Google Calendar can do so much more than keep track of time. Read our guide to see what you’ve been missing!
The average person today juggles dozens of demands on a regular basis. With so many roles, it can be hard to tell which responsibilities are urgent and which can be put on the back burner.
There’s not much you can do to keep everything organized without help. Short of being a master at multitasking and a savant who remembers every little to-do item, that is. But Google Calendar has some incredible hacks that will help you keep all of your many demands straight — all in the ease of one little phone app.
This little tool is turning out to be the Swiss Army Knife of calendars.
Here are 5 of our favorite features for Google Calendar that you need to try.
1. Customize What You See
Your schedule is unique, so you should be able to create a planner that adjusts to you instead of the opposite. The creators of Google Calendar know this and want you to make your experience as customizable as possible.
Make More Room
With just a few tweaks, you can change the default view to compact so that you can get rid of all of the extra white space. Do this by opening the app on your computer, clicking the Settings icon in the upper right-hand corner, and changing the density to Compact.
If you need more room, you can eliminate the sidebar. Use the three-line menu on the top left to get rid of the extra space.
Change Your Default View
While you’re in there, go ahead and adjust your default view to the one that helps you guide your schedule the most. You can change it to day, week, month, year, schedule, workweek, or weekends.
As you go about adding more events to your busy schedule, you don’t have to keep the default view. You can customize your calendar to show up to four weeks at a time, in 2–4 day intervals or 2–4 weeks, making planning simple. Just go into your Settings, View Options, and Create a Custom View.
2. Integrate Multiple Calendars into One
Chances are you already have multiple schedules to keep track of between your job, family, and other responsibilities.
Instead of constantly adding events with family and coworkers, why not merge your schedules together?
Google Calendar as an All-in-One
Facebook events have replaced mailed invitations, and Twitter calendars are used almost as often. You don’t have to worry about missing your cousin’s baby shower, though, if you merge your Google Calendar with your Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Of course, Google Chrome’s homepage is easy to integrate into your calendar for access anywhere. But bloggers and web entrepreneurs can also merge their WordPress and Google Calendars!
Get uber-organized by creating content specific calendars, merging them together, and sharing them with others.
Now you can have a family calendar, job schedule, social media posting schedule, and whatever type of calendar you need in one place.
These calendars can be prioritized for quick access to your most important schedules. When they’re not needed anymore, you can remove them completely or make them inactive.
3. Free Up Your Time
With all of your responsibilities, a few seconds here and there responding to messages or checking your calendar add up fast. But that’s time you can quickly shave off of your to-do list with Google Calendar’s features.
Save Yourself a Few Jobs
When you share your calendar — or parts of it — with your coworkers and family, they can see when you’re available. You set up your open times and time frames, and, without any discussion, they schedule themselves into your day.
This same type of feature works both ways, so you can quickly access multiple calendars to see when group members are available for meetings. Checking the time zone adjustment option will automatically default everyone to the same time zone, making scheduling a breeze.
4. Use Your Current Meeting Tools Right from Your Calendar
The busy entrepreneur or executive will love the new add-ons Google Calendar includes. Now you can integrate your conferencing tool, like Google Hangouts, Zoom, etc., right into your calendar.
From your calendar, you can schedule events, send scheduled links to everyone connected to your meeting, and start it at the touch of a button.
5. Increase Your Productivity
You’re now efficiently organized, on schedule, and have freed up some spare time.
But even better — Google Calendar can help you increase your productivity with some of the new hacks.
Become a Star Worker
Whether you’re an employer, employee, or freelancer, you can utilize Google Calendar’s features to enhance your workday.
For starters, it lets you store all of your necessary documents in one place by adding attachments to their corresponding events. Now when you show up in a meeting, you don’t have to worry that you forgot that important file.
If you use marketing software, you can integrate it with your Google Calendar. All of your contacts and database information can be accessed from one place. You can even use your CRM with your calendar, letting you work from absolutely anywhere there’s internet access.
Shortcuts Abound
You can find these five life-changing hacks and dozens more in the latest Google Calendar updates. They’re easily accessible with just a few clicks.
Once you learn all of the useful features and start using them, you may find yourself with free time you never knew you were capable of having.
[Author bio]
Jardee Rose works as a business manager of Haven Cove Townhomes. He has extensive experience with a variety of properties, from large lease-ups to smaller, more urban assets. Jardee is very excited to transition to townhomes and lead the Haven Cove team.
