I have--OUCH!--scheduling pain

I was sitting at my desk a few minutes ago, reading e-mails, editing blogs, thinking about what to blog about today, waiting for a call from someone I was scheduled to interview earlier, munching on my noodles lunch--and doing all of them at least an hour later than I was supposed to--when I received another e-mail that explains the problem I was having.

I suffer from scheduling pain. According to the e-mail, from publicist Dave Heinzinger, scheduling pain is "a feeling of rage and frustration associated with one's time management." Do you have that?

Heinzinger represents SkedgeMe, an Internet-based productivity and scheduling tool for businesses, which has created a list of "5 Signs You Have Scheduling Pain:"

1. You've experienced the dreaded "VoiceMail Migraine." You sit down at your desk, take a sip of your coffee and pick up the phone to find... 27 voicemails! So much for the hitting the gym at lunch - you'll be shuffling your schedule around all day.

2. Your schedule has more bottlenecks than I-95. Between the incessant phone tag, the crossed emails, listing available times, east coast/west coast - you spend more time trying to book a meeting than actually participating. Negotiating your schedule is tougher than dealing with Darrelle Revis' agents.

3. You're becoming a "No Show Joe" - or have dealt with one. With so much on his plate, and no efficient way to sift through it all, "No Show Joe" has taken to blowing off appointments and blaming it on the "new normal" that everyone talks about. Joe's victims know just how inconsiderate this can be.

4. You've had a DBD - a double-booking disaster. If you've ever missed a tee time with a prospective new client because you accidentally confirmed your mandatory status meeting, you know what we mean.

5. You've been "Shanghaied." You accidentally accepted an invite for 2pm. Turns out the client is located in China, not Chinatown. You won't get much sleep on that schedule.

I'll be talking to Derrick Chen, the CEO of SkedgeMe, and I'll post what he says about curing scheduling pain. Meanwhile, don't forget to follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

Anybody have an aspirin?

By

Avis Thomas-Lester

 |  September 8, 2010; 6:45 AM ET Save & Share:                 
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