Me Meetings to Get Priority Tasks in Order

Recently, I was in the middle of a conversation with a friend when I made a time check.

 “Sorry,” I said, cutting him off, “but I have a meeting.”

 “With who?” he asked.

 “Me.”

 It took him a few seconds to realize what I’d meant. Then he understood.

I’m not an anti-meeting person, just the President of the That Meeting Should Have Been An Email Supporters Club. Some meetings are important and time efficient, and the leaders who organize them are well-intentioned. But often they fail to recognize the value of time. Taking people away from engaged priority tasks not only removes their focus for that time block but also a significant time after. According to research from the University of California Irvine on the impact of fragmented work, it took study participants an average of 23 minutes to regain focus after an external interruption.

I’m all for brainstorming sessions, conversations on necessary topics, and presentations that will improve personal or professional skills. Most of the time, however, that’s not what happens. Meetings turn into gripe sessions, time-fillers, or a micro-manager’s attempt at trying to assert authority. Most meetings happen because that’s what organizations do, not because the information is important.

To use the kids’ terminology. Just let us cook.

A Me Meeting, however, can be a valuable block of time in an individual’s day. A Me Meeting is exactly what it sounds like—time set aside with oneself to organize future priority tasks for the day.

People can use Me Meetings any time. Well-established business leaders use them after they wake up. Some hold self-meetings before they sit down to work. Others use them at the end of the day as a recap and prep for the following day, so they can rest easy knowing they have tomorrow planned. I often hold a Me Meeting early in the morning, sometime after exercise, when it’s time for my focus to shift from personal to professional priorities. Other times I use them mid-day during lunch to jump start the afternoon.

A Me Meeting can be a simple time block, anywhere from five minutes to thirty. Anything longer likely turns into a priority task, but that’s okay. We wouldn’t fly an airplane without a flight plan and functioning navigation equipment. Start the day with a heading and a time commitment for productivity. Write down the top-three priorities or tasks then go after them without interruption. Ditch the phone, turn off the notifications. Disappear. Get to work.

Writer Stephen King writes his first drafts with the door shut, both literally and metaphorically.

Entrepreneur Alex Hormozi sits in a room with no windows, no phone, plenty of coffee, his headphones on, and doesn’t come out sometimes until 16 hours later.

Writer Cal Newport claims in a 40-hour time blocked week he can accomplish 60+ hours of output.

Entrepreneur Codie Sanchez writes “2 hours of dedicated work is worth more than most people’s 8 hours.”

Gary Keller, a big proponent of time blocks, says, “Until your #1 priority is done—everything else is a distraction.”

Me Meetings also create accountability. Miss a deadline, fall below the expectation, or quit when something gets challenging, send the excuses to the person in the mirror.

I’m working on being more productive and accountable. It’s one of my priority goals for the second half of 2025.

Because I know what’s not productive.