Have you watched “Office Space”? It’s one of our favorites, and it’s still very much in line with what’s happening in a lot of software startups nowadays across the globe, despite its age. We tried to imagine a version of this movie in the context of today’s world, where nearly everyone has a side hustle. Indulge us for a moment here and imagine:
In the riveting saga of time management, our protagonist Peter Gibbons finds himself entangled in a web of calendars, side hustles, and the whimsical world of hypnotherapy. Join us in this comedic exploration of the perils of double-booking, the art of manual calendar management, and the unexpected twists that only the chaotic universe of multiple accounts can bring.
The main job, Initech, and the side hustle
Picture Peter, diligently trying to keep the gears of his life well-oiled. He hates his job at Initech and decides, together with his friends Samir Nagheenanajar and Michael Bolton to start working on a side gig, involving writing software which takes fraction of pennies from corporate transactions and diverts them to their own account. Since their boss Lumbergh is having them spend every second of the day in the office, they start coding this during their office hours and to coordinate coding together, they set up a separate set of emails and calendars where they set up events to which all 3 of our heroes get invited.
They don’t want however their coding time to be interrupted by Initech “work” so every time they set up such a coding session in their side hustle calendar account, they go and block time in their Initech calendar. With a main job at Initech and now a side hustle involving Samir and Michael, their calendars become a battlefield of appointments, meetings, and the dreaded “TPS reports.”
How to ensure time for the side hustle without endangering the TPS reports?
To avoid the calamity of double-bookings, Peter and his friends commit themselves to a daily routine of manually blocking time in each calendar. It’s a dance of dedication, akin to a daily workout for his scheduling muscles. Lumbergh places a new meeting in their calendar? They go ahead and move the time they have scheduled that day for their coding the side hustle project to avoid double booking! But in doing so then they have to go back into the Initech calendar and mark the time dedicated to their side hustle as “busy” so they don’t get interrupted!
And Lumbergh and the darn TPS reports are unpredictable, so it’s a constant game of peering into the crystal ball of the future to guess which time will be available for their side hustle. They have to gaze a few days ahead, to ensure coworkers in Initech can see their availability and not book meetings during the time they want to dedicated to their side gig! It’s a meticulous effort, made twice as hard by the office printer they use to print their schedule for days ahead, however it is one they deem necessary to avoid any scheduling storms.
Enter Bob and Bob: 2 consultants brought in to make Initech more efficient. Bob and Bob start firing on all cylinders from day one, and everyone’s calendar gets loaded with meeting invites from Bob and Bob. Peter, Michael and Samir find themselves spending a lot of time every day in order to (ironically!) protect their time! Every few minutes they check changes in their calendars and move things around and block time. In the midst of a busy week, a single missed day of calendar synchronization can lead to a cascade of double-bookings and no time spent on their side gig. The chaos is real, and Peter is on the verge of a scheduling catastrophe.
Enter Anne, Peter’s girlfriend, armed with (perhaps not so) good intentions but a penchant for complicating matters. She decides that Peter needs hypnotherapy and sets up a third calendar for Peter, where she takes the liberty of booking him some sessions with a hypnotherapist.
Her introduction of a third calendar catapults our hero into a realm of confusion and the inevitable happens: as Bob and Bob’s meetings change dates and times, and Peter ends up one day sending an invite to Bob and Bob from his side hustle calendar to an event labelled “Working on my side business so I don’t have to work at Initech soon”. And surprise-surprise! Bob and Bob accept the meeting!
Realizing his mistake, our here walks into the meeting expecting to lose his Initech job as well as his side gig: after all, all the work was done during Initech time and using some of the Initech hardware, as such the IP belongs to Initech as per his employment contract! Luckily, Bob and Bob, recognizing Peter’s entrepreneurial spirit, decide not to fire him but instead recommend Initech to acquire his side-hustle startup…
OK, we’ll stop here, our story took an interesting turn there it seems and we moved away from the original plot, BUT! Same as with the original script for “Office Space”, this is not too far from the realm of possibility!
What if you are Peter and you are working on a side hustle and you do manage your multiple calendars by blocking time manually and manually moving time blocks around when your schedule changes? And what if this goes so out of hand that you end up sharing some of the details of your side hustle with your employer? And what if your employer doesn’t have such “competent” staff members as Bob and Bob?
A different ending
Imagine if Peter (ahem, you!) used Calendrz: he signs up (for free!) and adds both his Initech calendar as well as his side hustle calendar and then lets Calendrz block time in his side hustle calendar when Lumbergh (or Bob and Bob) call him into a meeting. He also lets Calendrz book time into his Initech schedule when him and Michael and Samir set up some time for coding on their side hustle. Now those TPS reports are safe and Peter won’t get 3 different calls about how he missed them! Even more so, when Anne throws in a 3rd calendar for hypnotherapy, Peter simply adds it to Calendrz — so when Anne tries to book him for a session on a Saturday morning, she can see that time slot being marked as “busy”! (OK, granted, this won’t probably change Anne’s mind, but … what if?)
What Calendrz Can Do for Peter
Let’s remind ourselves what Calendrz can do for Peter (and Michael, and Samir, and anyone else) in the above scenario:
Automatic Time Harmony
Calendrz syncs multiple calendars seamlessly, sparing Peter from the daily calendar time Tetris.
Real-Time Updates
Changes are reflected across all calendars instantly, eliminating the need for manual time-shifting acrobatics.
Universal Compatibility
Initech uses Microsft 365 but Peter’s side business uses Google Workspace, however, Calendrz works effortlessly with both Google and Microsoft accounts, ensuring a harmonious blend of calendars.
Try it yourself!
You don’t need a genius like Mike Judge to point out the obvious here: should Peter use Calendrz, the above would have been a different (albeit less entertaining) story! Calendrz is your calendar defender and it removes the need for you to spend time to defend … well … your own time! Sign up today, add all your calendar accounts and let Calendrz do the heavy lifting and prevent you from the frustrations of double-bookings and calendar conflicts.
Unless you want to work at Initech for the rest of your life…
