3 Ways Google Calendar Will Help You Get Organized This Holiday

As more and more of our lives move into the digital realm, tools like Google Calendar help to replace the old paper calendars that used to hold all of our dates and schedules. While some people still love paper planners to make notes and keep their lives organized, for many families, there’s just too much going on to coordinate it all with pen and paper. With the ubiquity of smartphones, coordinating family events with an app like Google Calendar just makes sense.

If you’re already invested in the Google system of apps — Gmail, Google Plus, etc. — using Google Calendar can offer a variety of great features, especially if you have an Android phone.

Google Calendar is perfect! Plan Out Your Day Productively with the “Time Blocking” Method http://t.co/BOb21NXpG8

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Over the last few months, Google has rolled out updates for most of its apps using Material Design. Calendar was the last app to get an overhaul. While Calendar’s most noticeable feature may be its gorgeous scrolling design, it also received a variety of updates under the hood.

Purchase plane tickets using your Gmail account? Calendar can add the dates of your vacation for you. Schedule breakfast with a friend? Same thing. You can even use Assist to make your event planning easier. Greenbot offers a quick tutorial on how Calendar can, for example, add the name of the friend with whom you’re having a meal, ask what restaurant you’re going to, and add that to the entry as well. If halfway there you realize you need directions, it’s one tap on your phone to open up maps from your location to the restaurant in question.

You can also use colors to separate your schedules. Many calendars offer some version of this feature, but Google seems to do it more seamlessly than other programs. Create as many calendars as you need. One for work, one for play, one for events with the family, and one for personal appointments. Toggle them on and off based on what’s most important for you to see today. Share just one calendar, or all of them, with friends who also use Google Calendar and need to know what you’re up to.

Anyone who’s spent half a fortune on a paper planner just to leave it at home knows that the most important feature of organizational tools is ease of use. The biggest reason that many people are switching to digital planners is that, quite simply, our smart phones are always with us. It’s simple to tap and add an event to a calendar that’s in our pockets. While paper planners are pretty, they’re not always convenient, and if they’re not convenient, they won’t get used.

What tips have helped you get and stay organized? Do you used Google Calendar, or a different system?

Image from Phandroid