I love using Google products because they are streamlined and packed with useful features. Once you experience efficiency, you won’t want to go back! You’ll need a Gmail / Google account in order to get started.

Google Calendar

This app is top-rated for a reason! Take advantage of the different features in Google Calendar to help you manage your time.

Did you know?

When you create or edit an event, you have the option of adding people via email so they can view the event details. You can continue making updates instead of messaging people about new information.

1. Click on the event
2. Click the three dots
3. Add emails in the ‘Add Guest’ section

If you don’t have people’s emails, you can also publish an event and share the link but the link will not update with any changes you make.

Besides viewing your calendar on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, you can also customize your view.

1. Settings
2. View Options
3. Set custom view

How I use it:

I created several calendars to keep track of different categories such as family time, socializing, and dating. Some of these calendars are shared with others, showing all the details or only showing when I’m busy.

The options below to share a link with people or share directly with their email are both found under the calendar settings.

1. On the right side, hover over your calendar
2. Click the three dots
3. Click on Settings and sharing

I like to color code my calendars so I can quickly see if I should allocate more or less time to something. This helps me evaluate how I’ve been spending my time, and keep a balance between different obligations. When I see a myriad of colors, I know that my schedule is well-balanced.

1. Hover over the calendar you wish to edit
2. Next to the calendar name, select the current calendar color.
3. Create a new color label or add an existing color label.
4. Click Save.

Example:

Some family members prefer to just tell me when they are busy instead of sharing their calendar, so I created a calendar for tracking their schedule. This is colored gray to not stand out on my calendar. I can easily toggle the checkmark to hide these calendars.

I hate manually adding events to my calendar, so I use this free extension: Checker Plus for Google Calendar™ to add events using natural language, eg. ‘Dinner with mom at 6pm’. 

After adding the extension, you can pin it to your browser tab for easy access.

1. Click on the icon
2. Hit the red plus symbol
3. Enter in the info about your event (You can include location and time.)

Google Docs

You can collaborate with others on the same document. This works for both gmail and non-gmail accounts.

1. In your file, click Share in the top right (or via the three dots if outside of the document)
2. Add people’s emails
3. Set the permissions settings
4. Click Done

One of my favorite features to use is the Document Outline. You basically apply styling to your text and it creates a table of contents for you on the left. Then you can click on these headers to quickly jump to the content.

This is a great way to see your outline when writing an article. It also allows you to change the formatting to your preference.

1. With your text selected, click on ‘Normal Text’ or whatever it is showing
2. Click on the formatting you wish to apply

If you want the formatting of text (eg. size or color)

1. Select the text
2. Click on ‘Normal Text’ or whatever it is showing
3. Hover over the text style
4. Click Update ____ to Match

To add hyperlinks to text, select the text and press CTRL + K and paste in the hyperlink. You can always change the display text by clicking on the pencil icon.

Checkmarks are a great way to keep track of to-do lists within your document. If you prefer your text to not be crossed out when checked, a workaround is to create a table or use Google sheets and insert checkmarks in a separate column instead. The downside to creating lists in Google Docs is that checked items don’t automatically move to the bottom of a list, but further in this article, I cover some apps that have this feature.

Google Contacts

If you find yourself emailing the same group of people over and over again, a useful feature in Google Contacts is labels. Just hit the plus icon next to ‘Labels’ and add in the emails.

You can also do this when viewing a contact.

1. Click on the three dots
2. Change labels

The ‘Merge & fix’ tool helps you to easily delete repeats or combine dispersed information for a contact.

Google Voice

This tool allows me to text or call someone from my computer instead of on my phone. There are apps that allow me to text on the computer as well, but I prefer having everything in one place.

You can send group messages to a max of 7 people.

One of the best features of Google Voice is the transcription of voicemails. While it doesn’t perfectly transcribe, it does a pretty good job and is an easy way for me to tell at a glance if the message is important or not.

You can save new phone numbers to your contacts list.

1. Select the number in your call or text log
2. Click on the three dots next to the phone number
3. Click on People
4. Click on the Add to Contacts icon (person with plus sign)
5. Enter in their name and any labels you wish to include
6. Hit save

Things to Note

To use Google Voice, you’ll need access to the internet. To set up an account, you’ll need to link it to an existing phone number.

Google TaskBoard

Google TaskBoard & Google Keep’s features slightly overlap a bit as you can create lists for both, but Keep is limited in how you can manage your tasks. They are both minor players compared to the other apps.

With Google TaskBoard, you can create multiple lists such as task or shopping list. This allows you to save emails to your to-do list as well!

1. Open up the email
2. Click on the TaskBoard icon in the toolbar
3. Adjust any settings such as which board to save to or the task name
4. Click anywhere off the task / it should save automatically

You can sort by anything you like, including by date or alphabetically.

One key feature is the ability to create recurring tasks so you only need to put it on your to-do list once! These can be shown on your Google Calendar which is helpful for scheduling your day. Keep in mind that creating or deleting a recurring task only works in the mobile app for some reason.

Google Keep

Google Keep is also a great option for creating lists or note-taking. You can add text, links, sketch out your ideas, or include attachments. This platform also allows you to collaborate with others and copy to Google docs if you ever need.

I often use Google Keep as a way to quickly jot down notes or rough ideas. The ability to label and color each note helps me stay organized and find past notes quickly.

You can move checked items automatically to the bottom, enable sharing, and more in the settings.

1. Click on the gear icon
2. Click the three dots
3. Go to Settings

More Google

There are other Google apps I enjoy using such as Forms and Sheets. Once you get the hang of one or two apps, you’ll be able to quickly pick up the other tools as well. Don’t be intimidated by all the features and settings; they are there to help you improve your life.

Knowledge is a tool as well. No matter which tool you choose, make sure you know how to use it to get its full benefits. As you utilize new tools, there’s always a better way to do things, so stay open to changing and improving your process.