Is Your Calendar the Best To-Do List? (How to Add Tasks)

Is your calendar the best tool for managing your to-do list? There is certainly no shortage of task manager apps on the market (Wunderlist, Any.Do, Todoist, etc.). But you may already be using the best application for managing the things you need to get done.
Most people don’t realize that their calendar can be a very effective way to manage their tasks. It doesn’t matter if you use Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, or Apple’s iCloud Calendar. Every calendar application has the ability to be a to-do list if you apply these simple techniques.
In this video, Scott Friesen shows you how to create and manage tasks within a calendar so you can perform at your productive best.
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[@Simpletivity]

What do you think? How do you manage tasks on your calendar?

[@harisatta7137]

Simpshare.wshareit.com/share/video?id=vCGc8&uid=UKEFs&ty=sv&ref=linkletivity

[@genesis2303]

It has one crucial disadvantage for me - I can't cross out it, or tick it, meaning can't separate done tasks, and to do tasks if only there was app allowing ticking events from g calendar. I need this additional signal to brain confirming that task is done, and that task list is getting smaller in day time.

[@NenadMaljkovic]

I'm using calendar events for to-dos for quite a while and I find your approach and this particular tip very useful. So simple and now obvious - but it never occured to me before to use calendar events in this particular way! Thank you! :)

[@Simpletivity]

You're very welcome, Nenad. Thanks for watching!

[@rednafi]

waow.....your videos are so underrated...this is good

[@Simpletivity]

Thanks for tuning in, Redowan.

[@punnaroothsrimongkolsilp6279]

Thank you so much ขอบพระคุณมากครับ

[@gercris70]

Thanks,these are great tip that will start implementing once I get back to work on Tuesday.

[@Simpletivity]

All the best as you implement these tips, German. Thanks for watching!

[@sonampandey393]

really nice video. can manage our work really nicely through this.

[@Simpletivity]

Thanks for watching!

[@before3340]

Good stuff ,Brother! Very helpful. Thanks!

[@mm1razzi]

At 4:36 my life was changed. Thanks.

[@Simpletivity]

You're very welcome! Thanks for watching.

[@jaglinuxmint]

Awesome.... Liked, subscribed... on the way to watch more of your videos.

[@Simpletivity]

So glad to hear it! Thanks for watching and subscribing.

[@danutto]

I use google keep and it is very easy and effective.

[@Simpletivity]

Thanks for watching and sharing your comments, Daniel.

[@donbush6702]

I enjoyed your video on the new google calendar, but I was wondering is there anyway to format the design, on the original calender you could use a bespoke background and I can't see anyway to accomplish this on the new Calander, apart from this I think that the new format is a lot improved.

[@Simpletivity]

Hi Don. Unfortunately, the ability to customize your background is no longer available. But perhaps this feature will be re-introduced once the new UI has been live for some time. Thanks for watching!

[@pauldavison7858]

Great piece, thanks a lot!

[@elfoxy1997]

Good video, I've been trying out wunderlist and find that it has a ton of features BUT... it's overly complicated, and I can't set tasks to repeat on specific days of the week! It's unusable for me because of that, I'm probably going to go back to google keep tick lists (I have a day, week, month folder) with a list for each new day, week, month: it's served me well for ages but I'll give using the calendar a try.

[@Simpletivity]

Thanks for sharing your experience. And all the best as you find a method that works for you!

[@elfoxy1997]

Been using calendar for a bit and it's so much more convenient.

[@EduardoMouraMusic]

Great video! Thanks!

[@Simpletivity]

Thanks for watching, Eduardo.

[@JasonFerguson1283]

Excellent tip! Thank you!

[@Simpletivity]

You are very welcome, Jason. Thanks for watching!

[@08Pixel]

Already do this. Biggest issue is to have a backlog of items. There's no place for that at the moment. And there's no way of grouping subtask with certain 'goals' for instance - to consider progress.

[@Simpletivity]

Thanks for your feedback.

[@christietudor9640]

Is it poss"tag / label" calendar & task items? Also, what are the various colors for when creating a calendar item? I have not been able to find a way to sort by color. So, I don't understand the purpose.

[@Simpletivity]

You cannot filter by color alone. But you could create multiple calendars for the different projects or types of tasks that you'd like to filter (show/hide).

