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Has this ever happened to you? You ask someone when they are available to meet, they give you a few windows, and by the time you respond with the one you want, they have already booked themselves for that time. It happens to me all the time—both requesting time from others and giving colleagues my available times. I have a tendency to tell people, “let’s meet Monday; my day is wide open,” and before I know it 3 different people want to meet at 11am and I’m stuck sorting out schedules that don’t need to be that complicated.
Here’s my tip to avoid this: as soon as you offer someone a time to meet, put a hold on your calendar. Then you know to work around this window. Once the time is finalized, delete the holds. Make sure the holds show that you are tentatively busy, then the finalized meeting should show that you are definitely busy.
This will help you, the people you’re planning to meet with, and your team if you share calendars. It takes a little time, but it will save you the hassle of going back and forth trying to find new times that work after you accidentally double or triple book yourself.