We’ve all been there. It always seems harder than it should to manage your calendar, taking up so much time and dealing with so much email. I myself have spent time scheduling meetings for the purpose of scheduling other meetings. I have acted as a full time scheduler for a single high-level government role, and it was definitely a full time job. It was all I did: setting meetings, accepting meetings, rescheduling meetings, making sure everyone attended the meeings with everything they needed.
But it has to be done. I am great at streamlining and automating things, but I know there’s only so much that you can streamline scheduling. It requires so much judgment that can only come from you (or from a literal bureaucracy, which is not available to most of us), because it’s your own time that’s on the line, and it’s your job to figure out how to prioritize that.
The benefits of a good scheduler are immeasurable. They will begin to understand your priorities in terms of what and when to schedule and reschedule, etc, but you will always have to participate in the process, so it’s critical that you have a scheduler you can communicate effectively with.
A good VA will not be frustrated by your schedule as much as you are! They can keep their eye on the prize. For you, the constant back and forth of “no, Tuesday the 3rd at 4 doesn’t work, how about Wednesday the 4th at 3?” is a tedious interruption to your day – but for them, it’s literally their job, a career they chose becacuse they’re good at it. Leave it to the experts.