What’s Google Duties and the way do you utilize it?

Fancy your self a grand taskmaster? No, not you, Greg Davies. We’re speaking about people who would possibly (or won’t) be utilizing apps like Todoist or Wunderlist with massive productiveness milestones all neatly lined up and on the high of their minds. In the event you’re a big-time Google consumer unfold throughout Gmail, Google Calendar, and the Google Workspace apps, you is likely to be lacking out for those who’re not on Google Duties as a substitute. We’ll clarify its nice integrations and the ins and outs of this guidelines help.

What’s Google Duties?

If the introduction to this piece did not set it up for you, Google Duties is a to-do app that permits you to assemble lists of duties and sub-tasks that you simply’d wish to control after which verify off once you’ve accomplished them. These duties and sub-tasks could be assigned deadlines and recurring standing if wanted. It is accessible on desktop completely inside Google Workspace apps akin to Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, and others – we’ll get to the small print later on this piece. – in addition to in cell app flavors from the Google Play Store and App Store.

How do I handle duties in Google Duties?

We’ll deal with the cell app in explaining how Google Duties operates, nevertheless it ought to function principally the identical method on desktop.

The hierarchy of operations begins with creating lists, then constructing duties and nesting sub-tasks into them. Every process or sub-task could be starred for precedence entry. You possibly can faucet on the merchandise’s checkbox as you full every sub-task. The dad or mum process can also be checked off as soon as all of the sub-tasks are checked off. Accomplished sub-tasks and duties are siloed off on the backside of the checklist. You possibly can mark duties uncompleted from there or filter the part with a single button faucet.

Lists seem in a one-row carousel on the high of the display, the place you may hop between them and add a brand new one as wanted. On the left-most place is a listing devoted to all of your starred duties, no matter which checklist they originate from. Sitting on the backside of the display is the taskbar, with which you’ll do the next issues by tapping on the icons as listed from left to proper:

1. The Lists button additionally helps you to navigate between lists or create a brand new one however with a drop-down menu.
2. The Type button helps you to type your duties by date or starred standing.
3. The three-dot button helps you handle the checklist you are presently viewing. You possibly can rename or delete the checklist or all accomplished duties.
4. The Plus button is for creating duties and sub-tasks.

Whenever you create a brand new process, you will be requested to offer it a reputation. One other set of icons seem that allow you to do the next:

1. The primary button helps you to add an in depth description of the duty.
2. The clock button will allow you to set a deadline and/or recurring standing for the duty. By following the on-screen UI, you may set instances right down to the minute or have a process repeat with frequencies starting from days to years as much as an finish date or after a sure variety of occurrences.
3. The star button stars the duty.

As soon as a process is saved, you may faucet on the checklist’s respective merchandise after which add sub-tasks as vital. These sub-tasks could be detailed and starred like you may with duties. They’ll even have particular person deadlines as properly. They can’t, nonetheless, be set as recurring sub-tasks.

How does Google Duties combine throughout my different Google apps?

Google Duties has hyperlinks with Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Workspace apps, together with Docs, Sheets, Slides, and others, in order that your duties could seem on these surfaces in the best contexts or {that a} process could be created from these locations.

On Gmail, you may choose Add to Duties on desktop (the identical button is hidden behind the three-dot context menu on cell) to create a process primarily based in your communications. By default, the duty identify shall be populated with the message’s topic line. You will additionally see a hyperlink to the Gmail message from the duty merchandise within the Google Duties app.

On Google Calendar, you will see Google Duties objects seem in your timeline for those who’ve assigned them a deadline or recurring standing. Calendar can notify you when process deadlines are arising and if you find yourself overdue on finishing them. You possibly can mark standalone duties full inside Calendar. If a process has nested sub-tasks, you could mark these off within the Duties app.

With the cell Calendar app particularly, you will need to concentrate on some key settings associated to the Duties integration. You will discover them by pulling the left-side pane in Calendar, scrolling down, and choosing Settings, then Basic. This is what they’re:

• When Present accomplished duties is toggled on, you will notice accomplished duties stay in your calendar. Toggle the function off for those who do not need to see them in your previous calendar.
• Duties notifications is a shortcut that brings you to the notification settings for the Google Duties app, the place most time-related process notifications come from.
• However, Duties overdue notifications are dealt with by Google Calendar and, thus, are accessed with a separate shortcut.

On desktop, Calendar has a full-fledged Duties view that you would be able to entry by flipping the Calendar-Duties toggle close to the web page’s top-right nook. You’ll create and handle lists, duties, and sub-tasks proper from this view.

Throughout Google Workspace apps on desktop (not cell), Google Duties is an applet that hangs round on a pane on the proper aspect of your display. On the identical time, you are in an item-specific view – whether or not that is a doc you are engaged on or a Google Meet name you are chipping into. Simply as with the Duties view within the desktop model of Calendar, you will even have the total suite of process administration actions right here, however with only one checklist seen at a time.

What’s with all these random previous duties and reminders in my Google Duties?

Google used to help setting reminders and creating duties from numerous surfaces, together with Google Search and Google Assistant. Reminders and duties have been separate entities with totally different settings that customers might modify. This performance existed for a number of years however was phased out earlier than a full migration of those reminders and duties to the Google Duties entity again in June 2023 (via Android Police). If you have not been utilizing Duties however have beforehand created reminders and duties with Google, you will discover them in your house view on Duties – accomplished reminders and duties could be discovered within the Accomplished part.