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Stop. Are you wanting to create a fillable form like the one you see here, where people get to enter in information and then have to save it and then upload it and then send it back to you? Well then this video isn't for you because in this video I'm going to show you how to turn any document or PDF into an actual online form in just minutes so you don't have to waste your time collecting and reviewing each PD F1 by one.

Instead, you can collect information in real time in a table like this. And best of all, you can do all of this absolutely for free. So let me show you how to get started. We're going to go over to jot form.com and make use of their smart PDF forms.

Now, the best thing about this is that you can turn any PDF or document into a fillable form. It will convert it in just a matter of seconds. And not only can people access it on any device, have you tried filling out A PDF on your mobile phone, but you can collect that information in an easy to use table, but keep your PDF format.

So let's go up here and we're going to say try now and we're going to create our first form together. Now, you don't have to start with A PDF, you can simply start with a doc or a Doc X, and you don't have to put in anything complicated either. Let me show you what I mean. In my example, I'm going to be using this PDF, which I simply created in Google Docs, and you'll notice that nothing is fillable here. 

In fact, these are just underscores on my keyboard. I've simply included the different headers and the different areas that I want to be filled in. And then I just used underscore to create a line within this document. Anyone can do this in Google Docs or Microsoft Word, or if you want, you can take an existing PDF and do this as well.

So going back to my JotForm account, I'm simply going to select upload document, and I'm going to go find that exact PDF that I just showed you a moment ago. And not only is it uploading it to my account, but it's actually going to convert it as well. Yes, you can see here on the right hand side, it's already created a fillable form here. This is my original PDF, but on the left hand side, it has already gone ahead and created a true online form for me to start using.

Now it may not be absolutely perfect, but all we need to do is make a few tweaks and then we can send people this actual form, which is linked to my PDF and make it that much easier for both them and also myself. So here, starting on the right hand side, we have our original PDF, and you can see that it's already identified the different areas that we need to fill in. And in fact, if I click on any of these, it will help me in showing which thing it has linked to over here on my online form.

So if I click on, for example, this date area here, it's going to draw a simple little line and sort of highlight - These two things together. And yes, it's even correctly identified things that need a date field, the start date, the end date, and then down below here under the signature, this date area as well.

Now of course it may not be absolutely perfect, but Jot form makes it very easy for us to edit this. For example, there's two things that I'm going to want to adjust. Number one, it didn't seem to pick up on this fixed price amount. And number two here, you can see that it has identified this signature area, but it's not a signature box. We're going to change that here as well.

Let's start with this fixed price amount. So under my deliverables here, I want to add a new element. So up in the top left hand corner, I'm going to select add form elements, and here's the variety of different elements in which I can add to my form.

Now you may think that I want to add a short text field. It's not a bad idea, but we're talking about numbers, we're talking about pricing. I don't want to allow people to add in text or to write in a name. I only want to allow them to add in numbers. So I'm going to choose this number element here and simply drag it onto my form. 

And then here at the top you can see I can match it with what is the area going to be on my original PDF. And yes, of course it's going to be my fixed price amount. So over here under number, I can say this is my fixed price amount. So it matches with what's on my PDF over here. And now within this field, they can only enter in a number when they enter in their pricing amount.

Now below you'll see that we have this freelancer area here, but I really want to collect a signature instead. So what I'm going to do in this case is I'm actually going to remove it. I'm going to come back to my add form element and you will notice that yes, we have the ability to add a signature so I can place it in here. And yes, we can drag and drop these elements up and down to wherever we need to.

Once again, on the right hand side, I'm just going to drag it over here to my signature box. I can change the length or the size of it if I need to, and perfect. I actually don't need to do anything else. It already has the signature title here so they know what to do. And now people can go ahead and sign this form.

Now in my example here, I'm happy with a fairly basic form, but don't forget, you can add your own logos if you like. We can come over here to the form designer panel and change our entire theme if we want to add colors and change our fonts and everything else. But for this example, I'm going to keep things relatively basic. The next thing that we can do is come over here to our settings and if we want to give the name a particular title and look at some of the other integrations or maybe some of the other options that we have available to us, one of them could be the thank you page. For example, if you want to give a customized thank you or perhaps redirect - Them to somewhere else on your website.

But let's get to that published phase 'cause I want to show you what this is going to look and feel like for the people that you send this to. Here we have our custom link, which I'm simply going to copy and let's paste it into our browser. And this is exactly what they will see. So again, you can choose whatever title you want here. It's actually going to show the original PDF, so they know that they're getting an official document or perhaps they've used this document or seen this document before in the past. I'm going to select start filing. And now we have this fillable, actual fillable online form which they can access on any device. And best of all, they don't have to remember this complicated date format. We've actually given them something a lot more convenient, like a calendar date picker here. 

Here they can enter in their name and other deliverables that need to be provided. Remember our fixed price amount column here I am attempting to type in letters here. It won't allow me to because I want them to only add in pricing information.

