes not only a means for deep thinking but also a valuable instrument for personal and intellectual growth.

Related:

• Use your own words to express your own thoughts
• Take regular ‘thinking walks’ to change your brain to enhance thinking, creativity and memory
• Reserve quality time for reading; only with full attention can you make the shift from ‘reading for information’ to ‘reading for knowledge’
• The words you use influence how you see the world
• When capturing information, give context by specifying why this note is important

The statement “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right” highlights the importance of your beliefs in what you can achieve. This phrase, often attributed to Henry Ford, suggests that your mindset greatly influences your success. If you believe you can do something, you are more likely to work hard and overcome challenges. This idea is similar to a growth mindset, where you believe that your abilities and intelligence can be developed through effort and hard work.

If you think you can’t do something, it can lead to actual failure. This negative way of thinking can cause you to put in less effort, give up more easily when faced with difficulties, and be less creative in finding solutions. Research shows that how we think about things, like stress, can sometimes have more impact on our health than the stress itself.

In short, the statement emphasizes the importance of having a positive and flexible attitude. Talent and intelligence are important, but often it is our beliefs and the willingness to learn and grow that truly make the difference. By believing in ourselves, we increase the chances of success and personal growth.

Related:

• There is no evidence of any effects of growth mindset interventions on academic achievement
• Start with a simpler version of the task to boost your confidence; then move on to a more challenging one
• When you get stuck, talk to the duck
• Multitasking leads to an overestimation of your own ability to perform multiple tasks simultaneously

Natural light is very important for regulating our biological clock, which helps us sleep well and stay healthy. Research shows that daylight can reduce stress and improve your mood, allowing you to concentrate better and work more efficiently. Additionally, natural light can help with certain health issues, such as seasonal depression.

A workplace becomes more productive when there is plenty of daylight. By designing offices to allow a lot of natural light in, companies can ensure that their employees feel better and are more satisfied. This can be achieved by strategically placing windows, using glass walls, or installing systems that distribute light well. This creates a workplace that not only looks beautiful but also helps improve work performance.

Related:

• Clean air boosts your mental power

Artworks can create a calming and inspiring environment, which helps improve the overall work experience. This is because visual stimulation through art can contribute to a positive mood, which in turn reduces stress and promotes a sense of well-being.

Additionally, art in the workplace can stimulate creativity. Artworks can serve as a source of inspiration and new ideas, which is especially useful in creative professions or during brainstorming sessions. By being regularly exposed to art, employees can improve their imagination and problem-solving skills, leading to innovative solutions and a dynamic work environment.

Lastly, art contributes to increased productivity. A pleasant and aesthetically appealing workspace can increase motivation and engagement of employees. When people feel comfortable in their work environment, they are more likely to work efficiently and with more dedication. Moreover, art can serve as a social signal that a company values culture and creativity, which can contribute to a positive company culture and attract talent.

Related:

• Choose a workplace where you can see other people focused on their tasks. This will help you concentrate better.
• Creative tasks are best done while low on energy
• Physical cues affect our state of mind and can be used to switch between different productive modes

Research shows that spending less time on your phone can lead to a healthier and happier life. By reducing your phone usage, you become more aware of your habits and make more conscious choices. This can lead to better management of technology. A study indicates that even reducing your phone usage by just one hour a day can make you feel significantly better. You then have more time for activities that make you happy, such as exercising and meeting friends.

Interestingly, using your phone less sometimes works better than completely stopping the use of digital devices. This is likely because by completely stopping, you don’t learn how to manage and control your phone usage.

Related:

• Our go-to approach for problem-solving is to incorporate something new, rather than eliminate something existing
• Link the desired behavior to a clear signal
• Blue light from screens has little effect on how quickly you fall asleep
• Hiding your phone doesn’t help you concentrate better
• Interruptions aren’t intrinsically distinct from other events, they’re just events most professionals don’t want around. The distinction is in our head.

Videoconferences require participants to focus their attention on a small part of the screen. This limits their thinking processes, which can lead to less creativity and fewer new ideas. Research shows that videoconferences make it harder to come up with new ideas because people have to concentrate on the screen, which narrows their thinking ability.

The body’s response to the visual field plays a role in this. When people are relaxed, their pupils become smaller so they can see everything around them. But in stressful or exciting situations, the pupils become larger and they see less of their surroundings. This works both ways: when you are relaxed, your attention broadens, and with a wide attention, you become more relaxed.

The increased cognitive load during videoconferences, as shown by the increase in pupil size, makes it harder to think outside the box. The need to constantly stay focused on the screen and its interactions means that the brain has less room to wander and make new, creative connections. All of this leads to a reduction in divergent thinking, which is essential for innovation and problem-solving.

