How many hours do you work, and how many hours are spent in meetings?

[TheGoodHuman]

I've recently started a new job. I cannot believe how many meetings I am required to attend. I work 37 hours and 20 have been spent in meetings this week. I need to get into a flow state to do some of my rather big tasks and I just can't get anything done!

I'm a teacher. I'm at work for 40 hours a week (8-5). I am in lessons/meetings for 21 hours every week. Yes, it's very hard to get everything done when we have so many classes. I take a lot of work home.

Lessons as in teaching lessons?

Flexible hours - between 15-30 per week.

Meetings are 2 hours per week - max.

Work hours varies as when you’re done, you’re done, but around 35 hours and just a 30-45min daily meeting and then occasional video calls if something is stuck or just not working and can’t be solved over slack, about 15/30mins maybe every couple of days.

I work f/t and I’ve just totted up that I spent 10 hours in meetings last week. Not too bad.

I changed jobs recently amd my old job was all meetings. Used to drive me nuts.

35 hours a week, spend an hour every six weeks in a meeting.

I work full-time so 40ish hours (flexibility/common sense)
In the last quarter I've averaged 10-12 hours per week in meetings.

OP it will very much depend on your role as to what percentage of your time is spent in meetings, for example a client facing role such as an account manager will have some of the most whilst an engineer who is an IC will have some of the least.

40 hour per week. Around 39.5 of those hours are spent in meetings.
I then delegate the actions to my Leads 😂

17 hours pw.

We have a weekly zoom meeting for around an hour, a monthly team meeting that is around 4 hours, and a monthly supervision with just with my manager, around 1-2 hours.

Our manager recognises that for those of us who aren't f/t, this is a bigger chunk of our time.

35h, normally about 4-6pw.

We're actively discouraged from overbooking meetings. My role often requires me to have a 30m chat with anyone across the organisation on compliance issues to get the scope, then I can follow up via emails or collaborating on documents.

We also encourage "movement friendly" meetings wherever possible, so I'm shifting the exercise bike back into the house for those.

I work around 50 hours a week and spend 3/4 of my time in meetings and calls. Sometimes it feels like I don't have time to do the actual work as I spend so much time talking about doing it!

37 hours and I do around 10 hours a week in meetings, on average. I make a big point of not having meetings unless they're actually needed. I oversee a big team and struggle to get my job done most weeks, so if I have extra meetings I really feel the pressure.

Huge meeting culture at my workplace. I'm contracted for 35 hours per week but end up doing around 45. Meetings are minimum 25 hours per week. I've been tracking time to show that this is unsustainable - fine if we had a set-up like a pp who then delegates actions from the meetings, but I'm somehow expected to deal with everything myself.

Yeh that 100% doesn't work. I campaigned for 2 Leads to be under me as I can't attend that many meetings AND complete actions. Thankfully I got the Leads and they then oversee the actions I get from each meeting. On most days it's a well oiled machine 😂
I work in a highly regulated sector so I have to be visible in every meeting.

I clerk meetings so going to meetings is sort of my main focus of my job. But i spend about a third of my time in meetings. A third is minutes and follow ups, the other third is setting up meeting packs and company secretary type compliance stuff.

I work four days a week. About 20 percent in calls or meetings. Much easier with teams calls and two days wfh to get work done. Also I chair nearly half of those I attend and this helps. None of this waiting for people to join for two or more minutes and people nearly always are on time.

Legal auditor working 21 hours a week. I have a 30 minute catch up with my manager once a week. That’s it.

Almost no meetings, I work 24hrs/week

But in a previous ft job they were pretty much constant. I had to block out my calendar or I'd never get a lunch break.

Are these meetings that you have to actively participate in? Or ones where you have to watch a lot of people talking. Are they camera on or off? Have you mastered the art of working while in a meeting? On certain meetings I we all can be seen tapping away while still listening in.

Both for me. As soon as I try to do something else I will be asked a Q 😂😂
My dept is the most high profile dept in a heavily regulated sector so that's why I need my input in most meetings and why I have to be engaged and ready for Qs/challenge etc

Camera on at all times!

Currently only work around 10hrs a week with no meetings but in previous 40hr week role was 0-4hrs a week in meetings. But I worked in care so not an office type role

Well my job mainly consists of meeting with people, so at least 50% of it is meetings. But in terms of regular departmental meetings, it averages out to be about 3 hours per week.

40hrs a week, zero meetings. I’m not important enough to be invited!!

I work in IT and I used to work for a major public institution. I wrote some code to analyse everyone's calendars as they wanted to understand the meeting culture. I can't remember the exact figures but we found out the average employee was spending around 3/4 of their time in formal meetings. One of the good outcomes of that was a executive directive that gave everyone the right to refuse to attend meetings unless they definitely had to be there which I used a lot!

Yes it will be teaching lessons