Ask HN: Reducing the cost of meetings

"The main technique I have been using lately is preemptively blocking off chunks of time long enough to get something done (3-4 hours), and declining any meetings that are later scheduled over that time. This groups meetings together, incurring the 'resume cost' once per group instead of once per meeting."

The ability to decline a meeting request depends on the power difference between you and the person calling the meeting. If your boss's boss wants you to attend a meeting at 2pm, you'll probably have a hard time declining (i.e., you'll be expected to re-arrange the rest of your schedule to accommodate the powerful person's request rather than vice versa).

For meetings that you do have the power to decline, you can question the necessity of having a meeting at all (e.g., suggest that the issues can be worked out more efficiently in e-mail).

I try to schedule as many meetings as possible at times when a maker's flow is likely to be interrupted anyway: right after standup or just before or after a typical lunch hour.

I've found it useful to schedule meetings towards the end of the day.

I program best in morning, so by doing this, I keep meetings out of my most productive time and also group them together.