Related:

• Choose a workplace where you can see other people focused on their tasks. This will help you concentrate better.
• Give your mind time to wander
• Audio conversations promote a more equal distribution of speaking time and alignment of speaking patterns, which leads to better group performance than video meetings, despite the absence of visual cues

Sorting emails into different folders may seem like an efficient way to keep your inbox organized. However, research shows that creating complex folder structures does not necessarily lead to higher efficiency in retrieving emails. The process of manually sorting emails into specific folders takes a lot of time and effort (an average of 67 hours per year!), and these preparatory actions often turn out to be inefficient. Instead of spending time categorizing each email, this time can be better spent on other productive tasks.

An alternative approach is to use a single archive folder for all emails. This method utilizes the powerful search functions that are available in most email programs today. By simply searching for keywords, senders, or dates, users can quickly and effectively retrieve the necessary emails without the need for an extensive folder structure. This not only reduces the time spent organizing emails, but also increases the speed and efficiency of retrieving information.

Additionally, data supports the idea of opportunistic access, where people who rely on search and threading features have more success in finding emails than those who use complex folder structures. This suggests that using a single archive folder, combined with search functionality, is a more practical and efficient approach to email management. It not only simplifies the process, but also utilizes modern technology to increase productivity.

Related:

• Messy work environments have no effect on either creativity or executive functions

Psychologist Carol Dweck has discovered that how we think about willpower affects how tired we feel after making decisions. People who believe their willpower is quickly depleted often feel exhausted after a difficult task. However, those who believe that willpower is not quickly depleted are less affected and may even perform better after a challenge.

This idea is related to Dweck’s theory of the “fixed mindset” and the “growth mindset.” People with a fixed mindset believe that their abilities and resources, such as willpower, are fixed and limited. This can cause them to become tired more quickly and give up more easily when faced with problems. People with a growth mindset believe they can grow and that their willpower can be replenished, allowing them to better handle difficult situations.

To believe that willpower is not limited, you can start by challenging this thought. This can be done by achieving small successes in situations where you would normally give up, and using these successes as evidence that your willpower is stronger than you thought. It is important to realize that the moment just before giving up is often the hardest, but pushing through can lead to a change in your way of thinking and a stronger belief in your own resilience.

Related:

• People who do not experience stress often have a lower level of cognitive ability

It is important to keep essential knowledge at hand so you can use it immediately when needed. This means training your brain to recognize and remember important information, allowing you to respond faster and better in different situations. This process helps you become less dependent on external tools because you already know a lot yourself.

An important part of this is actively engaging with information. This means not just reading or hearing information, but also working with it by discussing it, trying it out, and applying it in different situations. This helps you remember the information better. It is an ongoing process of learning and repetition, training your brain to recognize patterns and automatically come up with solutions. This way, you can act quickly without first having to search for information.

While digital tools can be handy, it is important to first make the most of your own brain. This means investing time and effort in truly understanding the information you encounter. By filling your brain with knowledge and actively using it, you build a strong foundation that allows you to respond quickly and effectively to new challenges and situations.

Related:

• Any personal effectiveness system that helps to get tasks out of your mind is Getting Things Done
• A Zettelkasten is an intelligent conversation with my past thoughts
• Reserve quality time for reading; only with full attention can you make the shift from ‘reading for information’ to ‘reading for knowledge’
• Rephrasing a text helps me to better understand what the author means
• Working slower promotes deeper thinking processes and better results

Zoom chooses to prioritize speed over image quality when streaming camera footage. This means that if you use a virtual camera in a Zoom meeting, the images are often less sharp than when you share your screen. Zoom ensures that the video runs smoothly, meaning the images move faster but are less sharp. This is done so that the video does not stutter when someone is speaking.

When you share your screen, image quality is more important. This is because you often share static images or text that need to be clearly readable. Therefore, Zoom makes the images sharper, even if they move less smoothly. This difference means that virtual cameras, which Zoom sees as regular cameras, are always less sharp. As a result, presentations via a virtual camera may appear less sharp than via screen sharing.

There are ways to improve image quality if you still want to use a virtual camera. Zoom has screen sharing features that you can use to enhance quality. For example, you can use the share “Content from a a 2nd camera” option and adjust the settings by choosing “Optimize Screen Share for Video Clip”. This can help find a better balance between speed and image quality, depending on what you need and what your computer can handle. Until you have a more powerful computer, it may be wise to avoid virtual cameras and instead use Zoom’s screen sharing options.

David Allen, the creator of GTD, says there is no standard way to use his method. Although his books and workshops provide a lot of explanations, it is important for everyone to create their own system that suits their needs and preferences. The goal of GTD is to get tasks and responsibilities out of your head, so you have space for creative and productive thinking. This works best when the system you use fits you well and feels easy.

Adapting your GTD system means trying out what works for you. This may mean setting reminders for things that interest you or developing habits that help you feel better. The most important thing is that GTD is not about strictly following rules, but about creating a system that helps you clear your mind. Whether you use an app or a paper notebook, it’s about finding a way that helps you stay organized and focused.

Related:

• Any personal effectiveness system that helps to get tasks out of your mind is Getting Things Done
• Do the right thing, in the right way, and at the right moment
• Our (productivity) issues are not new. Read the great masters and find answers to current issues