And then yes, we have that signature field, which is super easy for them to fill out as well. Now down below, they can submit it right away, but they can also preview the PDF as well. And this is the additional bonus because it's giving you and your clients the best of both worlds.

Not only can they easily fill out this PDF, but here you can see they can have a saved copy for themselves. Here are the dates in which they filled in. Here's that fixed price amount, and it even has their signature, which is date stamped at the time in which they signed that document. They can go ahead and download and save this document if they want, or they can go back to the form and then hit submit at this case.

Now jumping back to my Jot form account, I'm going to select the form that we just created and I'm going to select submissions. And here I have all of that information available to me, including their signature, including everything that they included. Now as those forms are filled out, I get to view and collect and analyze all that information in a helpful table.

No more do I have to open up the documents which they've emailed or uploaded to me and look at each and every individual field. Trust me, the days of fillable traditional PDF forms are over.

Now to get started creating and converting your own PDFs to online forms, just go to jot form.com or click the link in the description down below. And if you have any other questions on how you can simplify your software and make things easier for you and the people you serve, be sure to let me know in the comments down below. Thank you so much for watching, and remember, being productive does not need to be difficult. In fact, it's very simple. - Stop.

Are you wanting to create a fillable form like the one you see here, where people get to enter in information and then have to save it and then upload it and then send it back to you?

Well then this video isn't for you because in this video I'm going to show you how to turn any document or PDF into an actual online form in just minutes so you don't have to waste your time collecting and reviewing each PD F1 by one.

Instead, you can collect information in real time in a table like this. And best of all, you can do all of this absolutely for free.

So let me show you how to get started. We're going to go over to jot form.com and make use of their smart PDF forms. Now, the best thing about this is that you can turn any PDF or document into a fillable form. It will convert it in just a matter of seconds. 

And not only can people access it on any device, have you tried filling out A PDF on your mobile phone, but you can collect that information in an easy to use table, but keep your PDF format.

So let's go up here and we're going to say try now and we're going to create our first form together. Now, you don't have to start with A PDF, you can simply start with a doc or a Doc X, and you don't have to put in anything complicated either.

Let me show you what I mean. In my example, I'm going to be using this PDF, which I simply created in Google Docs, and you'll notice that nothing is fillable here. In fact, these are just underscores on my keyboard. I've simply included the different headers and the different areas that I want to be filled in. And then I just used underscore to create a line within this document. Anyone can do this in Google Docs or Microsoft Word, or if you want, you can take an existing PDF and do this as well.

So going back to my JotForm account, I'm simply going to select upload document, and I'm going to go find that exact PDF that I just showed you a moment ago. And not only is it uploading it to my account, but it's actually going to convert it as well.

Yes, you can see here on the right hand side, it's already created a fillable form here. This is my original PDF, but on the left hand side, it has already gone ahead and created a true online form for me to start using. Now it may not be absolutely perfect, but all we need to do is make a few tweaks and then we can send people this actual form, which is linked to my PDF and make it that much easier for both them and also myself.

So here, starting on the right hand side, we have our original PDF, and you can see that it's already identified the different areas that we need to fill in. And in fact, if I click on any of these, it will help me in showing which thing it has linked to over here on my online form. So if I click on, for example, this date area here, it's going to draw a simple little line and sort of highlight - These two things together.

And yes, it's even correctly identified things that need a date field, the start date, the end date, and then down below here under the signature, this date area as well. Now of course it may not be absolutely perfect, but Jot form makes it very easy for us to edit this. For example, there's two things that I'm going to want to adjust. Number one, it didn't seem to pick up on this fixed price amount. And number two here, you can see that it has identified this signature area, but it's not a signature box.

We're going to change that here as well. Let's start with this fixed price amount. So under my deliverables here, I want to add a new element. So up in the top left hand corner, I'm going to select add form elements, and here's the variety of different elements in which I can add to my form.

Now you may think that I want to add a short text field. It's not a bad idea, but we're talking about numbers, we're talking about pricing. I don't want to allow people to add in text or to write in a name. I only want to allow them to add in numbers.

So I'm going to choose this number element here and simply drag it onto my form. And then here at the top you can see I can match it with what is the area going to be on my original PDF. And yes, of course it's going to be my fixed price amount. So over here under number, I can say this is my fixed price amount. So it matches with what's on my PDF over here. And now within this field, they can only enter in a number when they enter in their pricing amount.

Now below you'll see that we have this freelancer area here, but I really want to collect a signature instead. So what I'm going to do in this case is I'm actually going to remove it. I'm going to come back to my add form element and you will notice that yes, we have the ability to add a signature so I can place it in here. And yes, we can drag and drop these elements up and down to wherever we need to.

Once again, on the right hand side, I'm just going to drag it over here to my signature box. I can change the length or the size of it if I need to, and perfect. I actually don't need to do anything else. It already has the signature title here so they know what to do. And now people can go ahead and sign this form.

