It’s important to consider the idea that 20% of the workers are doing 80% of the work. The averages don’t really matter regarding who’s spending what time in what meetings. The time of those 20% is what matters, and the interactions of the less-productive 80% with that 20% matter. A daily check-in has always resonated with me. I have to admit, I’ve never been fortunate enough to be on a team where even the stand-up was asynchronous (and I think that would be nice). A daily meeting keeps the less-productive capable of synchronizing with the more-productive in a way that keeps the 20% efficient. In my experience, everything else can be an email.
I made a shirt for my friend and I regarding exactly this [1]. "I'm in meetings all day" said as an excuse to not be useful AND as a humble brag.