Time is time. We can't make more of it. We can't even manage it, technically speaking. All we can do is make smart choices about what to do and how much time to spend doing it. That said, doesn't it seem ridiculous to separate your calendar appointments from your task list? They're both integral to figuring out how to best use the time we have each day. Here's how to keep them together.
The Google Calendar mobile app has a new feature called Reminders that brings tasks—or more specifically task reminders—into Calendar. How the feature originated is actually really interesting and important to understanding why it is so useful.
The Story Behind Reminders
In mid 2015, Google acquired an app and company called Timeful. Timeful was an integrated calendar and to-do list with several neat features aimed at helping users change their behavior. For example, Timeful figured out when was the best time to carry out certain tasks, such as going to the gym, based on the user's previous success rate of marking off when he or she did in fact go to the gym.
The team that created Timeful, led by former CEO Jacob Bank, included behavioral economist Dan Ariely, an author and researcher who studies not only behavior, but human irrationality. Much of Ariely's work answers the question, "Why don't we do the things we say we want to do?" Timeful was a very serious attempt at giving average people a tool to help them do the things they say they want to do. It used complex algorithms to help people have a better shot at following through on the promises they make to themselves. Bank is now a product manager at Google working on the new Reminders feature.
At the core of Timeful, and now the new feature in Google, is the premise that time is time, but standard calendar entries don't always help us plan out how we need to use our time.
How to Use Reminders in Google Calendar
To get Reminders, you'll need the Google Calendar mobile app, as it's not available in the Web version of Calendar at this time.
In the bottom right corner of the screen there's a red circle with a plus sign. Tap it, and you'll see two choices: Event and Reminder. The Event option lets you create a standard Google Calendar entry. The Reminder option, however, brings up more choices.
"Remind me to…" appears with a list beneath it of common tasks, such as call, email, text, read, check in, make reservations, and so forth. You can choose one of these options, or you can type your own reminder. When you start typing in the text field, suggestions appear.
The suggestion come from reminders that other people have entered, as well as your list of contacts, items on your calendar, and other smart places. In the image above, for example, see how "cha" suggests everything from "change oil" to "call Charles" (whose number is saved in my Google Contacts).
The steps that follow after are pretty self-explanatory. You choose a date and time for the reminder and decide whether to make it a recurring event. Tap Save, and the item now appears in your Google Calendar.
Interacting With Reminders
The beauty of Reminders is that they appear alongside your other appointments as blocks. With that visual information, it's much easier to make sure you don't try to take on a task at the same time that you have an important phone call, meeting, or lunch date.
To mark a Reminder as done, you simply swipe it left to right.
When you mark a reminder as done, it stays on your calendar feed, as you can see in the image above for "cancel scribd account."
Right now, that's about the extent of how you can interact with Reminders. But, if the feature follows in the footsteps of Timeful, perhaps we'll see drag-and-drop capabilities for rescheduling the time and other smart features for helping us pick the best time to get a task done.
For more, see my tips for using the Google Calendar mobile app.