Now in my example here, I'm happy with a fairly basic form, but don't forget, you can add your own logos if you like. We can come over here to the form designer panel and change our entire theme if we want to add colors and change our fonts and everything else. But for this example, I'm going to keep things relatively basic.

The next thing that we can do is come over here to our settings and if we want to give the name a particular title and look at some of the other integrations or maybe some of the other options that we have available to us, one of them could be the thank you page. For example, if you want to give a customized thank you or perhaps redirect - Them to somewhere else on your website.

But let's get to that published phase 'cause I want to show you what this is going to look and feel like for the people that you send this to. Here we have our custom link, which I'm simply going to copy and let's paste it into our browser. And this is exactly what they will see. 

So again, you can choose whatever title you want here. It's actually going to show the original PDF, so they know that they're getting an official document or perhaps they've used this document or seen this document before in the past. I'm going to select start filing.

And now we have this fillable, actual fillable online form which they can access on any device. And best of all, they don't have to remember this complicated date format. We've actually given them something a lot more convenient, like a calendar date picker here. Here they can enter in their name and other deliverables that need to be provided.

Remember our fixed price amount column here I am attempting to type in letters here. It won't allow me to because I want them to only add in pricing information. And then yes, we have that signature field, which is super easy for them to fill out as well.

Now down below, they can submit it right away, but they can also preview the PDF as well. And this is the additional bonus because it's giving you and your clients the best of both worlds. Not only can they easily fill out this PDF, but here you can see they can have a saved copy for themselves. Here are the dates in which they filled in. Here's that fixed price amount, and it even has their signature, which is date stamped at the time in which they signed that document. They can go ahead and download and save this document if they want, or they can go back to the form and then hit submit at this case.

Now jumping back to my Jot form account, I'm going to select the form that we just created and I'm going to select submissions. And here I have all of that information available to me, including their signature, including everything that they included.

Now as those forms are filled out, I get to view and collect and analyze all that information in a helpful table. No more do I have to open up the documents which they've emailed or uploaded to me and look at each and every individual field. Trust me, the days of fillable traditional PDF forms are over.

Now to get started creating and converting your own PDFs to online forms, just go to jot form.com or click the link in the description down below. And if you have any other questions on how you can simplify your software and make things easier for you and the people you serve, be sure to let me know in the comments down below.

Thank you so much for watching, and remember, being productive does not need to be difficult. In fact, it's very simple.

This video is brought to you by Pipedrive, AI more about them later in the video. How can you use AI to create better spreadsheets and in a fraction of the time? In this video, I'm going to show you how to use Gemini AI with Google Sheets.

Now, first things first. In order to use this functionality with your Google Drive account, you must subscribe to either Gemini Advanced or Gemini business, both which are paid services. But the good news is, is that currently you can use Gemini Advanced completely free for two months at no charge. To learn more, go to gemini.google.com.

So here I am within a brand new spreadsheet and I want to create something, but I know it's going to take an awful lot of time to get all of my columns in the right order and even to start entering in some of that data. 

But here with Gemini AI enabled, you can see that we have a little icon here called Help Me Organize. It's directly to the right of the Search Menus option. By selecting this, we are going to get a new side dialogue here called You Guessed It Help me Organize.

Now, the first thing to note with this new AI feature is that it says Create a custom template, and you're going to see why this is important in just a moment. So in this example, I'm going to give it a fairly simple prompt.

Create a project plan for a customer, summer event, four 50 people. I'm then going to select Create, and you'll notice that it has this interesting looking graphic, which telling me that it is processing and it's thinking about what it's going to do before it creates my spreadsheet.

Now here you can see it's generated a number of tasks. I've got my columns here at the top complete with filters, and it's even included some dropdown menus, which I can start to use right away. 

It's put in some placeholder dates and some notes as well. But remember, this is meant to get me going, to get me started. Obviously, Jane Doe and Mary Jones and John Smith are not real people. They're not a part of my team, but I can easily replace them with other members that I'm working with.

Now, if I go ahead and start to click on any of these cells, I will receive this prompt insert or discard preview. What I like to insert this preview as a table in my sheet or discard it so you can see if I click X here down at the bottom, I've got these same options here as well.

It's telling me that it's in preview mode that I'm just seeing it at this point in time. If I want to insert it and start editing it, I can or I can close it all together. In this case, I'm going to say close this preview, and let's try a more sophisticated prompt here.

I've asked it to create a marketing plan for a new app that will be promoted on social media. I've also said to include a budget of $5,000. Let's see what it comes up with. With this set of instructions. Again, I'm going to select Create. And in my experience, the results have appeared in as little as three to five seconds. 

And here you can see it's giving me really exactly what I'm looking for. I've got a platform column here to start off. So I've got the major social media platforms, the type of content, and again, if I do choose to insert it, you'll see the other options it's given me as well. And then it's displayed a lot of other helpful information including strategy, target, audience, target metrics and tactics.

