How to Use Google Calendar: 21 Features That'll Make You More Productive

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Some things you think will be simple actually end up getting really complex. Google knows this all too well, which is why Google Calendar has plenty of nifty features to simplify scheduling.

Your Google Calendar comes with your personal Gmail address, and you won’t believe how simple it is to use and set up. However, when working at a company with a corporate Google account you suddenly have to find out how best to integrate your personal calendar with your weekly meeting schedule.

Below are some of our favorite tips, tricks, and features available in Google Calendar.

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Using Find a Time
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21 Google Calendar Features That’ll Make You More Productive

1. Create new calendars for different parts of your life.

When you first start out on Google Calendar, you’re given one calendar to start with — it’s the one with your name under “My calendars,” as shown in the screenshot below.

So, if you want to use your calendar for multiple purposes — like managing your actual schedule, planning periods of focused work time, and scheduling repeating reminders — you only have one place to do it. But when you’re only working with one calendar, all of those things get treated equally — meaning you can’t quickly and easily pull up the non-repetitive, important tasks you have for the day.

To combat this, just create a new calendar for each part of your life you’d like to keep track of on your Google Calendar.

How to Use This Feature

To create a new calendar, click the little plus sign (+) next to “My calendars,” and you’ll see the option, “New calendar.” Select this option, name your new calendar, give it a description and time zone, and voilà — you’ve got yourself another calendar.

Pro Tip: You can even color-code each calendar to make it easy for you to pick out what you’ve got to do each day.

2. Schedule meetings with groups using “Find a time” or “Suggested times.”

Do you ever need to arrange a meeting with several people who have busy schedules? It can be really annoying to try to figure out when you’re all free. Thankfully, Google Calendar actually has two features that can do the heavy lifting for you: “Suggested times” or “Find a time.”

How to Use This Feature

To use either of these two options, first make sure you’ve added everyone to the event who needs to attend. Then, if you’d like Google to suggest a time for you to meet, simply select the “Suggested times” link below your guests’ names. A dropdown window will appear with a list of times when every meeting guest, including you, is available with no conflicts.