Here's how to design meetings around how human brains actually work, not how we wish they would

"The meetings that actually work-the ones where breakthroughs happen and teams leave energized rather than depleted-operate on a completely different logic. They're designed around how human brains actually function, not how we wish they would."

"We should stop treating breaks as a tax on productivity and instead understand that breaks are an investment in our productivity. Most conference agendas are built on the assumption that more content equals more value. It's an assumption that breaks the human brain. Our cognitive architecture doesn't work in endless marathons. It works in cycles. This is why the best meetings I've redesigned follow a simple principle: Build MTR directly into your schedule."

Organizations commonly equate faster, longer, and more densely packed meetings with higher productivity, but that approach exhausts cognitive capacity and undermines creativity. Meetings that produce breakthroughs are structured around human cognitive cycles rather than relentless back-to-back scheduling. The Move. Think. Rest. (MTR) framework embeds movement, reflective thinking, and restorative breaks directly into schedules to keep teams energized and effective. Companies often invest in collaboration technology while preserving exhausting meeting habits, thereby squandering resources. Treating breaks as investments rather than productivity taxes aligns agendas with how brains actually function and improves meeting outcomes.

Read at Fast Company