My friend and I sent emails back and forth trying to set up a time that would work for both of us to grab lunch after not finding time to hang out for the last 6 months.
Instead of being able to find a time that worked for both of us, we eventually gave up and had to wait another two months before the calendar gods smiled upon us.
Have you ever been caught with a “busy†schedule and had to play email tag with someone you wanted to catch up with only to find that it was impossible to nail down any one time that would work for the both of you?
As a professional in technology, outside of my day job I run a chapter of a volunteer organization and try to grab time to not only meet with some of my volunteers but also meet new potential donors in the tech space who can make our free workshop a reality. Being flexible on my schedule can ensure that the good work that we do can continue well on into the future.
The problem becomes when trying to schedule lunches or coffees becomes too time-consuming. Your good-will side project starts to creep into your day job that pays you the money in the first place to afford you the opportunity to volunteer on the side.
After I attended a dinner with The Comfort Circle with a group of individuals all discussing the topic of networking and personal branding, one of the attendees suggested Book Like a Boss to the group through an AppSumo deal.
I was able to grab a lifetime license of the still-developing software that would help me load my personal and work calendars into their system and automatically help me surface the dates and times to friends and peers.
I took a gamble on Book Like a Boss and was glad I did. When I first purchased my license, it was a new company and many of the features that their competitors offer were not available yet. However, the developers have a private Facebook group open to members to discuss any bugs that they’ve found and to keep up to date on new features. As a developer myself, I can appreciate the fact that they are willing to talk directly to their customers as well as field any distractions that inherently come up from access to social media for an extended time.
Book Like a Boss is geared toward freelancers and practitioners who offer one-off or coaching services. It does not actually tout itself as a platform to schedule social events with friends and family, but that’s how I use it and it’s worked great for me!
You can import any number of calendars from platforms like GSuite, iCloud, or Outlook. I also started by blocking out any ungodly hours of the day such as meeting before 8 AM or after 9 PM.
After that, you can schedule specific types of appointments.
To give myself the largest flexibility, I have 3 basically appointments for each meal of the day and block out the time of when I want to have those meetings. Because I have daily stand-ups at 10:30 AM, breakfast needs to end by 9:30 AM so that I can be at work by the time stand-ups need to happen.
If you are in the business of taking on clients, Book Like a Boss offers the ability to charge for bookings and even offering packages for client work.
I designed my page to talk about what my work involves so that when I offer to meet with someone either for mentoring or advice, they know what my specialty is and can frame the conversation that way.
Overall, Book Like a Boss has made it significantly easier for me and my friends to choose a time that works for both of us without having to play email tag for days at a time.
How do you schedule 1:1 time with people? Do you find yourself playing games of email tag?
