How to Boost Productivity with Asynchronous Communication

I can't remember the last time I took a call And my business has never been better. Zero calls. Zero "quick syncs." Revenue up 4x. Stress down 90%. The Async Advantage: Most founders think availability equals value. I discovered the opposite. Every call you take is deep work you don't do. Every meeting you accept is momentum you lose. Every "quick chat" is compound interest destroyed. The Real Cost of Calls: 30-minute call = 2 hours lost (15 min prep + 30 min call + 15 min recovery + 60 min context switching) 20 calls per week = 40 hours gone That's an entire work week. Vanished. For what? Status updates that could be emails. Brainstorms that produce nothing. "Relationship building" that builds dependency. My Async-Only System: Instead of calls → Voice messages (3 min max) Instead of meetings → Recorded videos Instead of brainstorms → Written proposals Instead of check-ins → Async updates Result: 3 hours of work delivers what used to take 40. The Revenue Reality: Year 1 (calls daily): $250K revenue, 60-hour weeks Year 2 (calls weekly): $500K revenue, 40-hour weeks   Year 3 (zero calls): $1M revenue, 15-hour weeks Less availability. More value. Less talking. More thinking. Less busy. More profitable. The Lifestyle Transformation: Morning: Deep work by the pool Afternoon: Family time Evening: Whatever I want No calendar. No obligations. No interruptions. Just space to think. Space to create. Space to live. The Client Filter: "Can we hop on a call?" My response: "I don't take calls. Here's how we work together..." 50% disappear immediately. Good. They wanted hand-holding, not results. The other 50%? They pay premium for async excellence. Because async forces clarity. Async demands preparation. Async rewards competence. "Calls are for people who can't think in writing." Harsh? Maybe. True? Absolutely. If you can't articulate it in writing, you haven't thought it through. If you need real-time validation, you lack confidence in your ideas. If you require immediate responses, you're addicted to false urgency. The Async Mindset: Synchronous work = Performance theater Asynchronous work = Actual progress One looks productive. One is productive. The Compound Effect: Every call you skip compounds into: → Deeper thinking → Better solutions   → Stronger boundaries → Higher prices Every meeting you decline creates: → Space for strategy → Time for execution → Energy for innovation → Respect for your expertise What would happen if you stopped taking calls? Better question: What's stopping you from finding out? Because the best businesses aren't built in conference rooms. They're built in deep work. And deep work doesn't happen on calls.

I canceled all recurring meetings for a month.😱 Here's what happened: Week 1: Panic. "How will we coordinate?" "What about alignment?" "We need to discuss strategy!" Week 2: Adaptation. People started writing things down. Decisions got documented. Real communication began. Week 3: Flow state. Developers got 4-hour blocks of uninterrupted time. Actual work happened. Week 4: Clarity. We realized 80% of our meetings were theater. The result? Our velocity doubled. Our stress halved. Our decisions got better. Most meetings are just anxiety masquerading as productivity. Here's what we do instead: ✅ Async decision documents with clear deadlines ✅ "Demo Friday" replaces 6 status meetings ✅ Written proposals before any synchronous discussion ✅ 25-minute max for any face-to-face time The best meeting is the one you don't have. My rule now: If it can be a document, make it a document. If it can't be decided in 25 minutes, it's not ready for a meeting. What's the most valuable meeting you've ever canceled? #PriorityDriven #IntentionalLeadership #DeepWork

