Tips to manage your time in Calendar

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On this page

• Create task lists
• Make Notes in Google Keep
• Set out of office status
• Schedule focus time
• Create appointment slots
• Check guest attendance
• Schedule private or personal events

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Create task lists

You can keep track of your daily tasks, organize multiple lists, and track important deadlines by using Google Tasks in Calendar.

Learn how

1. Open Google Calendar.
2. On the left, under “My calendars,” select Tasks.
3. Choose an option:
   • In your calendar, click an empty slot on your calendar.
   • In the top left, click Create.
4. Click Task.
5. Enter a title and description.
6. To add the new task to a specific list, choose one from the drop down.
7. Click Save.

Learn more at the Google Tasks Help Center

Make notes in Google Keep

You can easily keep track of important notes, while working in your Calendar. Just open Google Keep!

Learn how

1. Open Google Calendar.
2. On the right, click Keep .
3. To Add a note or list, click + Take a note or New list .
4. To edit a note, click a note and enter a message.
5. Click Done.

Learn more at the Google Keep Help Center

Set out of office status

If you plan to be out of the office, update your calendar so co-workers know you’re away from work.

Learn how

When you indicate that you’re out of office, your calendar will automatically decline all meetings during that time.

1. On your computer, open Google Calendar.
2. At the top of your calendar, click the first date you’ll be out of the office.
3. Click Out of office.
4. Select the dates that you’ll be out of the office. You can also specify a time.
5. Optional: To schedule out-of-office events that repeat, below the day and time you select, click the drop down menu next to “Does not repeat”  choose a frequency.
6. Optional: Change your decline settings and edit your decline message.
7. Click Save.

Learn more at the Google Calendar Help Center

Schedule focus time

You can reduce distractions while you work by blocking out time in your calendar to let you focus on what you need to do.

To schedule a focus time event, you must have a work or school account. If you can’t find the focus time option, it may not be available for your organization.

Learn how

Important: You can only create focus time events from Day and Week views. The events must have a specific start and end time.

1. On your computer, open Google Calendar.
2. Click the time you want to schedule focus time.
3. At the top of the event, click Focus time.
4. Select when you want your event to begin and end.
   • Tip: To decline meetings automatically during focus time, check the box next to “Automatically decline meetings.”
5. Click Save.

Learn more at the Google Calendar Help Center

Create appointment slots

Turn blocks of time on your calendar into appointment slots that others can book. Booked appointments appear on your calendar so you know who you're meeting and when.

Learn how

1. Using your work or school account on a computer, open Google Calendar.
2. Make sure that you're in Week view or any Day view.
3. Click anywhere in the calendar. In the event box that pops up, click Appointment slots.
4. Enter the details, including a title, and pick the calendar where you want the event to show up.
5. To add more information, like a location or description, click More options.

Tip: If you want to make the appointment block repeat, do so before you invite others to reserve a slot. When you make an existing appointment block with reserved slots repeat, the reserved slots get duplicated as new slots and double booking can occur. Learn how to make events repeat.

Your appointment block shows as a single event on your calendar, with a grid symbol in the top-left corner. As people book appointments, they'll appear as regular events overlapping the appointment block.

Learn more at the Google Calendar Help Center

Check guest attendance

If you need to track attendance for your event, you can instantly see who’s accepted or declined your invitation, and who’s proposed a new meeting time.

Learn how

1. In the Calendar grid, click the event.
2. Go to the Guests field to see a list of responses from your guests. You might have to click the Down arrow to see the responses.

Schedule private or personal events

You can add personal events to your work calendar where details aren't shown to other people. For example, schedule a doctor appointment or personal sports event and set the visibility of your event to Private. You'll see event details on your calendar, but for others the event shows only as "busy."

Learn how at the Google Calendar Help Center

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