Google Calendar tasks and events: Which should you use?

2 years ago 377

What is the quality betwixt a Google Calendar task and event? Jack Wallen answers this puzzling question and helps you decide.

Do you usage Google Calendar? I do. In fact, I trust connected it each time to support maine organized and moving forward. Almost everything I adhd to my assorted Google Calendars is successful the signifier of Events. But each truthful often, a task is amended susceptible of gathering my needs.

If you've ever considered events and tasks, you've astir apt wondered, "What's the difference?" Let maine spot if I tin marque this casual for you to understand.

SEE: Hiring Kit: Cloud Engineer (TechRepublic Premium)

Although some events and tasks amusement up connected your calendar (and could some relation to service your needs), they are really rather antithetic features. The quality betwixt these 2 is precise wide … if you usage Google Calendar successful the mode it was intended. In different words, if your Calendar is utilized to docket meetings, past events are meetings and tasks are things you person to get done.

But, if you're similar maine and you usage Google Calendar arsenic a means to signifier the tasks you request to get done, the quality gets a spot muddy. That, of course, depends connected the item you request to support for a task. For instance, I usage Google Calendar to representation retired each nonfiction I person to constitute for each of my clients. For those entries, I person to usage Events. Why? Because galore times I'll adhd notes to the task, truthful I cognize precisely what I'm doing. I'll see probe information, contacts, assorted links, downloads and more. I tin bash that with events.

With tasks, however, you're precise constricted to what you tin add. In fact, a task tin lone see a title, a date/time, a statement and a category. Now, with galore of the things I adhd to Google Calendar a task is perfectly suitable. However, I thin to default to events, simply due to the fact that I find them much flexible.

SEE: iCloud vs. OneDrive: Which is champion for Mac, iPad and iPhone users? (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

However, 1 of the bully things astir tasks is they stay connected your calendar, ne'er dimming (even if the acceptable clip has passed) until you people them arsenic done. Once you've marked a task complete, it'll stay connected your calendar, dimmed similar past events. You tin besides people a task arsenic incomplete to bring it backmost to the fore.

So, see events arsenic your Google Calendar breadstuff and food and tasks arsenic those small reminders of things you request to bash passim the day. Once you get some events and tasks into your workflow, you'll admit having some on for the ride.

Subscribe to TechRepublic's How To Make Tech Work connected YouTube for each the latest tech proposal for concern pros from Jack Wallen.

Cloud and Everything arsenic a Service Newsletter

This is your go-to assets for XaaS, AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, unreality engineering jobs, and unreality information quality and tips. Delivered Mondays