But it\u2019s not just that a high number of meetings can give us feelings of anxiety. There\u2019s actually research that shows how attending too many \u2014 and seldom taking breaks \u2014 can cause our brains to work differently.<\/p>\n
Study Finds Stress Levels Spiked Amid Back-To-Back Meetings<\/p>\n
In 2021, researchers at Microsoft\u2019s Human Factors Lab<\/a> asked 14 people to take part in video calls while wearing electroencephalogram equipment that monitored electrical activity in their brains. On one Monday, some participants were given four half-hour meetings without breaks, while others had four half-hour meetings with a 10-minute break between each for meditation; then, on the following Monday, the two groups switched. <\/p>\n Among those who got no breaks, beta wave activity increased in the brain with each successive meeting, indicating heightened stress levels. In fact, just the anticipation of the next call caused a spike in beta activity during the transition period between meetings, researchers found.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the researchers also measured the difference in right and left alpha wave activity over frontal regions of the brain \u2014 known as frontal alpha asymmetry \u2014 which can indicate levels of mental engagement.<\/p>\n Participants who took breaks showed positive frontal alpha asymmetry, suggesting higher engagement during the meetings, while those without breaks had negative asymmetry, indicating that they were more mentally withdrawn.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not surprised that people who took breaks between meetings felt better. People who take breaks in general feel better,\u201d said Laura Vanderkam<\/a>, a time management expert and the author<\/a> of \u201cTranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways To Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe all take breaks one way or another; it\u2019s just [that] many times they\u2019re unconscious. By choosing when and how to take a break, you notice the break happening and reap the rejuvenation,\u201d Vanderkam said.<\/p>\n One big caveat to Microsoft\u2019s findings, of course, is that the sample size of participants was small. But the study aligns with a large body of other research suggesting that meeting overload causes unproductive, unhappy employees who feel like their schedule is ruling their life.<\/p>\n In a recent survey<\/a> of 76 companies, for example, management researchers found that employee productivity more than doubled when meetings were reduced by 40%.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is largely because employees felt more empowered and autonomous,\u201d the researchers wrote in March for Harvard Business Review<\/a>. \u201cRather than a schedule being the boss, they owned their to-do lists and held themselves accountable, which consequently increased their satisfaction by 52%.\u201d<\/p>\n Making The Most Of Breaks In Meeting Marathons<\/p>\n If you\u2019re looking for ways to make your own breaks more impactful, try to resist scrolling on social media or reading your email, experts said.<\/p>\n \u201cMany people check email between meetings as a form of a break, and I get that,\u201d Vanderkam said. \u201cBut [it is] even better to batch email at some point in the day, or only do it between every other meeting, and use those little bits of time for something else that will add joy and meaning to your life, like a 10-minute walk outside.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"In](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/638fae1e2500001d00d06e15.png\")
In a Microsoft study last year, beta wave activity increased in the brains of people who had successive meetings with no breaks, indicating a rise in stress. Beta activity remained stable in those who took 10-minute breaks.<\/p>\n![\"When](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/638fb0892200001f003c0964.webp\")
When study participants had breaks between meetings, their brains showed signs of higher engagement.<\/p>\n