[@AlexEttelis]

Interesting idea. How wll this work on the mobile app?

[@Simpletivity]

Very well. The tasks continue to appear at the top of each day which keeps them top of mind.

[@travelagentmichelle]

Great Video, Thanks! Q: How do I get my All Day tasks to view individually? My calendar defaults to one reminder bar that reads: "3 Reminders". Please help.

[@Simpletivity]

Hi Michelle. Can you tell me what calendar application you are using? You may have an option in your calendar settings to change how many all day events show by default. This behavior also sometimes changes depending on what view you are using: day, weekly, monthly, etc.

[@bilalqureshi3075]

once you click on a to do or task...and you have added a note for example...do any of the other apps - potentially in google ecosystem if say using the goog calendar - allow for access - for example - google keep ? if for example want to link notes on a topic or line item on your calendar...say you have a call for 'work' and want to access those notes that have been kept on goog keep?

[@Simpletivity]

Great question, Bilal. Here is a video that may answer your question. In it, I take a look at how linking notes work within Keep. kzbin.info/www/bejne/enO2pKJmm9R-bZo

[@OfficialPaulStillo]

I don't get it.. you can just as easily use Google Tasks if you want to see your tasks in the calendar view like that. Why do you prefer the all day event? At least with Tasks you can check them off when you complete them. How do you reflect that with an all day event?

[@HADEFINITION]

icalender + iwatch ? might try it

[@Simpletivity]

All the best with your setup!

[@josel110687]

hey man great video , but do you know if I can do that but on my galaxy s7 . had the note 3 and that calendar would let me add task or to do list .having a hard time . thanks

[@josel110687]

nvm man got it , thanks man ;)

[@Simpletivity]

josel110687 Glad to hear you figured it out. Thanks for watching.

[@ivorysteele]

just use reminder

[@Simpletivity]

Reminders can be used for this as well. However, because multiple all-day reminders collapse into a single item, your tasks essential become hidden until you expand the reminder.

[@terrykosowick594]

Interesting. I’ll try it.

[@Simpletivity]

All the best as you set up your system!

[@InspirationsMarketing]

Thanks so much! This was a great help - I was looking for a simple way to schedule my tasks for the day. I would recommend you all read The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes on Amazon really great time management gold in that book

[@Simpletivity]

Thanks for watching and sharing the book recommendation.

[@willieakers6836]

Simpletivity m

[@Panglos]

I'd love to use Google products more, but they didn't work out well in my Apple ecosystem when I put them head-to-head with Apple's native products. That's not an indictment or even a knock; they just didn't work out well for me. For whatever reason, they weren't reliable. I also find Apple's iCloud Calendar faster than a web-based product. iCloud also introduces fewer privacy concerns than Google products do. (I use mail apps instead of web mail for similar reasons.) An advantage of web-based products is that they update all devices in the ecosystem faster than iCloud-based products do. However, the ability to immediately see an update on a different tool than the one I made it on is essentially meaningless. I have never needed to see a Calandar or Contacts item on my phone or iPad immediately after entering it on my Mac, and vice-versa. I can wait the half-minute it might take for the update to be pushed through. If I needed the information to appear on the other device immediately, I would simply enter it on that device to begin with. Another thing that merits discussion is alarms, which Google calls "notifications." (With Apple, notifications can pertain to any app, whereas alarms are specific to Calendar.) The ability to set an all-day to-do item and set an alarm for a particular time on that day-or even another day-is invaluable. If I need to shop for an item and the store closes early, I can set an alarm for a time before the store closes. I might also need to note a party's departure or arrival, and want an alarm a day in advance to remind me to check the other party's status. Or I can set alarms for succeeding days to make sure an item gets done. And so on. I especially appreciate the ability to set email alarms. I get so many notifications that I miss a lot of them. Thanks to practicing zero inbox, emails don't get past me nearly as easily. Thanks for a great video!

[@Simpletivity]

Thanks for watching and sharing some excellent points. It's true that setting your calendar notifications and alarms are so important to effectively manage your tasks and events. In fact, tomorrow's video is all about this in Google Calendar.

[@ivorysteele]

great video

[@Simpletivity]

Thanks for watching!

[@wadebarrett8734]

I agree

[@Simpletivity]

Thanks for watching, Wade.

