To avoid unnecessary stress, I’ve gotten into the habit of creating Google Calendar events straight from my Gmail, associating any upcoming reminders with the relevant email or message. This simple productivity hack has saved me on numerous occasions during college and is just as effective in the workplace. It’s also a helpful way to keep your calendar organized and up to date. Here’s how to do it.
Step 1: Open Gmail
First, open up Gmail from your phone or computer browser. The process is the same on both platforms.
Step 2: Select the event or email that you’d like to add
Open up the email or message that has the time, date, and/or general information that you want to embed in Google Calendar.
Step 3: Create an event
At the top of the email, select the “More” toggle (three dots) on the top right corner. A drop-down menu will appear with the option to “Create event”.
Step 4: “Allow” notifications to stay in the know
From here, you will be taken to a new window with a prompt that asks if you want to allow calendar notifications. For those timely reminders, click “Allow”. Note that these notifications are not the same as the standard in-browser or in-app reminders that Google Calendar sends you. Instead, the reminders will appear as regular phone or computer notifications. If you don’t want pop-up notifications, select “Block”.
Step 5: Fill in the details
The main subject line may already be populated with the associated email subject, but feel free to change it to a title that works best for you. From here, you can edit and personalize the event, just like how you would with a standard Calendar card. You can also add the exact time or time frame, more guests, a virtual or physical location, and, my personal favorite, scheduled reminders. To add a reminder, click the “Notification” toggle (bell) and select how early you’d like to be notified of the event.
Step 6: Save
When you’re done, select the blue “Save” button on the top right corner. Should things change, you can always edit and tweak the event card. More: How to integrate Google Calendar with Slack Just make sure you have downloaded the Tasks app before you add one.
