Is this type of back and forth familiar to you?
“Hey can you meet next week?”
“Sure what time works good for you?”
“How about Wednesday afternoon?”
“No I’m busy then, what about Thursday?”
“No, I’ve got multiple events going on that day. Any other times work for you?”
And on and on….
Photo taken from Calendly.com
This is such a waste of both party’s time sending all this back and forth, and waiting for the replies. Technology and software have eliminated the need for this, so now start using them and changing these habits to get your time back! Here are several tactics that work with all online calendar types, they’ve been tested specifically with google and outlook calendars. If your work system is locked down, it may require some permissions you don’t have, in order to set it up, but TRY IT!
1) If it’s an internal meeting, through your same organization/work, use “scheduling assistant” features within google, outlook, etc.
When you create the calendar invites, use the option to see when someone is busy or available. In Outlook, they call it Scheduling Assistant and Google Calendar calls it their “Find a time” feature. With Google’s feature, even if you aren’t a member of that person’s organization, but let’s say these are your best friends that you schedule stuff with all the time, it’s possible to update their access so they can see what you’re up to, even if it’s just whether you’re already busy or free.
It’s important for you to make sure you mark things in your calendar, and in a calendar event you create, you can specify whether you show as “busy” or “free” in the event options. This way, if you have an all-day event that says “mom’s birthday” it won’t show you as unavailable that whole day. If you have 4 of 5 days of vacation though, and that event is marked as “busy”, then people will know you’re not available.
In their video I linked to above, google mentions
people spend an hour per week just trying to schedule meetings.
This is a time waster that can be avoided!
2) Use Calendly, YouCanBook.Me, etc. to share certain parts of your time that’s free, without sharing your full calendar.
Calendly is an automated scheduling software that allows your invitee to pick a slot from your calendar that works for you both. Simply send them your link. This also works for group meetings. Once connected to your Google Calendar, it will be easier for people to schedule an appointment with you without worrying about multiple bookings. You can still take full control of your schedule by setting a daily limit that allows you to cap the number of meetings allowed to be booked per day. Also, it notifies you for every booking added, sends you reminder emails, and can even ask you to confirm whether you’re available or not for the booking. Visit their website to check more of its features here.
Well, it’s simple but it works. Youcanbook.me sends your invitee or customer’s bookings straight to your calendar. Simplify scheduling by connecting this tool to your calendar. Then, simply send your personalized youcanbook.me link to anyone who wishes to schedule an appointment with you, which they can also open anytime the need arises. They’ll pick a slot that also fits their schedule and voila! Meetings are set without spending too much time. Plus, get to avoid multiple bookings. Find out more of its uses and features here.
Photo taken from Doodle.com
3) What if it’s a whole group of people, not just one or two you’re trying to schedule?
“Make meetings happen”, Doodle says as it makes scheduling quick and easy for us all. Doodle works like a scheduling poll in three ways. First, it allows you to customize your event request by suggesting open schedules. Then, you can send a link to the participants of the event that will allow them to indicate their availability. Lastly, it collects the participants’ availabilities on one page and enables you to pick the best time that works for you and your invited participants. To avoid the back and forth, you can connect Doodle to your Google Calendar. Click here for more information on how to create a doodle poll.
This is great for groups of friends, maybe trying to find a weekend to go on vacation together? People from different organizations who don’t use the same calendar system or don’t have access to each other’s availability? So many situations where this is a great tool!
4) For all others, limit the back and forth as much as possible. Or simply reply with the calendar invite. be aware of this rabbit hole and don’t get sucked into endless back and forth.
Setting appointments can be daunting sometimes. Now that you’re aware of it, don’t get sucked in! You’re Better Than That!
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I’m Brian. At age 4, I was diagnosed with insulin dependent (type 1) diabetes and told that I was going to have a harder life that was likely 10-20 years shorter than normal. I’ve lived my best life every day since then, because you only get one chance to live it. I created Productivity Gladiator because I saw what a difference it made to share small and specific actions you can take right now, right away, to achieve better work life balance, be more productive, and live your best life right now, today, not wait until retirement. It brings me joy to share this passion with you.