How much buffer time should you leave between meetings?

Buffer time is the part of the calendar nobody can book. It covers the call that runs seven minutes over, the notes you write while they're fresh, the drive between shoots and the coffee. This post is part of the scheduling hub.

What the research says about breaks between meetings

In March 2021, Microsoft's Human Factors Lab had 14 people sit through video meetings wearing EEG caps. On one day they had four 30-minute meetings back to back; on another, the same four meetings with 10-minute breaks spent on a meditation app. In the back-to-back session, beta-wave activity, associated with stress, rose steadily across the two hours, and the transitions between meetings caused spikes. With breaks, the build-up didn't happen and engagement held steady (Microsoft; WorkLab). It's a small study run by a software vendor, but it points the same way as most people's experience of a day of stacked calls.

Buffer time by meeting type

Worked example: how buffers change a day

If you want six sessions, either shorten the buffer to fit the grid, or widen your hours by 30 minutes. Before you decide, the meeting cost calculator shows what the hours in your calendar are worth at your rate.

Buffer before or buffer after?

A buffer after protects the next client from an overrun and gives you time for notes. A buffer before protects you from whatever came earlier, including events you didn't book through your scheduling page. In SoloWOS both count against existing bookings, whatever their meeting type, and against busy times on connected calendars, so a 10-minute buffer before a session also keeps a client from booking right after a dentist appointment in your Google Calendar. See how to prevent double-booking for how connected calendars are checked.

Signs your buffers are too short

• You start more than one call a day a few minutes late.
• Session notes pile up for the evening instead of being written between calls.
• You skip lunch on days with three or more client meetings.
• Clients mention that you seemed rushed at the end of a call.

Any one of these is a reason to add 5 to 10 minutes to the buffer after that meeting type and look again in two weeks. Buffers cost slots, so change one meeting type at a time and see what you lose.

Set buffers in SoloWOS Scheduling

1. Open Scheduling and edit a meeting type.
2. Pick a buffer before and a buffer after: no break, or 5, 10, 15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes.
3. Set a minimum notice, for example 4 hours, so nobody books a slot you can't prepare for.
4. In Scheduling > Availability & calendars, set your weekly hours. Add a second range on a day (for example 9 to 12 and 2 to 5) to keep a long lunch free.

SoloWOS doesn't have a daily cap on bookings. To limit a day, shorten that day's hours or split them into ranges. For meetings other people put in your calendar, Outlook can shorten them for you: its "Shorten appointments and meetings" setting ends events early or starts them late by the minutes you choose (Microsoft Support). To share a booking page clients can schedule from with buffers built in, Solo costs $15/month. If your week is full of recurring status calls, what a weekly status call really costs is the next read.