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How to Reserve and Block Off Time in Google Calendar Schedule

Google Calendar’s appointment slots and schedules features allow you to block off times on your calendar and let others book appointments with you. This is useful for reserving time for client meetings, calls, focused work, and more.

Benefits of Using Appointment Slots and Schedules

Here are some key benefits of using Google Calendar’s appointment slots and schedules:

  • Allows others to book time with you directly in your calendar
  • Syncs across devices so your availability is always up-to-date
  • Sends automated confirmations and reminders
  • Easy to share booking page for others to schedule time
  • Helps you protect focused time on your calendar

Creating an Appointment Schedule

To create an appointment schedule:

  1. Open Google Calendar
  2. Click Create > Appointment schedule
  3. Enter a title and appointment duration
  4. Set availability and repeat if needed
  5. Customize booking settings as desired
  6. Click Save

You can repeat the schedule to make it recur on certain days/times. You can also customize the booking flow, like requiring a booking form or limiting how far in advance bookings can be made.

Availability Settings

When setting up availability, you can:

  • Add multiple time slots per day
  • Set buffer time between appointments
  • Limit bookings per day
  • Adjust availability for specific dates

This allows you to precisely control when and how many appointments can be booked.

Creating Appointment Slots

To create appointment slots:

  1. Open Google Calendar
  2. Click a time on the calendar
  3. Click Appointment slots
  4. Customize settings
  5. Share booking link

Appointment slots allow you to block off a chunk of time and split it up into slots others can book, like booking 30 minute meetings within a 2 hour block.

You can customize appointment slots similarly to a full schedule. The key difference is slots are for a single block of time rather than a repeating schedule.

Sharing Your Schedule or Slots

Once you create an appointment schedule or slots, you need to share it to allow others to book time.

To share your schedule/slots:

  • Open the appointment schedule/slots
  • Click the calendar icon next to the title
  • Select Share
  • Copy and share the booking link

You can embed the booking page on your website as well. The link will update dynamically as appointments are booked.

Booking Time on Shared Schedules

If someone shares an appointment schedule or slots with you, you can easily book time.

To book an appointment:

  • Click the shared booking link
  • Select an available time slot
  • Enter any details required
  • Click Save to book the appointment

You’ll get a confirmation email and calendar invite. The schedule will update to show your appointment booked.

Blocking Off Focus Time

In addition to appointments, you can block time for focused work.

To block focus time:

  • Open Google Calendar
  • Click a time range
  • Title it something like “Focus Time: [Project]”
  • Set status to Out of Office
  • Click Save

This will block off the time and automatically decline any meeting invites. Be sure to disable notifications so you’re not interrupted.

Best Practices

Here are some best practices when using appointment schedules or blocking focus time:

  • Use clear titles so the purpose is obvious at a glance
  • Set buffer time between appointments or blocks of focus time
  • Share only relevant calendars when checking for conflicts
  • Use calendar colors to color code types of blocks
  • Disable notifications during focus time blocks

Conclusion

Google Calendar’s appointment and focus time blocking features allow you to efficiently manage your schedule. Protecting focused time while still making yourself available for meetings is crucial.

With some planning and optimization of your settings, Google Calendar can transform how you manage your days. Give appointment schedules and focus time blocks a try to see if they can help tame your wild calendar!

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