And yes, it's even included a budget, and it's actually pretty close. I said a maximum of $5,000. And if we total this up, you can see it's actually a total of $5,500. It's gone $500 over, but it's certainly kept it within that range.

And it's included a timeline. This time I'm going to select insert, and now you can see it is actually a part of my spreadsheet. And that side window that helped me organize window has now disappeared.

Now you can see if I click on this images dropdown for an example, you can see that I have the other dropdown menu options available to me. Here you can see I can change from all of my social media platforms. And remember, we can easily select this edit button and not only edit the existing ones that it's given me, but I can add other options here as well.

So this is going to get me so much further, so much closer to where I want to be, and at the very least, give me a lot of great ideas. 

Now let's look at one more way in which we can harness the power of AI with even more detail and bringing in more information from around the web. Here I've given it a travel prompt. I've said, create a four day travel plan for London, England for a family of three.

I've even given it the details of what that family consists of and keep the total cost below $7,000. I'm going to go ahead and select Create, and let's see how much detail we can not only get out of this, but see if we can start to use it immediately without having to plug in additional information.

And here in just a few moments, you can see that it has given me an awful lot of detail, including some pricing information here as well. Now, what I love about this particular example is not only has it given me a true itinerary broken down by days of the week and even the time of the day, but it's even given me some recommendations and some costs for a local hotel. It's given me the actual address of the different restaurants and the different places that we are going to visit and the average price per person.

And on the right hand side, it's even given me some helpful notes in terms of how 

To get to certain places and if we need to book our tickets in advance. Now, if you're wanting to take advantage of AI with your business, I recommend checking out Pipedrive ai. Pipedrive AI gives your CRM almost magical abilities, including the option to analyze your entire sales pipeline and identify what is most valuable and what you should be working on next.

It also includes great AI features such as writing your own emails and replying to customers and summarizing their information so you can determine who should you be reaching out to next, to get started with Pipedrive AI for free, and to receive a special bonus just for SimpliVity users, click the link in the description down below.

Mastering Google Calendar Notifications: Stay Organized and On Time

Managing your schedule efficiently is essential in today’s fast-paced world. Whether it’s an important meeting or picking up your kids from soccer practice, staying on top of your events requires reliable notifications. Google Calendar offers powerful notification and alert features that can help you stay on track. This guide will explore everything you need to know about customizing and optimizing notifications on both desktop and mobile devices.

What You’ll Learn in This Guide

• Understanding notification types and their differences.
• Setting up default notification preferences.
• Customizing notifications for individual and all-day events.
• Managing email notifications for events and changes.
• Optimizing notification settings on mobile devices.

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Getting Started: Event-Specific Notifications

When creating or editing events in Google Calendar, you can add or adjust notifications directly under the location field. For instance, you can:

• Change Existing Notifications: Modify the notification timing.
• Add Notifications: Set multiple notifications at different intervals.
• Email Alerts: Choose to receive notifications via email for critical events.

While these event-specific settings are useful, managing your default notification settings ensures consistency and saves time.

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Customizing Default Notifications on Desktop

To adjust default notifications, click the gear icon at the top-right corner of your Google Calendar and select Settings. There are two key sections to focus on: General Settings and Individual Calendar Settings.

General Notification Settings

1. Notification Types:
   • Turn Off Notifications: Disables all alerts for events.
   • Desktop Notifications: These pop up regardless of the application you’re using.
   • Alerts: Notifications only appear if Google Calendar is open in your browser.
2. Each option has unique features:
3. • Desktop Notifications: Can include sound alerts and customizable snooze intervals.
   • Alerts: Offer browser-based reminders without snooze functionality.
4. Conditional Notifications:Enable notifications only for events you’ve RSVP’d “Yes” or “Maybe” to. This applies to events created by others.

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Adjusting Individual Calendar Settings

Google Calendar allows you to tailor notifications for each calendar. Access these by selecting a calendar in the left-hand sidebar under Settings for my calendars.

Event Notifications

Set default notifications for newly created or existing events:

• Timing: Choose how far in advance you want to be notified—minutes, hours, days, or even weeks.
• Multiple Notifications: Layer notifications for flexibility, such as a pop-up 10 minutes before and an email 30 minutes in advance.
• Default Email Notifications: Receive email alerts instead of pop-ups for specific scenarios.

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All-Day Event Notifications

All-day events, such as birthdays or business trips, require different notification timings. Customize these notifications to suit your preferences:

• Set notifications to appear the evening before or earlier in the day.
• Add multiple reminders if necessary, using either pop-ups or emails.

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Other Notifications

Manage email notifications for specific updates:

• New Events: Alerts when someone adds an event to your calendar.
• Event Changes or Cancellations: Notifications for updates to events you didn’t organize.
• Event Responses: Receive responses for events you created.
• Daily Agenda: Get a 5:00 AM email summarizing your day’s schedule. This feature is customizable per calendar.

