# Book time and meetings on the calendar

> Drag across the calendar to book focus time or a meeting, add guests, a place and an agenda, repeat it, attach a desk, and edit or move it later.

Source: https://plexiidesk.com/help/calendar-book-time
Section: Communicate > Calendar
Plans: All plans
Updated: 2026-10-15

Booking time puts a block on your calendar: focus time for yourself, or a meeting with other people. One dialog, **Book time**, does both. You choose the time by dragging on the calendar, give the block a name, and press `Enter`.

Use focus time to protect an hour for a piece of work. Use a meeting when other people are involved: you can add guests, say where it happens and write an agenda, and Plexii emails the invitations for you.

Booking time is part of every plan.

## Before you start

- **Open Calendar.** In the side menu, under **Apps**, click **Calendar** in the **Tools** group. See [Calendar in Plexii](https://plexiidesk.com/help/calendar-overview).
- **To email invitations, connect a mailbox in Mail.** Invitations are sent from your own email account. See [Connect your email account](https://plexiidesk.com/help/mail-connect-account).

## Book focus time or a meeting

1. In **Day**, **3-Day**, **5-Day** or **Week**, press on an empty part of the calendar and drag down across the time you want. Times snap to 15 minutes. To use the default length instead, just click a time.
2. The **Book time** dialog opens. At the top, choose **Focus time** or **Meeting**.
3. Type a title. If you leave it blank, the block is saved with the name shown in grey, such as the attached desk, the guests' names, **Meeting** or **Focus**.
4. Check the date, start time and length (see below).
5. For a meeting, fill in **Guests**, **Where** and **Agenda** (see below).
6. Click **Book it**, or **Schedule meeting** for a meeting, or press `Enter`.

The dialog closes and a notice confirms it, for example **Booked “Draft the proposal” · 2:00 – 3:00 PM**. Click **Undo** in the notice if you change your mind.

To close the dialog without booking, press `Esc` or click outside it.

> **Tip:**
> Press `⌘` `M` on a Mac or `Ctrl` `M` on Windows to switch between **Focus time** and **Meeting** without reaching for the mouse.

### Set the date, time and length

The row under the title holds the details as chips:

- **The date** and **the start time.** Click one to change it.
- **The end time.** Click it to make the block longer, and hold `Shift` while you click to make it shorter. It steps through 15, 25, 30, 45 and 60 minutes, 1.5 hours and 2 hours. The length is shown beside it.
- **Repeat.** Click it and choose **Daily**, **Weekly** or **Monthly**. Choose **Don't repeat** to take it off again.

### Type shortcuts into the title

While you type the title, a few words change the block for you. Each takes effect when you type a space after it, and a short line under the title says what changed.

| Type | What happens |
| --- | --- |
| A length, such as **45m**, **90 min** or **1h** | Sets the length and is removed from the title. |
| **#** and the start of a room's name, such as **#launch** | Attaches that room and is removed from the title. |
| **meet**, **call**, **sync** or **1:1** | Switches the block to **Meeting**. |

### Add guests, a place and an agenda

These fields appear when you choose **Meeting**.

- **Guests.** Type a name or an email address. Pick a suggestion with the arrow keys, or press `Enter`, a comma or `Tab` to add what you typed. Press `Backspace` in the empty field to remove the last guest.
- **Where.** Choose **Plexii Meet** for a Plexii meeting room, **Paste link** to paste a Google Meet, Zoom or Teams link, **In person** to type an address or room, or **None**.
- **Agenda.** Write what the meeting needs to settle. It is shown in the meeting when you join from the block.

### Attach a desk or a piece of work

Click **Attach a desk or work item** near the bottom of the dialog, then search for it and pick it from the list. The block is linked to it, and a **Staged** badge shows that the desk can be prepared before the block starts. Click the cross beside it to detach it.

## Invitations to guests

When you schedule a meeting with guests, the notice says **invites hold 10s**. For those ten seconds you can still click **Undo**, and nothing is sent. After that, Plexii emails each guest an invitation from your connected mailbox, and a second notice reports what happened, for example **Invited 2 people by email.**

If no mailbox is connected, the notice reads **Connect a mailbox in Mail to email the invites. The join link is saved on the meeting.** The meeting is still booked. See [Meeting invitations and joining](https://plexiidesk.com/help/meet-invites-and-joining).

## Book an Attention item

Drag an item from the **To schedule** list, or a deadline from the top of a day, onto the calendar. It is booked at once as a 30-minute block linked to the item, without opening the dialog. Drag the block's bottom edge to make it longer. See [Calendar in Plexii](https://plexiidesk.com/help/calendar-overview#schedule-work-by-dragging).

## Change a booked block

- **Move it** by dragging it to another time or day.
- **Change its length** by dragging its top or bottom edge.
- **Edit everything else** by clicking a meeting or a plain block. The same dialog opens with all its details. Make your changes and click **Save**.

The repeat setting cannot be changed once a block is booked. To change how a block repeats, delete it and book it again.

To delete a block, rest the pointer on it and click the cross. For a repeating block, choose **Delete this and future** to remove every later occurrence too, or cancel to delete only this one.

## Save a meeting to another calendar app

Rest the pointer on a meeting and click the calendar button, **Add to my calendar**. Then choose:

- **Apple Calendar / Outlook** to save it as a calendar file you open in that app.
- **Google Calendar** to open it in Google Calendar in your browser.

To have every block written to a Google or Outlook calendar automatically, see [Sign in to Google or Microsoft calendars](https://plexiidesk.com/help/calendar-google-microsoft).

## Book time faster

Turn on **Drag books instantly** in the planner settings (the sliders button beside **Plan my day**). Dragging across the calendar then books a focus block straight away and lets you type its name right on the block, with no dialog. Click the block later to add more. See [Plan my day](https://plexiidesk.com/help/calendar-plan-my-day#planner-settings).

## Common questions

**Which calendar does a new block go on?** Your default Plexii calendar. Choose which one that is in **Calendars**. See [Manage your calendars](https://plexiidesk.com/help/calendar-manage-calendars).

**I clicked a block that is linked to an Attention item and the item opened instead.** Blocks linked to an Attention item open the item. To change the block's time, drag it or its edges.

**My guests did not get an invitation.** Check that a mailbox is connected in Mail, and read the notice that appears about ten seconds after you schedule: it names any address the email could not reach.

**Can I start the meeting now instead of booking it?** Yes, from Meet. See [Start or schedule a meeting](https://plexiidesk.com/help/meet-start-or-schedule).

## Related tasks

- [Calendar in Plexii](https://plexiidesk.com/help/calendar-overview)
- [Plan my day](https://plexiidesk.com/help/calendar-plan-my-day)
- [Start or schedule a meeting](https://plexiidesk.com/help/meet-start-or-schedule)
- [Meeting invitations and joining](https://plexiidesk.com/help/meet-invites-and-joining)
- [Manage your calendars](https://plexiidesk.com/help/calendar-manage-calendars)