Calendar indicating three days marked "no meetings"The University has declared Feb. 16 to 18 meeting-free days to support the mental health and well-being of faculty and staff.

Reminder: February 16 to 18 declared free of meetings

Human Resources reminds UWindsor employees that Feb. 16 to 18 have been declared meeting-free days across the University to support the mental health and well-being of faculty and staff. The University remains open during this time.

What are meeting-free days?

Meetings are a key part of many of our roles and enable collaboration, creativity, problem solving, and information exchange. At the same time, meetings can consume a large portion of our days making it more difficult to have long periods of dedicated time to accomplish tasks and move projects forward.

Meeting-free days provide an opportunity to:

  • Focus on work and projects that may require deep thinking, without multi-tasking and interruptions;
  • Accomplish complex, time-consuming work that has been on to-do lists for a long-time;
  • Have focused creative time to explore opportunities to improve processes, systems, develop new initiatives, etc.

For individuals who find it challenging to find time in their calendars to take vacation, these meeting-free days provide an opportunity to schedule vacation time, knowing that you will not miss any critical meetings while you are away.

How do meeting-free days support mental health and wellbeing?

Meeting-free days are typically promoted as a tool to enhance productivity, but they are also a mental health promoting practice. Having focused work time can help reduce the stresses associated with an ever-growing to-do list or the inability to carve time to move important projects forward.

Learn more about other workplace wellness initiatives at www.uwindsor.ca/workplacewellness.