Jason Fried is the co-founder 37Signals, author of the book ReWork and speaker in the TED Talk “Why Work Doesn’t Happen at Work.”

Here are 4 Jason Fried quotes that clearly answer the question: "Why should we be careful with meetings?"

🧂 Meetings = Salt

“Meetings should be like salt - a spice sprinkled carefully to enhance a dish, not poured recklessly over every forkful. Too much salt destroys a dish. Too many meetings destroy morale and motivation.”

Too much salt can make you sick. Think every time before adding it.

🍰 Meetings = Treat

“By rationing in-person meetings, their stature is elevated to that of a rare treat. They become something to be savored, something special.”

When you know you can’t have a meeting ANY TIME YOU WANT, everyone will put more thought and more prep work into it.

You might even book a pro facilitator to make sure you get the most out of your meeting time!

👨‍✈️ Meetings + Managers = Work does not get done

“These two staples of work life - meetings and managers - are actually the greatest causes of work not getting done at the office. In fact, the further away you are from both meetings and managers, the more work gets done.”

If you’re a manager, your job is to protect your people from meetings - and from yourself.

🔪🗡🤺 Meetings and Interruptions Cut Your Day to Pieces

“It's like, the front door of the office is like a Cuisinart, and you walk in, and your day is shredded to bits because you have 15 minutes here, 30 minutes there, and something else happens, you're pulled off your work, then you have 20 minutes, then it's lunch, then you have something else to do.”

Block your time - or the salt will keep falling in and you won’t get anything done!

Use any of these quotes to appear smart in your next meeting!

Or even better:

👉 Give them some thought.

👉 Act on them.

👉 Help create a workplace where people get stuff done and don't spend their best years in meetings.