The Day I Stopped Blaming Time — and Fixed My Meetings Instead

Most leaders think they have a time problem. What they really have is a meeting problem — and it’s costing them more than they realize.

Cameras off. Mics muted. Someone scrolled through emails. Someone else messaged me privately:

“Why are we even here?”

By 9:45, we were still circling the same issue. No decisions. No clear next steps. Just another hour gone.

When it ended, we all did what professionals do — we jumped straight into the next meeting.

That’s when it hit me:

We didn’t have a time problem. We had a meeting problem.

The Myth of “Too Busy”

For years, I’d blamed the clock.

We said things like:

• “We just need better time management.”
• “We need fewer meetings.”
• “People need to focus more.”

But the truth was simpler — and harsher.

We weren’t spending our time poorly.

We were spending it together poorly.

Research shows that 71% of meetings fail to achieve their objectives.