Three questions before you accept the invite

A meeting is a tax on everyone who can write. This is the test. Paper. Two minutes. Then you accept, decline, or turn it into a paragraph.

The test

1. What decision exists at the end?
2. Who must be in the room for that decision?
3. What could be sent in advance so the room is only for the decision?

If you cannot answer (1), it is a status meeting. A status meeting can be a paragraph. If (2) is more than four people, it is a performance.

The decline that is allowed to be short

I can do this in writing. I'll send the update by 3. If a decision still needs a room after that, I'll book 15.

No apology. No essay.

What this will not do

It will not make a political meeting disappear. It will stop you from adding a sixth 30-minute default to a week that already has eleven.

The 5-line update, the decision memo, and the sentence that turns "quick call?" into writing are in the kit.