Default to shorter meeting lengths

Schedule 25- and 50-minute meetings instead of 30 and 60 — the meeting expands only as far as the slot allows.

Why it works

Meetings are among the clearest demonstrations of Parkinson's Law: a meeting scheduled for an hour reliably fills an hour, while the same agenda covered in 45 minutes produces the same outcome with time back. Compression works because it sharpens focus: participants arrive more prepared and the conversation stays on-agenda when time is visibly finite. The 25/50-minute format also creates buffer time between meetings, reducing the cognitive switching cost of back-to-back scheduling.

How to do it

1. Change your calendar default from 30 and 60 minutes to 25 and 50 minutes.
2. Share an agenda before the meeting so participants know what needs to be covered — ambiguity is a major driver of expansion.
3. End meetings on time or early; do not use remaining minutes to fill with new topics.

Evidence

There is no direct RCT on 25 vs 30-minute meeting formats. The general finding that time constraints improve meeting focus and reduce tangential discussion is consistent with meeting effectiveness research and the cognitive switching literature. The 25/50 format is practitioner convention popularized by time management advocates. (anecdotal)

Meeting compression works best when combined with a clear agenda and decision-rights clarity; without those, shorter meetings often just reconvene.

Common mistake

Compressing meeting time without compressing the agenda — a 25-minute meeting covering 60 minutes of agenda creates pressure without focus, which is worse than the original.