Cancel all recurring meetings. Seriously, all of them. Try it now. At Buffer we ran an experiment: A month without any recurring meetings. Zero. No daily standup's , or 'weekly check-ins', no cycle planning calls, or 1-1s. What could go wrong? Well, this experiment was so successful, that we've now been doing this for more than 2 years. 2 years operating the business without any recurring calls for anyone in the company. The best part? we've seen the best results financially in Buffer's history. The only recurring meeting for all Bufferoos is our monthly All Hands. A call that the entire company joins. But other than that, teams decide how often they need to meet. I am part of a team that has no recurring meetings. We've been operating this way since this new team was formed 6 months ago. Some of the benefits we've seen from doing this: - Productivity boost: A lot more time to focus for Engineers, Designers, and Product Managers. - A lot more time to conduct user research and dive deeper into data, design or coding. - Less context switching - Less meeting fatigue - More flexibility with your schedule (need to run a quick errand? no problem. Buffer is a values led company, high-trust, high-agency). - When we have calls, they are shorter and really well structured and productive. And, since we have few calls, everyone tends to be top of their game, fresh, creative and present. So, how do we do it? How do we make decisions? Coordinate and work together? (1) Strong documentation and writing-first culture: Writing is thinking. And we've put that to the test with great results. (2) We use great tools to document decisions and replace synchronous communication (calls) with asynchronous communication. At Buffer we use Campsite, Slack and Linear (shout-out to Linear for making amazing software for distributed teams). Each serves a different purpose. (3) We use AI to help us summarize calls and document things (Granola is what we are currently using, but we've also relied on Zoom's AI summaries). So, do we still have calls? We do. Calls are still important. Recurring calls are the problem. But, having an async culture, in which we document our thinking and decisions, actually makes our calls (when they happen) a lot more productive and focused. We meet when we see that async it will take too long to align or if something is not yet properly defined. We also meet to do brainstorming sessions or sessions in which real-time collaboration will be more efficient. We also meet to cook together, bond, and play games We are not at zero calls now. That was only during that first month of the experiment. But we have significantly lowered and shortened our calls. And whenever they happen they are 10X more productive and focused. As Paul Graham said once: "Meetings are a necessary evil. Necessary, but still evil. So there should be as few as possible, and they should be as short as possible". How much time did you spend in meetings last week?

Your meetings don't make you productive. Your back-to-back calls won't build great products. While scaling Caisy from 0 to enterprise clients, I discovered something powerful: Deep focus beats shallow productivity. Here are 6 traits that high-performing teams exhibit: 👁️ Protected focus time -> No meetings. No Slack. Just pure creation. 💪 Async-first culture -> Default to written updates over meetings. 💥 Clear priorities -> One main goal per week, not 10 scattered tasks. 🤲 Trust in outcomes -> Judge results, not hours worked. 🗣️ Strategic Silence -> Normalise quiet time for deep work. 🤝 Intentional collaboration -> Every meeting must have clear action items. Want to elevate your team's output? These 4 proven methods are your starting point: 1. Deep Work Blocks ↳ 90-minute focused sessions ↳ No distractions, no exceptions 2. Meeting Detox ↳ Cut meetings by 50% ↳ Replace with async updates 3. Energy Management ↳ Match complex tasks to peak hours ↳ Save admin work for low-energy times 4. Output Metrics ↳ Track impact, not activity ↳ Celebrate meaningful progress Your calendar isn't a magic wand. It won't make you productive if you're not intentional. Put these methods into action, and watch your team's creativity soar. Which method resonates most with you? Let me know in the comments ⬇️ #Productivity #Leadership #DeepWork

Your best idea this quarter is trapped in an introvert's head. They'll never say it out loud. Not because they don't care. Because their brain won't let them. When you ask "Any thoughts?" in a meeting, an introvert's prefrontal cortex is still processing. The idea isn't ready yet. They need time to connect dots, test logic, refine language. But the meeting moves on. So they stay quiet. Then at 11 PM, they email you a three-paragraph idea that could save the quarter. This isn't shyness. It's neurobiology. Neuroscience shows introverted brains process information through longer neural pathways. More depth. More complexity. More time. Extroverted brains use short, fast pathways optimized for real-time response. Neither is better. But only one gets rewarded in most workplaces. Signs you're losing brilliant ideas from your introverts: → They nod in meetings but Slack you detailed thoughts later → They have a document of suggestions they've never sent → They rehearse what to say, then the moment passes → They speak up once, get interrupted, and go silent for weeks A few months ago, a friend CHRO told me her best engineer had a redesign idea that would cut production time by 30%. He'd been sitting on it for six months. Why? "I needed to be sure it would work before I brought it up." That's not a personality flaw. That's a system failure. Research-backed practices that unlock introvert contributions: ✅ Async idea submission – Let people submit written thoughts 24-48 hours before strategy sessions. Studies show async communication significantly reduces meeting fatigue. ✅ Silent meeting starts – Amazon begins meetings with 15-30 minutes of reading a written memo before discussion. It equalizes participation. ✅ Processing buffer time – Build in 3-5 minutes of silent reflection after presenting a question. Written or mental processing first, then sharing. ✅ Multiple input channels – Create written forums alongside verbal meetings. Many remote workers report better concentration with async options. ✅ Leader modeling – Amy Edmondson's research shows that when leaders share their own uncertainties first, it reduces interpersonal threat and increases team learning. My friend changed one practice with the engineer: async idea submission before strategy meetings. No performance. No live brainstorming. Just written thoughts reviewed ahead of time. Result: 3X more ideas surfaced. Half came from people who rarely spoke up. Psychological safety isn't just about speaking without fear of punishment. For introverts, it's about creating pathways that match how their brain actually works. What's one change you made that finally got your quietest team member to share their best idea? 💾 Save this & ♻️ share it with a leader who needs to hear this 📩 More introvert career insights in The A+Introvert Newsletter (link in my profile)