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How to Customize Notifications on Mobile

For on-the-go productivity, Google Calendar’s mobile app allows granular notification settings. Here’s how to get started:

1. Access Settings:
   • Open the app and tap the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines).
   • Scroll to the bottom and select Settings.
2. General Notification Settings:
   • Enable Notifications: Ensure notifications are toggled on.
   • Customize Alerts: Choose whether notifications override "Do Not Disturb," appear on your lock screen, or include sound and vibration.
3. Event-Specific Adjustments:
   • Customize notification preferences for individual calendars.
   • Any changes you make here will sync with your desktop settings.
4. Calendar and Task Notifications:Separate settings allow tailored alerts for events and tasks, ensuring nothing slips through the cracks.

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Best Practices for Notification Management

To make the most of Google Calendar notifications, consider these tips:

• Set Realistic Notification Times: Avoid cluttering your schedule with too many alerts by spacing them out strategically.
• Use Email Alerts for Critical Events: Important meetings or deadlines benefit from email reminders.
• Enable Daily Agendas: Start your day informed with a clear overview of your commitments.
• Test Your Setup: Ensure notifications are working on all devices to avoid surprises.

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Conclusion: Simplify Your Productivity

Google Calendar’s robust notification settings are invaluable for staying organized. By customizing your alerts on both desktop and mobile devices, you can ensure you’re always on time and never miss a critical event. Start fine-tuning your notification preferences today and experience a smoother, more productive schedule.

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I'm about to share some sensitive information via email, and I really wish I could prevent the other person from forwarding or copying or downloading this content.

Well, fortunately for us here in Gmail, we can do just that by using a feature called Confidential Mode.

Before I go ahead and hit send on this email, I want to come all the way down to the bottom where we're familiar with other functions, such as attaching a file or inserting a link. And if we come over here to the right, you can see that there's this little lock icon called Toggle Confidential Mode.

By selecting this option here, we are given the following dialogue box, which tells us that recipients won't have the option to forward copy print or download this email.

And then down below we've got two different options to choose from. The first one of course is when will this email expire? If we select the dropdown, we have five different options available to us. Everything from a day, a week, one month, three months, or five years. Yes, it's a pretty big jump from three months to five years. 

And the nice thing is, no matter which one that you select, it will tell you here to the right of the dropdown what that date will be.

So instead of doing the math, well, how far is five years and oh yeah, 2029. That makes a lot of sense.

So depending on what it is you are sending and what you think would be an appropriate amount of time, let's go with one week here. I'm going to say it's going to expire in one week, that's April 23rd.

And then down below, the second thing that we need to decide is if we are going to require a passcode. So by default, it's going to be set to no SMS passcode, meaning they will not receive a text message or an email message depending if they are a Gmail user or not.

Or we can require them to use a passcode when they receive this email. For our example, I'm going to select this to no SMS passcode, and I'm going to hit save.

Now nothing has been set yet. I can continue to add other files or edit my email, but you will notice down below that we have this new section, which is telling me that this content will expire on this particular date.

If I want to remove confidential mode, I can simply click the X over here. And if I want to change any of my settings, I can hit edit and go back to the dialogue. But let's go ahead and hit send and see what this looks like to the recipient.

I've now switched over to my other email account. Now I've received this confidential email, and here you can see, I can still see the subject line, but in the preview text, it's already telling me that this message was sent in confidential mode. Let's go ahead and open up this email here.

You can see I have all the same content of the regular email, including the attachment here down below, and it's notifying me that the content will expire on this particular date. But the big thing that you may not notice is that I am actually trying to click and select these words. I'm also trying to right click on these words and I can't do it. It's not allowing me to select or copy the words on the screen here.

And if I do, go ahead and open up this attachment. You will notice here that if I click on the more option, I do not have the options to download to print or to save this document. Either I can only open it here within my browser.

Now of course, there's nothing that will stop someone from doing a print screen or taking a picture of this screen, but at the very least, they cannot download or print or copy this attachment or any of the texts that you've included here within this screen. 

Now, jumping back to my original email account, I want to show you how you can revoke or remove access to someone that you've sent a confidential email. Here we are, and you can see that this sent email is the same. It's going to expire in about a week's time, but to the right, I have the option to remove access for that user. I don't have to wait until April 23rd. If I want to no longer give them access, I can simply select this, remove access link, and it will immediately be removed. And of course, I can still come back in here and renew that access in case I've made a mistake.

Jumping back now into the recipient's email address, you can see that it doesn't remove or eliminate the email. Here you can see this is the same email that we saw a moment ago, but when I go to open it, it tells me that this email has expired. There is no content here, and there is no attachment.

So the next time you go to share some sensitive or personal information with others, consider using confidential mode if appropriate for your needs. Thank you so much for watching this video. And remember, being productive does not need to be difficult. In fact, it's very simple.

