Google Duties is one of the best Gmail characteristic you overlook to make use of

It is arduous to maintain monitor of all of the nifty options unfold throughout Google’s many official apps. As a recovering Inbox fanatic, I usually overlook Gmail’s many buttons and options as a result of the interface is so convoluted and busy. However whereas planning for my upcoming Cellular World Congress 2024 journey, I discovered a button that may change my life going ahead: Google Duties.

In an effort to determine a solution to be higher organized this 12 months, I paused for a second to take a look at the Gmail interface and seen an “add to Duties” button I might by no means seen earlier than. How lengthy has this button been right here, and higher but, what does it do? Seems it is one of many finest to-do apps and, higher but, it’s very free.

As somebody who loves being organized — however usually fails spectacularly on the activity — a single button so as to add an e-mail to my activity listing is a godsend. Earlier than this, my to-do listing was usually scattered between a number of totally different apps or bodily notebooks, leaving me attempting to recollect the place to seek out my subsequent goal. It wasn’t very environment friendly, to say the least.

The Google Tasks button on the desktop Gmail UI — (Picture credit score: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

Whereas studying an e-mail, you solely need to click on this little “Add to duties” button on the motion bar inside Gmail on the desktop UI.

Observe: the cellular Gmail app hides it a bit, so you may need to click on the overflow menu on the highest proper — yeah, the very top-right overflow menu, not the identical-looking one on the e-mail itself — so as to add to duties. Did I point out Gmail’s UI is convoluted and complicated? Google, please convey again Inbox, thanks.

However I digress; again to the Duties at hand. Tapping the “Add to duties” button will open a sidebar exhibiting your new and current duties. Every activity on the listing has a fast button to examine it off and a direct hyperlink to the e-mail underneath the topic line.

The Google Tasks task list in Gmail's sidebar on the desktop UI

(Picture credit score: Android Central)

Clicking on the topic will open extra choices together with including your individual detailed notes, in addition to setting a date for the duty to be accomplished.

Having the ability to simply set reminders and activity completion instances for emails is especially useful for my job, as I usually obtain data forward of time that must be written up or reviewed at a very particular time sooner or later.

Past this, you may click on the overflow button subsequent to every topic to drag up extra choices, like transferring it to the highest, indenting it within the listing, including a subtask, and even including it to a separate activity listing.

The UI is much better on desktop than on cellular, as every thing will be simply accessed within the Gmail desktop UI. The cellular stream requires a separate Gmail and Google Duties app to get issues completed, which is rather less environment friendly.

Nonetheless, having a devoted Duties app could possibly be useful sufficient on cellular because it makes it easy to separate activity lists. Having totally different lists for e-mail to-dos and one thing else might actually be helpful.

The Google Tasks app running on a OnePlus 12

(Picture credit score: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

As I’ve began to grow to be extra depending on Google Duties in my every day life, I’ve realized simply what number of providers Google has begun to combine into Duties. Google Assistant duties migrated over to Google Duties final 12 months, and you may make duties straight from Google Calendar.

In truth, the desktop Duties UI is baked into the Google Calendar net app, exhibiting simply how deep the mixing with Calendar goes. We actually have a bunch of Google Duties ideas and tips that will help you combine it into your life extra, which have come in useful as I started this journey.

Briefly, Google Duties might be one of the best productiveness app I’ve ever used due to its simplicity and deep tie-ins to providers I already use daily. Hopefully, it’s going to be simply as useful to you, as properly!