When I scaled Absolute Wireless from 10 to 78 locations using EOS, I kind of cheated. Here’s what I mean. EOS helped us get aligned in the Level 10 Meeting (90-minute weekly meeting) But outside the Level 10 when we added new stores and employees, my phone wouldn’t stop ringing.  Each time it rang, I would lose my flow and become unfocused.  And all my leaders were suffering the same lack of focus. The constant state of stress was really affecting our ability to scale. That’s when I realized something: We did not just need a meeting rhythm. We needed a communication rhythm. Then one of my employees showed me an app called Marco Polo. It was simple. Video messages sent asynchronously.  The most important communication tool is face-to-face communication. I tried it with the team and immediately saw the value. So I made a few rules for communication outside the Level 10: 1. Don’t call each other unless it’s urgent. A real fire, not just a question. 2. If you have an idea, a problem to solve, or want to recognize someone for great work, send a video message. 3. Protect deep work. Your phone should not ring all day and keep pulling you out of focus. 4. Listen and respond when you are in a better state. Grab a coffee, take a walk, get in the car, then check messages and respond when you are calm and clear. That one shift changed a lot. It gave our leaders and me more room to think. It reduced unnecessary interruptions. It helped us stay aligned without constantly hijacking each other’s attention. So yes, EOS helped us scale. But one of the biggest unlocks was this: The Level 10 created alignment with EOS Worldwide Marco Polo helped us protect it. A lot of teams run a great meeting and then spend the rest of the week in communication chaos. That is not traction. That is noise. What are your rules for communication outside the meeting?

A Few AI‑First Constraints That 10× My Productivity I’m convinced the next leap isn’t another app; it’s a set of rules that force us to let AI shoulder the grunt work. Here’s what’s been working for me: Start every day with an AI “stand‑up.” Let the system scan your docs, transcripts, email, whatever—and present priorities, not notifications (the Claude iOS app with voice mode enabled is perfect for this!). The less you stare at your inbox or calendar, the better. Calendar hygiene (non‑negotiable): - 15‑minute buffer before and after every meeting. - Last meeting starts no later than 4:30 p.m. - One completely meeting‑free day each week (I use Monday for deep, async work). - ~Nothing (unless it's highly compensated client work) before 10 a.m.—brains need boot time. - Max one live team sync per project per week. Code without an IDE (yes, really). Push everything through Claude Code (or Codex [CLI] or the Google equivalent) until you have to crack open VS Code. You’ll be shocked by how far you can push a project by simply taking the time to translate acceptance criteria and salient context into plain speech and let the AI do its thing; this is getting easier and easier as connectors and MCP servers are getting better. Dictate, don’t type: Voice = faster thinking, more iteration with the AI tooling, and fewer wrists screaming at you. Sell outcomes, not hours: Up‑front pricing with a satisfaction guarantee frees both sides from calendar‑driven micromanagement. Default to async creativity: Loom videos, one‑pager onboarding docs, fractional collaborators, AI agents, even a phone‑based voice assistant that records and summarizes calls. Live meetings become the exception (and they're 10x better!). Weekly “meeting triage.” Once a week, skim (or, ideally, have, e.g., Claude skim) the upcoming invites. Cancel, shorten, or delegate ruthlessly. Raycast’s auto‑join makes the ones you keep feel like stepping through a portal—jarring at first, then liberating. Half the battle with AI isn’t picking tools; it’s committing to constraints that force you to use them. Try the list above for a month. Your future self (and everyone you work with) will thank you.

