I used the “god mode” cheat today. I’ve deleted most of my recurring meetings. To give you a better perspective, last Tuesday I had 14 meetings, 7 of which were recurring.

Do I hate meetings? To some extent, yes! Deep in my heart, I’m an engineer. One-off meetings can become a toxic monster. Recurring meetings are even worse! Most of them will transform into a Mind Flayer version of this monster as a matter of course.

How are people fixing this? Usually, by dropping the meeting. In a month or two, they will realize that no one knows what’s going on. The solution is to get the meetings back on schedule. WRONG! The first step is to write things down.

You have a question? Write it down.

You have a status update? Write it down.

You decided that the timeline is wrong? Write it down.

You made a design for a new interface? Write it down.

Is something unclear? Write it down.

You have a new idea? Write it down.

Write it down.

We had meetings because they indeed conveyed information. But it required time spent by everyone at the same time. Async is always cheaper! At the same time, async doesn’t mean slow and late. You need to write often. You need to write now. Not tomorrow, after a snack, or before you go to sleep. Share the context the moment information is born.

People often think that the best replacement for a meeting is zero communication. This is folly. Building things online as a company requires an uncomfortable amount of communication. Building in a remote environment requires you to over-communicate.

So where do we do it?

We are using Linear. You should reflect everything that you do there.

We are using Slack. Copy the same things you posted in Linear there.

Remember. Your message is WANTED.

P.S. Because of this shift, I was able to open up two “Open Hour” windows. They last 45 minutes. A tad controversial, but “Open 3/4 of an Hour” sounds less pleasant. You are free to see them on my calendar on Monday and Friday. If a meeting is there, join and hang out with me!

P.P.S. Still need a meeting? DM me with your questions. I still have my Slack anxiety, so I will answer pretty fast.