---
title: Time bound recurring meetings
date: '2026-02-13T09:09:18+08:00'
categories:
- how-i-do-things
description: Recurring meetings should start with an expiry date because time-bounding them forces explicit review instead of letting stale rituals persist forever.
keywords: [meetings, recurring meetings, timeboxing, organizational habits, productivity, cadence]
---

Whenever "let's set up a recurring meeting" comes up (from me or others), I add: "We'll set it up 4 sessions and then finalize the cadence."

Why? Most recurring meetings are about:

- I want to do something
- Not sure what
- But I really want it, like long-term
- And I my future self might not follow through
- So my present self is going to force my future self with a long-term commitment

But during the recurring meetings, my future self is usually asking:

- Why am I here?
- How do I get out of this?

![The 6:30 pm Calvin asks the 8:30 pm Calvin about his homework](https://picayune.uclick.com/comics/ch/1992/ch920526.gif "Sometimes, your future self disagrees with you")

Finding exit points is hard, so I'm training my present self to give my future self a way out.

> Let's set up 4 sessions. Then we'll finalize the cadence.