After a long period of recovery and gestation since Covid, I am finally beginning to re-emerge. The research programme I am developing is gaining shape, and My Drop in the Oceans and MyDIO are both beginning to regain the traction that brings new conversations, partnerships and possibilities.

That momentum also brings a practical need to collaborate, coordinate and delegate. I need tools that work for what these organisations are becoming, and can adapt as their needs grow. One recurring problem was simple: finding a time when a group of people could meet.

A practical need, and another experiment

Earlier this year, typingmetrics.com gave me another way to explore the practical potential of AI. TimeBallot started with a more immediate need. I wanted to organise a meeting, and knew I would need to organise more. The familiar process of sending messages back and forth, collecting everyone’s availability and trying to find a time that suited the group seemed unnecessarily cumbersome.

I also wanted to be less dependent on tools designed by other people, around needs that might not be mine. So I built a group scheduling tool of my own, from A to Z, in about four hours. It was an experiment in what AI-assisted development now makes possible: start with a real need, build something usable, and learn by using it. The starting point was not an abstract interest in AI. It was a task I needed to make easier.

Making it easier to find a time together

TimeBallot is a free group scheduling tool. The organiser proposes possible dates and times, shares one link, and participants mark which options work for them. The organiser can then see the responses and choose a time.

Participants do not need an account or an email address to respond. Email is optional for people who want the convenience of receiving the final date. TimeBallot has no advertising or third-party tracking, and is hosted in Switzerland using renewable electricity.

Those choices reflect how I think a tool should work: collect only what is needed, and make a basic service useful without relying on advertising. TimeBallot is associated with My Drop in the Oceans, where sustainability also means making it easier to plan, work together and use our time thoughtfully.

A tool that might be useful to others

Much of my work happens through communities and networks, including Impact Hub, Geneva Forum, GemLabs and the Green Fintech Network. These networks bring people together around ideas and projects. They also create the practical work of coordinating schedules and finding time for people to contribute.

I built TimeBallot to solve a problem I had. As I worked across these networks, I realised that the same problem comes up for other people too. If the tool was useful to me, it might be useful to them. So I decided to share it.

I did not set out to build a scheduling business. I needed a tool, built one, and saw that others might need it as well. And because the organisations and projects I work with are changing, adaptability matters. Different groups organise themselves differently; their needs change as projects develop. A useful tool should make coordination easier without requiring every group to work in the same way.

Sustainability includes how we organise

Sustainability is often discussed through choices about energy, materials and consumption. Those choices are essential. But responding to ecological and social challenges also depends on how well we organise and collaborate.

Finding a meeting time is a small part of that. Still, repeated messages and delays take up time and attention that people could give to the work itself. TimeBallot cannot address the larger challenges. It can remove one everyday friction and make it easier for people to come together.

For me, TimeBallot brings several things together: renewed activity across my organisations, a practical need, another experiment with AI, and the chance to share something useful with the communities I work alongside. It started with a meeting I needed to organise. Building the tool was now within reach, and sharing it made sense because I kept seeing the same need around me.