Don't Call Me, I'll Call You

Where does the time go? I find myself asking this question a lot during the week. I use several apps to help manage the various tasks I have to complete and keep some order to proceedings. Although the majority of these apps are used for business, some are invaluable for my personal life too but are not always well received.

Scheduling apps such as Calendly are used for scheduling meetings, more specifically it allows people to choose my available times to book a meeting. The appointment is neatly synced to my calendar and I receive notifications ahead of the meeting. It is easy to see how useful this would be as a business tool but what often makes people recoil in disgust is when they receive a Calendly link from a loved one to book an informal “catch-up”.  Understandably this may seem like a boogie, detached way to connect for some. However, the opposite is often the case.

• With so many people now spending the majority of their day in virtual meetings or working remotely, it is important to find a balance and disconnect when needed. By using scheduling apps, we can determine when we are online and we can create healthy boundaries to protect our well-being.

• Setting a meeting duration, establishes an expectation of how much time you have available and reduces the possibility of causing offence when you must politely end the meeting.

• The calendar entry that is created by the scheduling app and the reminders for the meeting are extremely useful, especially if you are prone to forget meetings or misremember dates and times. It saves the headache of one person waiting by the phone or playing missed call tennis.

• The most important point for me is, booking a meeting slot ensures that I set aside that time, that I am focused and engaged with the conversation and not distracted with other tasks. I ask my mum to book in with me. Being in different time zones, this is the most effective way to connect when we have several things to discuss.

This is not to say that you cannot contact me unexpectedly if the spirit moves you. Of course, if you call me in tears, I will not ask you to hang up and book a meeting. And conversely, you may call me out of the blue on a day when I really need to hear a friendly voice.

So, the next time, a friend sends you a scheduling link, don’t recoil in disgust. They are sending you the link because they want to set aside time for you and be as present as possible.