Google Calendar is an amazing tool for keeping you organized and on time. I’ve relied on it for years and it has yet to let me down. Now, I use Google Calendar to keep control over another aspect of my life…goals.
Exercise, skills, family & friends, personal time, life organization.
Goals are those things we always want to stick in our calendars, but never seem to know exactly how or where. Google has managed to pull that off and it works really well. How does it work? You create a goal and Google will find room in your calendar for you to work on that goal. It’s a masterful feature that you should be taking advantage of right away.
Let me walk you through the process of setting up goals in your Google Calendar
Creating a goal
First, you must know, Goals can only be managed on the mobile version of Google Calendar…so this applies only to Android and iOS.
Here are the steps for creating a goal.
- Open Google Calendar
- Tap the + button in the bottom-right corner
- Tap Goal
- From the list (Figure A), tap one of the options that best fits your goal
- Select from the list of activities (or tap Custom to create your own)
- Tap how often you want to work toward this goal
- Tap how long each “goal session” should last
- Tap to select which time, during the day (Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Custom), is best suited for the goal
- Check the options you’ve selected and, if they look good, tap the check button
Figure A
Creating a goal on the Nextbit Robin.
At this point, Google Calendar will work through populating your calendar with your goal.
You may have noticed no end date for goals. That’s because there isn’t one. Once Google Calendar is populated with goals, the goals will fill in for one month. You should also notice that Google Calendar does a great job of peppering goals within your already busy schedule. And, it also will move goals around, based on how you juggle your schedule. If you have to move a goal, tap it (in the mobile version of Calendar) and tap the Defer button (Figure B).
Figure B
Deferring a goal to another time.
When you defer a goal, Google Calendar will find another time for it and reposition it on your calendar. Also, Google Calendar will automatically schedule new sessions for your goal, unless you delete the goal.
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Deleting a goal
Say, for whatever reason, you’ve either achieved the goal or you want it removed from your calendar. You can delete individual goal entries from the desktop version of Google Calendar, but to delete the goal completely, you have to turn back to the mobile version of the app. Here’s how:
- Open Google Calendar
- Tap on a goal entry
- Tap the menu button (three vertical dots in the upper-right corner)
- Tap Delete
- Tap All following sessions (Figure C)
- Tap OK
Figure C
Deleting an entire goal (and it’s sessions) from your calendar.
Handier than you might think
Goals are a great way to help you achieve those bits of your day that don’t always seem to fit on your busy calendar. They will aid you in learning something new and helping to make your day more efficient and productive.
Give Goals a try and see if this new Google Calendar feature doesn’t become your go-to for scheduling those things that don’t always have a logical place on your calendar.