Evil Problem 1

Do you have an evil to-do list? In this video I'm going to share with you four signs that your task list may be working against you, but I'm going to give you four solutions to those big problems.

Now, number one, you may have an evil to-Do list if everything on your list is to even, what do I mean by too even? Well, I mean that as you scroll through your various tasks, there is no distinction between what is important and what can wait until later, what's urgent and what's not. What needs to be done today and what can you wait to do later in the week? As we look at this sample to-do list on the screen in front of us here, it's really hard, if not impossible, to determine what we should be doing next.

So how can we go about and solve this problem? Well, there's a couple of ways in which we can address this issue. Here I am using Google tasks and one of the fastest, if not easiest ways is to use the star feature. So I can take a look at maybe the two or three tasks that I need to do first or the things that I want to accomplish by the end of the day and I can star them and they're going to automatically appear at the top of my screen.

Within your respective task list, you may be able to add a flag, you may be able to add colors and some other way to prioritize certain tasks, but even if you don't want to use these star feature, there's a few other options we have available to us as well. We can always add a separate list which will highlight the things that we want to work on next.

So if I take those same tasks for example, I can simply drag them over into this second list which I've called priorities. So with this setup, it's very easy for me to see the distinction between the things I should be working on right now and the things that can wait until later. 

Evil Problem 2

Number two, you may have an evil to-do list if your to-do list is too vague. What do I mean by vagueness? I mean that as we scroll through most of the tasks in this sample to-do list, it can be difficult to determine exactly what I should be doing.

So for example, track marketing data. Do I need a payment provider marketing strategy review? Am I creating a marketing strategy review? Am I reviewing in an existing document exactly what am I doing when it comes to a number of these tasks? If the to-dos on our lists are too short or too vague, we can often waste a lot of valuable time spinning our wheels and asking ourselves, get client feedback. Well, which client? What type of feedback and how are we going to collect that feedback?

The more time we spend deciphering our own - Task, the more we are liable to skim down to something else which is more action oriented or something that we can engage with right away. Even though something like this one here with the question Mark May in fact be the most important thing on my to-do list.

So in order to avoid having too vague of a to-do list, we want to make sure that we start each of our to-dos with an action verb. So for example, important client calls. I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing with that, but I can make this particular task so much more actionable by just changing a few words.

I'm going to turn important client calls into schedule two phone calls with three key clients. Here I've made it so much more actionable. Number one, I know exactly the type of call or the type of meeting that I'm doing and I've also set a very specific limit in terms of how many clients I'm going to be engaged with.

Looking a little further down the list, I have something that says last month's website stats. Well, I'm just going to change one word, which is going to make this so much more actionable. I'm going to say review last month's website stats. Just having that word review tells me exactly what I should be doing and no longer do I have to second guess or start scanning for something else on my list. 

Evil Problem 3

Now number three, you may have an evil to-do list if your task list is to inactive. And what I mean by that is that you're not reviewing it or you're not engaging with your task list on a regular basis. This so often happens when we have to go to another screen or another tab to view our task list.

Fortunately here within Google tasks, we can toggle between Google Calendar and our full task list or multiple lists if we have them on the exact same screen. In addition, we can also take advantage of the Google side panel here on the right hand side. You don't have to have it viewable at all times, but if I want to come over here and click on tasks, I can see all of my tasks here on the right hand side. If I have started a few things, I can focus on those items here and I can also easily navigate between my different lists.

But another thing that we want to keep in mind is the ability to drag any of these tasks onto my actual calendar here. As I'm looking at my day tomorrow, I can see that I have a lot of time available in the afternoon. So maybe that's a perfect time to review last month's website stats or maybe that's also a great time where I can schedule those phone calls. I can simply drag it from my task list on the right and put it directly on my calendar.

But keep in mind you don't have to give every task a specific time either. Maybe I need to set up these client referrals here. I'm going to come down to the date. I'm going to schedule it for the 18th and I'm purposely not going to select a time. I'm going to say, okay, and you can see here within my calendar, it's going to appear at the very top. So I don't have a particular time to accomplish this task, but I can see it here at the top of my calendar.

And even if that is minimized, even if I'm accessing my calendar on my phone, these tasks will appear as long as I have my tasks enabled here on the left hand side under my calendars. This is a great way to make sure that you don't leave things behind or that your task list does not become out of date. 

Evil Problem 4

Last but not least, you may have an evil to-do list if your task list is too long. When we have too many things staring back at us at any given time, it is only human nature for us to scan and scan and often read too many things at any given time.

Every time that you've completed a task, you don't want to come back here and have to review everything on this list. Not only is that going to be time consuming, but it also tends to increase our levels of stress and worry as we think about all of the things that we need or want to accomplish.

Now, we've already seen how we can separate our lists by priorities, but you may want to consider separating your lists even further. Here within my Google Tasks account, I've created two additional lists called this Week and Next Week so I can determine what are the smaller number of tasks that I want to accomplish this week and which ones can wait until next week.

