We Tried It, We liked It — Compassionate Work Hacks: No Meeting Mondays
By Kristine Zeigler, CEO and Co-Founder, Planet Women
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic many workplaces began experimenting with ways to give employees small benefits with big payoffs. At my last job we established one no-meeting day per week (Fridays) as a way to give working parents time to catch up on work, emails, report writing, and family obligations when lock-down forced many parents to become stand-in teachers for their young children. It was the kind of benefit that had universal appeal — parents and non-parents alike appreciated having a day to focus, without the intensity of a meeting-filled day.
When I co-founded Planet Women I wanted to bring the same benefit to our start-up team, who are all remote workers juggling family and professional tasks.
Having a meeting-free day costs us nothing, but the benefits of peace, focus, calm, and less pressure have a big payoff. I wouldn’t give up my meeting-free Monday for anything now unless it brings me pure joy, such as a flight over a river or a forest with a fellow female pilot, navigating the lands and waters that Planet Women and our partners are caring for together.
Thanks to this compassionate work hack, I feel less burnout at work. As a result, I can focus once more on family, work, and health. So, here’s the hack we tried. And we really, really liked it. ~Kristine, Chief Executive Officer, Planet Women
Compassionate Work Hack: Establish one day per week as no meetings — no team meetings, no regular check-ins, no external meetings. We do sometimes text one another or do brief phone calls when absolutely needed, but in general we respect one another’s time. We chose Mondays, which has multiple benefits.
How it’s Working: It makes the weekend more enjoyable, especially Sundays, knowing that your return to work will not be chock-full of check-ins and meetings that prevent you from quiet reflection and planning. With the ongoing pandemic, staying on task and keeping one’s bearings is a challenge, but a day without meetings means you have the bandwidth and space inside your brain to plan out your week, think about what must be accomplished, what would be nice to do, and what can be delayed or deferred. There is more time for exercise, healthy meal planning and cooking, quality time with loved ones, hobbies like bird watching, meditation, hiking, walking, running, and writing when your day is free to design yourself.
Of Note: One of Planet Women’s values is to “Honor Our Wisdom,” which means we honor our individual and collective wisdom. We communicate with appreciation and respect. We practice active listening and mindful speech. We impart generosity, love and healing to ourselves, to each other, to the past and to the planet. Part of taking care of ourselves is No Meetings Monday.
Unforeseen Benefits: Our Chief Operating Officer Sela Martinez reports that her Mondays give her the chance to think ahead and take care of herself. She works a full day as usual, but she takes time to look out the windows at the road runners and quail in her yard; she has time to try a new recipe and talk with her husband, and she can take a walk or do yoga without feeling like she has to squeeze it all in before work or in between meetings. Our Senior Advisor for Conservation Strategy, Gender and Allyship, Karl Morrison, adds that No Meeting Mondays also gives him a chance to catch up on any items leftover from the prior week, thereby preserving his ability to truly unplug and enjoy the weekend. Our Director of Cultural Transformation, Liza K. Williams Ph.D., says she used to stress about the work week and would start her weekly planning on Sunday evenings, but now she can enjoy her entire weekend knowing “there is more spaciousness for planning” on Mondays.
Why It Could Fail: There are some drawbacks, namely that removing one day of meetings means you may be tempted to pack in five days’ worth of meetings into four days. Our Marketing team needs time to co-create their social media, event, and publications schedule, so they still meet on Mondays to divvy up the work. And every once in a while, one of our key partners or financial supporters needs to meet on a Monday. But when I schedule my time, I do not offer Monday as a possibility, and in nearly all instances this does not present an issue with external parties.
It’s essential to not overschedule your remaining four days. Unless it’s an emergency, I may schedule a meeting two to four weeks in advance so that they are spread evenly across the calendar and don’t stress me out. For some extroverts, meetings give energy. For introverts like me, I really need to be careful not to schedule too much. Two to three meetings a day is ideal. Some days I have more and some days I have less. It’s a balance and as long as I’m aware and conscientious, I can take care of myself.
Tips to Make This Work at Your Organization: Pick a day that most agree upon and test it out for a month or two. After that time, you’ll have some data points and feedback and can talk to your team one-on-one to see if it’s helping.
Challenging Our Workaholic Culture: It will feel very rebellious and anti-social at first to serve one’s own needs for planning and quiet time rather than diving into giving every hour away. But the productivity you and your team will experience is worth it. Be brave and challenge the prevailing culture of, “meetings mean you’re working!”
Bottom Line: Whether you’re a supervisor or an individual contributor, overworking, overscheduling, and doing too much leads to burnout, mental health issues, and employees quitting. With the “Great Resignation” happening right in front of our eyes, this simple “No Meeting Mondays” hack can potentially preserve harmony and increase retention, improve your mood, and give you peace.
So what do you think, will you try out No Meeting Monday? Let us know how it goes! To stay in the loop about compassionate work hacks and new ways of leading, subscribe to Planet Women’s newsletter.
