In today’s fast-paced work environment, time is your most valuable resource. However, if you’re still spending hours exchanging emails just to schedule meetings, you’re wasting precious time that could be better spent on more important tasks. With free scheduling technologies like Calendly and Microsoft Bookings, you can dramatically reduce the back-and-forth hassle of finding suitable meeting times. Let’s dive into how these tools can save you measurable time—immediately.
The Time Drain of Scheduling via Email
Have you ever thought about how much time you spend emailing people just to find a common time to meet? Studies suggest that scheduling a single meeting can take an average of 7 emails. According to a study by Harvard Business Review, office workers spend an average of 4.1 hours per week managing emails, with scheduling-related emails consuming a significant portion of that time.
Consider this: If you have to schedule just five meetings a week, and each one takes 5 minutes of back-and-forth emailing, that’s 25 minutes wasted weekly just on scheduling. Over the course of a year, that’s 21 hours of productivity gone—time you’ll never get back.
But what if there were a better way? Enter free scheduling tools.
How Scheduling Tools Can Save You Time
Both Calendly and Microsoft Bookings are designed to simplify the process of booking meetings, allowing you to regain those lost hours of productivity. Here’s how:
- Calendly (https://calendly.com/)
Calendly is a simple, user-friendly tool that integrates with your calendar (Google Calendar, Outlook, or iCloud) and automatically shows your availability. Instead of emailing back and forth, you simply share a link with someone, and they choose from the available time slots you’ve predefined. Once a time is selected, it’s automatically added to both your calendars.
- Time-saving metrics: Calendly can cut down meeting scheduling time by 50-80%, according to user testimonials. If you’re booking multiple meetings per week, this can amount to 15-20 hours of saved time annually.
- Getting started: Set up Calendly in minutes. Just sign up, link your calendar, and share your availability with a link. Start here.
- Microsoft Bookings (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business/scheduling-and-booking-app)
Microsoft Bookings is a free scheduling tool available for Microsoft 365 users that makes it easy to manage appointments and bookings. It allows you to create a customized booking page, where clients, colleagues, or customers can select meeting times based on your availability. Once a booking is made, it’s automatically synced with your Outlook calendar and you receive notifications.
- Time-saving metrics: Microsoft Bookings can reduce the time spent scheduling meetings by up to 75%, especially when dealing with multiple clients or customers. Over the course of a year, using Bookings can save you 10-15 hours depending on your weekly meeting load.
- Getting started: If you’re a Microsoft 365 user, you already have access to Microsoft Bookings. Simply create a booking page, set your availability, and share the link. Learn more and get started.
Start Saving Time Today
If you’re still scheduling meetings manually, now is the perfect time to make a change. With free tools like Calendly and Microsoft Bookings, you can save hours every year by automating your scheduling process.
- Try Calendly for a seamless, link-based scheduling system here.
- If you’re a Microsoft 365 user, use Microsoft Bookings to create a professional booking page and streamline your meeting scheduling here.
The best part? Both tools are free, and you can start using them today to see immediate results. Free yourself from the endless loop of scheduling emails and reclaim your time. Put a link to your scheduling tool of choice in your email signature, ask your contacts to use it, and let’s work together to stop wasting time scheduling meetings.