This can help me be extra focused as I drag in a number of my tasks here under this week, and then I can safely say, you know what, some of these other tasks I can defer to sometime in the future. This way I can always minimize things such as the next week or my master list and just focus on the things that I want to hear.

And if I am taking advantage of the Google Calendar integration, once again, I can simply focus on those tasks on the right hand side of the menu. So if you feel that your to-do list is actively working against you, consider these four evil criteria and how you can solve these most common issues. And if you have any further questions about how you can keep your to-do list more organized and relevant, be sure to let me know in the comments down below.

Thank you so much for watching this video, and remember, being productive does not need to be difficult. In fact, it's very simple.

This video is brought to you by Tool Finder. More about them a little later in the video. So what are the tools that I actually use each and every day to help me stay productive? In this video, I'm going to share with you my top five. 

1. Google Calendar

And it all gets started right here within Google Calendar. I consider it the foundation of my productivity system. Now of course, everyone needs a calendar to find out where they need to be and what appointments and meetings are coming up, but I use Google Calendar for so much more than just keeping track of my events.

Number one, I use it daily to block out my most important tasks and my projects. So for example, here you'll see that there are a number of blue events. These signal the things that I have time blocked for my day. So if I want to make sure that I draft that contract in time for a meeting with a client, or if I review the Q2 budget in time for an upcoming meeting, I place it directly here on my calendar. And because it's so easy to add multiple calendars and also both hide and disclose those calendars, I like keeping them separate here so I can see that distinction between my actual meetings with other people and the things that I've blocked out time for. 

But my number one tip with using Google Calendar is taking advantage of Google tasks, which is now integrated seamlessly with your calendar. Here you can see that I have my task listed here at the top of the following two days. It's nice and easy for me to see, but I don't have to keep them there.

When you go to click on a calendar event, you can select a task and insert it directly here. You can also have access to your tasks into additional ways. We can make use of the Google Chrome side panel and both add and manage our tasks here, or while staying within Google Calendar, we can simply toggle to our tasks view, manage our tasks here with our multiple lists, and then easily get back to our Google calendar. 

2. Calendly

The number two app I use most often is Calendly. Not only does Calendly make it super easy for people to find a convenient time to book time with me, so I can eliminate all of that email back and forth, but I also use it as an opportunity to collect payments in advance. For example, here I am offering a coaching session where the user can clearly see how long the coaching session will last and the price point.

But what's better yet is when they do go to book a particular time with me, not only are they providing me the important details, but they are entering in their payment information on the exact same screen. I love that not only can I collect payments in advance, no longer do I need to track people down or remind them to complete payment, but it's easily done in a single screen so it makes checkout that much easier for the user. And then I can get - Upfront before this particular coaching session, Calendly has also made their editing screen that much easier to use and to find.

And that leads me to my number one Calendly tip. Under scheduling settings, I always pay special attention to the minimum notice event limit. What does this mean? This means how many hours in advance someone can book me right now. Now, by default, when you set up a Calendly event, this is going to be set to just four hours, and I find that for many people, that is much too soon. So make sure to review your scheduling settings and double check your minimum notice hou

Now, speaking of meetings, when it comes to taking notes, my number one used notes app is Google Keep. Now, Google Keep does not have all of the fancy features and integrations as many of its competitors, but when it comes to the speed of both accessing your notes, taking a new note and finding the note that you're looking for, Google Keep is unmatched. That's why when I start a meeting, I usually immediately open up Google Keep and start to jot down those notes. It's quick and easy and lightning fast, and that speed continues within the mobile app. Something that we can't always say about other note taking apps.

Now, when it comes to my number one tip when using Google Keep, I encourage you to set reminders for certain types of notes, but don't just set a date and time reminder. There may be some notes we're actually setting a location reminder may be better. In this example, I've created a shopping list for my local Staples office store, but I don't need these right away. I just need to pick these up the next time I'm in the area. So what I'm going to do is select pick a place, and all I need to do is type in the name of my local store. Here it is on 32nd Street, I'm going to hit save. And now the next time that I'm in, within about a mile of this location, I will receive a notification on my phone.

So another great way to maximize your use of this lightning fast note taking app. 

4. Trello

But when it comes to bigger and more complex projects, I use Trello. I've been a longtime Trello user, and I've always been a big fan of the Kanban method of managing our projects.

Now, Kanban means moving things from one list to the other. In most cases, we are moving things through a set of stages from the left hand side of your screen to the right hand side. So for example, in this particular board, I've got my ideas starting on the left hand side. Some of them get turned into tasks, and ideally I'm going to work on them and complete them and end up over here within my completed - List.

Now, unlike many other project management tools, Trello has kept its interface relatively clean. Even if I go to open up a Trello card and review the details within, you can see clear distinctions between the description, the custom fields, attachments, checklists, and the other buttons that are located here on the right hand side of the screen. 

