The quickest way to ask for availability by email is to send a link where people mark every time they’re free, instead of asking them to type their times into a reply. Everyone answers in the same format, and nobody has to check one email against the next. If you’d rather keep it to plain email, the templates below help keep the thread short.
Why availability emails turn into long threads
Overlappy started with a thread like this. Two of us were trying to line up times for some house viewings, and every reply looked something like:
I’m free 1 to 4 on Saturday, or 2 to 3 and 5 to 6 on Sunday.
Each email was clear on its own. The slow part was holding it up against the other person’s list, finding the gaps didn’t quite line up, and writing back with a new set of times. Two people took a handful of emails. Every extra person adds another list to compare and another reply to wait for.
The same few things slow every thread down:
| What happens | Why it’s slow |
|---|---|
| Everyone writes times differently | “Weekday evenings”, “after 6 Tue or Thu” and “2 to 4 on Sat” all need translating before you can compare them. |
| People list a few favourites, not everything | The overlap is often in a time nobody thought to mention. |
| Replies arrive one at a time | Each new answer can rule out the time you were about to suggest. |
| People are in different places | “3pm” means a different time to someone in another time zone. |
A template for asking one person
With just one other person, a plain email works if it gives them everything they need to answer in one go:
Subject: 30 minutes next week?
Hi Sam,
Could we find 30 minutes to go through the plans? Anything from Tuesday to Thursday next week, 9am to 5pm, works for me. Could you reply with every time in there that suits you, not just one? I’ll pick one and send an invite.
Three things make it work: how long you need, a clear window, and asking for every time that suits instead of a single suggestion. That last one matters most, because it gives you room to find an overlap without another round of emails.
A template for a group
With three or more people, asking everyone to reply gets messy fast. Send one link instead:
Subject: Dinner in the next couple of weeks?
Hi all,
I’m trying to find an evening for dinner before the end of the month. I’ve put the options on a grid. Open the link, pick your name and tap every time you’re free (tap twice if it only works at a push). It takes about a minute and there’s nothing to sign up for.
[link]
If you can do it by Friday, I’ll book somewhere over the weekend.
With Overlappy, you can send one group link like this, or give each person their own link. Add someone’s email address and Overlappy emails them their link for you. Once the last person has answered, you get an email with the best few times, and picking one adds it to your Google Calendar and invites everyone who gave an email.
Plain email or a link: which to use
| Situation | What works best |
|---|---|
| One other person, a short window | A plain email with a clear window is fine. |
| One other person, lots of possible times | A link, so they can mark everything at once. |
| Three or more people | A link. Comparing three lists by hand is where threads stall. |
| People in different time zones | A link that shows each person the grid in their own local time. |
| You need an answer by a certain day | Either, but put the deadline in the first few lines. |
Keep the link feeling personal
A bare link can read like a form. A few small things help:
- Write one line in your own words about what it’s for before the link.
- Say how long it takes (“about a minute”) and that there’s no account to make.
- Give a rough deadline, then only chase the people who haven’t answered.
- Send a calendar invite once the time is picked, so the plan doesn’t only live in an email thread.
Once the answers are in
Pick the time with the most people free, then send one clear message: the day, the time, the time zone and where it’s happening. If there’s no time that suits everyone, our guide to finding a time that works for everyone covers what to try next.