Productivity coach Mridu Parikh says it's time HR stopped glorifying performative output and start building a culture where time to think isn't a luxury
No-meeting Mondays aren’t just a perk—they’re a power move. Mridu Parikh, a productivity coach, says reclaiming calendars is the first step to real productivity.
In a world where back-to-back Zooms masquerade as progress, teams are burning out before they get anything meaningful done. According to Microsoft’s 2023 Work Trend Index, 68% of workers say they don’t have enough uninterrupted focus time during the workday.
“One of the most effective initiatives that I've seen is implementing no meeting blocks,” Parikh says. That could mean blocking off entire days—like Mondays or Fridays—for no meetings or setting time-based rules that keep mornings open for deep work.
“This gives teams space to actually do their high-value work that typically gets buried under all their meetings and constant calls and context switching,” she explains.
Parikh is a founder of Life is Organized, where she works with teams and organizations to eliminate distraction, lower stress, and make productivity sustainable.
At the upcoming HR FutureFest, she’ll unpack how small, simple shifts—like Power Hours and daily standups—can spark major change.
Power Hours are windows of uninterrupted time when teams collectively go offline—no meetings, no Slack messages, no last-minute email requests.
“Everybody is committed to turning off their notifications and they're working uninterrupted,” Parikh says. “We're not going to schedule any in-office meetings, and we're not going to send in-office emails. We're just going to focus on our key priorities.”
It’s a tactical change, but it doesn’t work in isolation. Daily standups—brief check-ins on goals and blockers—provide the structure and accountability that give focus time real meaning. For Parikh, the key is alignment: knowing where your energy is going and why.
But that clarity only comes when organizations confront one of the biggest productivity drains head-on: notifications.
“If you are somebody who gets their notifications going across their screen or on your watch or on your laptop, that is literally saying, I give myself permission to be interrupted 150 times a day,” Parikh says.
Her advice? Turn them off. Fully. While it might feel radical at first, she promises the results are worth it. “You’ll still check your email 25 times a day. Why also add 120 notifications?”
She pairs this with the Pomodoro Method—25 minutes of deep focus followed by a short break—to help teams rewire how they approach time and task management.
But Parikh’s real message is bigger than hacks or time blocks. It’s about systemic overload—and what HR can do to solve it.
Too often, she says, HR teams operate in reactive mode, managing urgencies rather than shaping culture. Parikh challenges leaders to shift that mindset.
“The most powerful mindset is for HR professionals to switch from ‘I’m in a support role’ to ‘I’m a strategic partner,’” she says.
That shift starts with modeling the behavior you want to see—like turning off notifications or embracing focus time—and teaching those expectations from day one. “Set the tone right from the onset,” she explains, particularly during onboarding.
It also means getting smart about where time is being lost. Parikh recommends auditing departments to uncover productivity gaps—unnecessary meetings, poor tech training, or constant CCs that eat up bandwidth. Without understanding the blockers, even well-intentioned solutions fall flat.
And as more platforms and tools get added to the mix, she warns against letting technology overwhelm the very people it’s supposed to help. “Give them the training that’s going to help them use those tools in a way that’s helpful… not just adding more stress and overwhelm.”
She advocates for normalizing breaks—whether it's five minutes between tasks or a weekly “CEO hour” for HR leaders to reflect, analyze, and reset.
“We get so deep in the weeds that we don’t always have time to just pause and identify the patterns,” Parikh explains.
That rhythm of reflection is where sustainable leadership takes root. It’s what transforms stress-based urgency into long-term clarity. It’s how teams build trust, align priorities, and focus on what truly matters.
“You have to switch from being reactive and support-based to being proactive and strategic,” she says. “That shift alone—that’s where it starts.”
HR FutureFest is built for leaders who are ready to trade busywork for intentional work—and create the kind of culture where focus isn’t just possible, it’s protected.