[@ivorysteele]

you can actually use a specific color for those task

[@drewlenox9478]

This is the method that I use with Apple Calendar. The disadvantage I found is: I like to keep separate calendars for TASKS and Tasks Completed. This does not work, however, when you have repeating tasks, as they would all move to the assigned calendar in bulk. Do you have any recs on marking the items as completed so as to search and filter them easily? or do you just simply delete them?

[@Simpletivity]

That's a great observation, Drew. Recurring tasks would certainly provide a bit of a hiccup in this situation. Personally, I just delete the task once it's completed since I never find myself needing to go back and review a finished task. But perhaps someone else here in the Simpletivity community might have an alternative suggestion. Thanks for watching!

[@drewlenox9478]

Simpletivity thanks for the reply! I think deleting will work just fine. I don't think I've ever needed a record of completed tasks before, as you said.

[@Simpletivity]

Thanks for testing out the reminders setting and sharing your results. It may still be useful for some depending on their own productivity work-flow.

[@shannondelaine7482]

I have a calander named DONE. It's never highlighted or shown on anything I use. When a task is completed I change the calendar to done. Creating a record but it disappears. Unless I check that Cal to reappear for any reason.

[@ksriprathapanksriprathapan9651]

REnew Lenox

[@odochukwudi6790]

pleas can I used todoist to drive traffic

[@sumeetganguly]

the only problem with your method is, if you didn't complete the task, then that particular all the event (task) will be left Behind somewhere on the calendar. Using the reminders even if you don't finish, it it will make sure that the task sticks the Latest day automatically.. that way you don't have to keep on going to and fro to keep up to date with your calendar thank you

[@Simpletivity]

Thanks for your comments, Sumeet. It's true that if you don't engage with your calendar regularly, this method may not be the best fit. However, that can actually be an advantage in some ways. Making sure to review your calendar so you can stay on top of your tasks and commitments. Such a method encourages you to review your tasks (including remaining ones) before the next day.

[@sumeetganguly]

Agreed

[@InnerProp]

Pardon my jumping in here. I can also see Sumeet's point when you have to migrate a lot of tasks. It can build up. One thing I'm trying to avoid is spending too much time just in the upkeep of my task list.

[@marcel_sala]

How would this work on a smartphone?

[@Simpletivity]

The nice thing is that your smartphone calendar will still show your tasks (all-day events) at the very top of the day. So they don't get lost with everything else.

[@hgbarros]

@@Simpletivity Yes... but unfortanetly you cant drag and move all day events in Android Phone APP...

[@InnerProp]

What are the disadvantages you see in using your calendar for tasks? You recommend Trello, but how do they contrast? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

[@Simpletivity]

Great question. I think the key advantage of using your calendar is being able to see all of your other commitments at the same time. The disadvantage is that it requires you to attach a task to a specific date (which is not always desired). The key advantage of using Trello is being able to see all of your projects in addition to your tasks at the same time. The disadvantage can be not reviewing it as frequently (in comparison to your calendar).

[@InnerProp]

Thanks. That was a very helpful answer.

[@Simpletivity]

You are very welcome. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@InnerProp]

How do you mark things as done when they are events? Events advantages over Tasks: repeating, notifications, sharing Tasks advantages over Events: no-date tasks, list visible in gmail, check off Both can have dates, change the color, visible in the calendar (the tasks can be doubly visible in a task list as well as in the all-day event area) I'm also trying to use the different lists in the tasks as context (per GTD) so I only see what I need to do given the specific situation I'm in at the moment. So I have @Home and @Work lists in Tasks.

[@Simpletivity]

Great question. The short answer is that I delete them once they're completed. I've never had the need to go back and see what I've completed in the past. Of course, this is a personal preference. But for me, once it's done, it's gone and I'm moving on to the next thing.

[@pawandarji1948]

Best aap

[@Simpletivity]

Thanks for watching, Pawan.

[@serhiibaranski8768]

Try the iSmart.Life app They have a demo and you can understand whether it suits you or not. I use this app to planing my tasks and projects. This is a free and very convenient app. Has a service for budget planning. Works with phone.

[@CrystalChristianStore]

I preferred physical calendar our society its walk like a zombies with too much technology. Other than that good video😀🤗