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As a working student, planning my daily tasks with a to-do list is vital. Without a clear plan, you’d catch me procrastinating for hours on end. For years, I’ve relied on Google Tasks to keep me organized.
Separate Lists for Different Aspects of My Life
Like most people, my life is divided into several parts, and I tend to take on more than I can handle. This can make it easy to forget simple tasks, like buying a new binder for my math course or getting an ingredient for a dish I want to make.
Currently, my life is split into three different parts: university, work, and my personal life. So, to ensure I have a handle on them andkeep my work separate from my professional life, I organize my tasks into three separate lists.
I have a “Work” list for all work-related deadlines and meetings, with a separate “Education” list for university-related tasks such as deadlines and exams. Personal activities—like dinner with friends or trying a new coffee recipe from TikTok—go into the “Personal Life” list.
Create Tasks Directly From Gmail
I use Notion to organize my entire lifebut, while I could use it to manage my daily tasks, there’s a reason I stick with Google Tasks to do so.
Google Tasks integrates seamlessly with other Google collaboration tools like Docs, Sheets, and, of course, Gmail. Ultimately, this means that unlike other task-management apps you’ll find, Google Tasks lets you create tasks directly from Gmail. While I could manually add reminders from emails, the option to add them with a single click simplifies the process and saves me time.
To add an email to your Google Tasks list:
A side panel with your current Google Tasks list will appear. You can use it to add more details to your task, set a deadline, move the task to one of your lists,break your tasks into subtasks, or move it to the top of your list.
Use Tasks With Google Calendar
Similar to how Google Tasks integrates with Gmail, every task I add to my to-do list is automatically added to my Google Calendar—another tool I can’t imagine surviving without.
To have tasks appear on Google Calendar, you need to set a deadline. For example, tasks like “get groceries,” which I don’t usually set deadlines for, won’t show up. However, time-sensitive tasks, such as assignment reminders or meetings, will appear on my calendar.
This helps me prioritize and ensures that I direct my energy towards the tasks that require it. Once I’ve completed the tasks visible on my Google Calendar, I check Google Tasks for anything that remains.
This also works the other way around—you may add a task to your to-do list directly from Google Calendar. When you’re adding a task, simply switch to theTaskstab, set a deadline, add a description if needed, and select which list you’d like to place it on.
Set Reminders and Recurring Tasks
Want to make sure you don’t forget to wish a friend a happy birthday or remember a monthly doctor visit? If you’re like me, keeping track of such tasks amid the daily chaos can be challenging. Fortunately, you can ask Google Assistant to set a reminder, and it’ll save it as a task in Google Tasks. Or you can manually add a task and set a date and time to receive a notification when it’s due.
Similarly, if there are tasks you need to complete on specific days of the week or even once a month, you’re able to create a recurring task instead of adding it to your to-do list every time. Simply create the task and hit theRepeaticon next to it. Select how often you want the task to repeat, set the start and end dates, and you’re all set.
While many task-management apps offer similar (or even more advanced) features, the simplicity of Google Tasks and its seamless integration with other Google services have kept me loyal to it for years.