We recently overhauled how we collaborate at Stytch. Everyone canceled all their meetings and rebuilt their calendars. As a hybrid team, it's easy to default to death by a thousand 1-1s. While 1-1s certainly have their place, we found that people's days were overwhelmed with meetings and many of those were siloed conversations resulting in inefficient use of time. We wanted to create more time in everyone’s day for heads down time, impromptu meetings or huddles to get alignment in order to improve the efficiency and speed with which we’re making decisions. While we’ve always had a really strong culture of docs, we’ve been much weaker on async quick collaboration, namely our usage of Slack. For context, “Slack [the company] sends 70% [of messages] in public channels, 28% in private channels and just 2% in direct messages.” At Stytch our stats before this were: 17% in public channels, 6% in private channels, and a whopping 76% in direct messages!! Here's the tldr of what we're doing: • Default monthly for manager/direct report 1-1s, adjustable as needed • Managers should have 2-4 hours of unscheduled time per day for ad hoc conversations and async collaboration • If a meeting doesn’t have an agenda the night before, cancel it • Prefer group meetings over 1-1s to prevent having to play telephone or have the same conversation repeatedly • Move to more frequent, shorter meetings, like a biweekly stand up instead of a weekly hour long meeting to allow for more timely decision making • Move more conversations to Slack, especially public channels • Slack isn’t always the right tool, if your thread looks like a CVS receipt, either move to a 1 pager or ad hoc sync Instead of 8+ hours of back to back meetings everyday, now I have down time to post more on linkedin!!! JK I timed this and it took me 10 mins. But it is remarkable how much my days have changed, I can give much more timely feedback and dig into things more in depth. We’re just two weeks but excited to see how this experiment goes over the next couple months!

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝘀𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆—𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲? I came across a great post by Dr Milan Milanović discussing how 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝟮𝟯 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 (link below). That might not sound like much, but in a typical workday filled with 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘀 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀, 𝘂𝗻𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝘆𝗻𝗰𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸-𝗶𝗻𝘀, 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝘀 𝘂𝗽—𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁. Now, imagine this: 🔹 A manager asks a developer to “𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝟯𝟬 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀” to review something or join a quick sync. 🔹 The task itself might indeed take 30 minutes, but 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝗿. 🔹 The developer loses focus, takes time to regain their mental model, and suddenly 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 “𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸” 𝘁𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲. For those working on complex architectures, debugging critical issues, or designing system-level software, deep focus isn’t optional—it’s a necessity. But constant disruptions make meaningful work almost impossible. 𝗔 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲? 🔹 𝗘𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝘁𝘀—Instead of pulling people into random syncs, set dedicated slots where teams can clarify open points. 🔹 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲—Not every issue is urgent. Let people get into flow instead of expecting instant responses. 🔹 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘀𝘆𝗻𝗰 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀—Before scheduling a meeting, ask: Could this be an email or a written update instead? 🔹 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 “𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸”—A 30-minute task might mean an hour of lost productivity. 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀: Protect your focus. Some simple but powerful habits: ✅ 𝗠𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀—Don’t let every message break your flow. ✅ 𝗕𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 & 𝗜𝗠𝘀—Pick a time slot to respond, rather than reacting instantly. ✅ 𝗦𝗮𝘆 𝗻𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗱—Push back (politely) when something can wait. ✅ 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀—Focus is your most valuable resource. 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲. Let’s be intentional about how we collaborate. Have you experienced the impact of “just 30 minutes”? Let’s discuss. #SoftwareDevelopment #Productivity #DeepWork #EngineeringCulture #Leadership #WorkplaceEfficiency #Collaboration #FocusTime #TechLeadership

One of the best investments in efficiency we ever made at Guru is asynchronous work. I was reminded of this last week when collaborating with our marketing team on a potentially time-consuming project… Here’s the process they follow in general: 1. They take on a new project, let’s say it’s a new product demo video 2. They prepare a script and storyboard, record a short walkthrough video, and share it with stakeholders for feedback 3. They indicate exactly WHEN they need feedback by, so a clear deadline is set 4. They indicate WHERE to provide feedback (e.g. Figma comment, Slack thread, etc.) 5. They indicate the DRI (directly responsible individual) who will decide which feedback gets acted on and which gets parked for future iteration 6. They review the feedback, comment with clarifying questions, and create a mockup 7. When the deadline is reached, they no longer take feedback for that revision, and move to execution Last week, there were 10 people involved in the project the team worked on. There wasn’t a single live meeting. And everything was done in three days. Now consider how much time and energy would’ve been needed to complete the project synchronously… There would have been multiple meetings. One to kick things off. Another to discuss feedback. Maybe one more to sign off. And there would have been a huge amount of energy spent simply trying to schedule these meetings for 10 people. As a result, this three-day project would’ve taken closer to three weeks. We still do synchronous meetings at Guru. Our Town Halls and 1:1s are live by default. Some "decision centric" meetings are best handled live. But we strongly favor asynchronous for almost everything else. If you feel your energy drain every time you look at your calendar and the sea of meetings clogging it up, it’s possible that async work would help you (and your team) be a lot more efficient.