How in the Tech

Get More Productivity in Google Calendar

By Adam Myers ⋅ October 24, 2008 ⋅

It’s a Google world and we’re just living in it. Well, not really I suppose but can any of you really imagine going through your day without Google? Just this week, the Google Android phone launched on T-Mobile, the G1. Lacking any sort of desktop sync application, Android instead relies on syncing from the cloud – where your data lives. This ideology suits me well as I already depend on Gmail and Google Calendar daily. I wasn’t always a fan of Google Calendar however and it really wasn’t any fault of Google. For the longest time I relied on remembering events and tasks manually and this worked well, that is, until my life became more and more hectic – or maybe my mind just isn’t as sharp. Regardless, Google Calendar is now my main application for tracking appointments, tasks, and other reminders. Having it online was just an added bonus initially, but now I can’t live without it. If you are a regular user of the app you are probably aware of the tips I’m about to share. For the rest of you, here’s why you may want to give Google Calendar a stab.

Adding Events to your Calendar through SMS

How often are you out on the town or speaking with a friend and something comes up that you need to make a note of? You likely aren’t near a computer and no one carries a pen and paper so your only option is to remember the item until later. Actually not, you can control your calendar via SMS text messaging.

1. Configure Google Calendar to receive SMS events by clicking on Settings from within the Calendar webapp.
2. Click Mobile Setup.
3. Type in your cell number and choose your provider.



4. Click Send Verification Code.
5. Google will send the verification code to your cell. Return to the webapp, type in the code, and click Finish Setup.

Now when the moment occurs, send a text message to 48368 (GVENT). Google Calendar respects natural language entry; the body of your text message should contain something like: lunch with amanda at earls saturday 1pm. You can see other examples of the syntax at Google Help.

Creating Calendar Events from within Gmail

Gmail and Google Calendar aren’t as tightly integrated as most would like. Chances are, if you are a calendar user you are also a Gmail user – this tip applies. It is not plainly obvious to most that you are able to create events from an email directly.

1. Open an email from your Gmail Inbox.
2. Select the More Actions drop-down and choose Create Event.



3. Complete the resulting pop-up dialog with the details. Click Save Changes and you will have created a calendar event without visiting the calendar directly.

Receive a Daily Agenda in your Email

It isn’t very helpful to go through all the trouble of populating your calendar if you aren’t notified properly of upcoming items. One could always visit their calendar each day but I actually prefer a second option – a daily agenda email.

1. From within Google Calendar click Settings and choose the Calenders tab.
2. Next to the calendar you wish to configure click Notifications.
3. From Choose how you would like to be notified check the Daily Agenda box. Google Calendar will send an email to you every morning at 5am. That’s good enough for me.