Who Decided An Hour?

The ancient Sumerians and Egyptians gave us sixty minutes in an hour because it was easily divisible. 

In 1910, an engineer at Lefax named J.C. Parker,  invented the first time-blocked grid system for tracking appointments.

In the 1950’s, lawyers needed a systemized way to track and bill for increments of their time, and the modern planner was born.

And that’s how we got to the standard 30/60-minute meeting. Not because we needed it, but because it was easier to track.

Not surprising, around this time in 1955, C. Northcote Parkinson noticed that work expanded to fill the time available for its completion. And if you think about the standard meeting block, he was absolutely right. 

Book an hour, the agenda stretches, and small talk lingers. A decision that could have been made fifteen minutes in waits anxiously until minute fifty-eight.

You’d be surprised how much time you’d get back if you shrink the container.

Book twenty minutes for what used to get thirty. Book forty-five for what used to get an hour. A tighter constraint makes everyone ask the right question at the start:

“What are we here to decide?”

But be careful to leave those extra minutes alone. Use them to process your meeting, prepare for the next, and breathe before the next thing demands your attention.