Managing Your Sessions & Calendar
Effective calendar management is crucial for maintaining a sustainable mentoring practice. Learn how to optimize your availability, handle bookings, and deal with common scheduling challenges.
Setting Your Availability
Finding Your Sustainable Schedule
Don't just fill your calendar—be strategic about when you're available:
Block Your Peak Performance Hours
Schedule mentoring when you're at your best. If you're sharpest in the morning, don't offer 9pm slots just to accommodate everyone.
Add Buffer Time
Don't stack sessions back-to-back. Add 15-30 minutes between sessions for breaks, notes, and unexpected overruns.
Set Weekly Limits
Cap your weekly sessions to avoid burnout. 10-15 hours per week is sustainable for most mentors alongside full-time work.
Batch Similar Sessions
Group similar session types together (e.g., all resume reviews on Tuesdays) to minimize context switching.
Example Weekly Schedule
Pro Tip: Start Conservative
Offer limited availability at first (4-6 hours/week). You can always add more slots, but removing availability after mentees are used to it creates friction.
Calendar Integration & Tools
Use calendar integration to prevent double-bookings and streamline scheduling:
Connect Your Calendar
Syncing your Google or Outlook Calendar will be available in a few weeks. This feature will automatically block out times when you're unavailable.
Coming soon:
- • Platform will check your calendar in real-time
- • Busy times will automatically become unavailable
- • New bookings will add events to your calendar
- • Cancellations will remove events automatically
Set Booking Restrictions
Minimum advance notice:
Require bookings at least 24-48 hours in advance. This prevents last-minute bookings that disrupt your schedule.
Maximum advance booking:
Limit how far ahead people can book (e.g., 4 weeks) to maintain scheduling flexibility.
Daily session limits:
Cap sessions per day (e.g., max 3) to prevent exhaustion from too many back-to-back sessions.
Handling Reschedule Requests
Life happens. Here's how to handle scheduling changes professionally:
Your Rescheduling Policy
Set clear expectations upfront in your session descriptions:
Example policy:
"I'm happy to reschedule with at least 24 hours notice. Please message me directly to find a new time. Reschedule requests with less than 24 hours notice may incur a 50% fee."
When You Need to Reschedule
Contact immediately
Message your mentee as soon as you know you need to reschedule
Apologize and explain briefly
You don't owe a detailed explanation, but acknowledge the inconvenience
Offer specific alternatives
Don't say "when are you free?" Offer 2-3 specific times: "I'm available Tuesday at 6pm, Wednesday at 7pm, or Saturday at 10am"
Consider a goodwill gesture
For last-minute reschedules, offer to extend the rescheduled session by 15 minutes
Red Flag: Serial Reschedulers
If a mentee reschedules more than 2-3 times, consider whether the mentorship is a good fit. It's okay to politely suggest they return when they have more availability.
Handling No-Shows & Late Arrivals
The No-Show Protocol
When a Mentee Doesn't Show Up
At scheduled time: Join the video call and wait
After 5 minutes: Send a message: "I'm on the call—are you able to join?"
After 10 minutes: Send another message: "I'll wait until [10 minutes past] then will need to end the session"
After 15 minutes: End the session and mark as no-show (this helps keep things clean)
When a Mentee Arrives Late
5-10 minutes late: Greet them warmly, note you have until [original end time], proceed with session
10-15 minutes late: Ask if they'd prefer to reschedule or continue with remaining time
15+ minutes late: Suggest rescheduling. "We're already 20 minutes in—would you prefer to reschedule so we have full time?"
The Follow-Up Message (Optional)
After a no-show, you may optionally send:
"I waited for our scheduled session but wasn't able to connect with you. I hope everything is okay. If you'd like to book another session in the future, please reach out—I'm happy to work with you when the timing is better."
Note: Marking the session as no-show is the most important step for keeping records clean.
Pro Tip: Send Reminders
Send a friendly reminder 24 hours before the session: "Looking forward to our session tomorrow at [time]! Please let me know if anything comes up." This reduces no-shows by 30-40%.
Managing Time During Sessions
Stay on schedule without seeming rushed:
Set expectations upfront
"We have 60 minutes together today. Let's make sure we leave 5-10 minutes at the end for action items."
Use gentle time checks
At 40 minutes: "We're at the 40-minute mark. Let's make sure we cover [remaining topic]."
Have a closing routine
Last 5 minutes: Summarize key takeaways, confirm action items, schedule next session if applicable
End on time
"We're at time. This was great—let's continue this in our next session!" Then end the call.
Calendar Management Best Practices
✓ Do This
- • Review your calendar weekly
- • Block personal time as "busy"
- • Set clear boundaries on availability
- • Keep buffer time between sessions
- • Send session reminders
- • Take breaks every 2-3 sessions
✗ Avoid This
- • Overbooking yourself
- • Accepting last-minute bookings
- • Skipping breaks between sessions
- • Being available 24/7
- • Ignoring your energy levels
- • Running sessions over time regularly
Related Guides
Need Help with Scheduling?
Our team can help you set up calendar integrations and optimize your availability settings.
Contact Support