So I'm not bogged down by unnecessary information. I can just see the details that I need, and if there is a piece of functionality that you can't find here within Trello, Trello has a massive library of power ups, so you are bound to find exactly what you are looking for.

Now, when it comes to my number one tip when it comes to using Trello, I encourage you to get used to using the shortcut keys. You don't always have to open up a card and then open up this next card and make simple edits. If I want to change the date, it's simply D on my keyboard. If I want to change the labels, it's l on my keyboard. If I want to add members, yeah, you get it. It's M four members. So a variety of single key shortcuts, which makes using Trello that much easier and that much quicker. 

5. Text Blaze

Lastly, there is a tool that helps me be productive in all of the applications that I use, whether it's email calendars or anything else. And that is Text Blaze.

Now, at its core, text Blaze is a text expansion tool, which works with the Chrome browser. So for example, here on the left hand side, I have a collection of responses replies and other things that I use on a frequent basis. But rather than having to type them out each and every time or copy and paste them from some other document, I can use text expansion.

For example, when someone completes a coaching call with me, I want to send them a particular follow up email. I'm just going to enter in forward slash ce on my keyboard. And in just an instant, I've got a lot of detailed information, which is immediately inserted wherever my cursor is.

For example, you can change all of the formatting that you like. You can even include particular links like you see here as well. This cuts down on so much wasted time and allows me to make quick and easy edits.

If I need to come in here and change these links or change anything, I just do it once and that expansion set of keys remains the same, so I can use it absolutely anywhere.

Now, my number one tip when it comes to using Text Blaze is be sure to take advantage of variables. For example, here I have a snippet where I promise that I will get back to someone by the following Monday, but I don't want to just say the following Monday. I want to give them a specific date. So I have a variable here, which will always include the following Monday.

If I return now to my test area, all I need to do is enter in those few short keystrokes and it will say, sure thing, I'll get back to you by April 15th, which yes, of course is the following Monday. So you can take advantage of different variables, whether they be text-based date-based, name based, anything that you like. 

You can include it right here within Text Blaze. Now, if you're wanting to find out more information about the tools that I use, or to find the right productivity tools for you, I would encourage you to check out to Finder the world's best place to find the very best productivity apps. It doesn't matter what type of tool that you're after, whether it's project management to-do list apps or email apps. You'll find more than 500 in-depth reviews so that you can find the tools that you're looking for.

Not only are the reviews up to date and they get a rating, but here you can double check the availability, look at the pros and cons, and even compare the pricing amongst different tools. So stop wasting time. 

Visit Tool finder@toolfinder.co and find the tools that are best for you. Thank you so much for watching today's video, and remember, being productive does not need to be difficult. In fact, it's very simple.

I want your next meeting to be a smashing success.

So in this video, I'm going to show you how to create a great meeting agenda and notes right here within Google Docs, and then link it back to your meeting event.

So not only you and your attendees can use it now, but you can also reference it in the future. We're going to get started here within Google Docs.

And you may have noticed these quick links here at the top of a new Google Doc. The first one is actually called meeting notes, and that's what we're going to take advantage of today.

But what if you don't see those helpful links here? Well, all you need to do is select the at symbol on your keyboard, and we will be brought up with a menu with a number of smart things, which we can include.

And down below the building blocks header, we want to select meeting notes. Now, when you first select meeting notes, it's actually going to give us a list of our up coming meetings within Google Calendar. 

Now, this is very helpful if we want to create an agenda or take notes for something that is happening soon.

But what if your meeting isn't listed here? Well, don't worry, just start typing in the keywords or the title of that meeting and we will find the meeting that you're looking for here.

I typed in the word budget and it's going to bring back everything that I'm looking for, but the particular meeting I'm looking for is happening later today. It's this one here, interview a new virtual assistant.

So I'm going to select it. And the great thing about using this feature is not only does it bring over all of those relevant details, including the date, the name, and our attendees, these are more than just text on a screen.

You can see here, if I hover over this, I have a direct link to that meeting within Google Calendar. And here, these are actually my contact cards. So if I need to see more information about any of these individuals, I can do so.

I'm also going to have the ability to email this agenda or these notes directly right here from within Google Docs. 

Now, on the right hand side, you'll see that there's a small dialogue here that says, do I want to share these meeting notes? Do I want to share and attach these meeting notes to my Google calendar?

And I'm going to say yes. Now, of course, this comes down to personal preference, but in our example, I want to take advantage of this. I want to make sure that these notes, whatever I add in advance or after the meeting, are accessible to both me and to those who are attending. So I'm going to say share and attach.

Now, if you do have other attendees in your meeting, you need to determine if you want to give them editing access, commenting access, or just viewer access. And I'm okay if they want to add some further comments. So I'm going to say commenter. In this particular case, I'm going to say share.

And just like that, we've created a link back to our Google calendar. If I come over here and select this calendar event here, you can see we have a direct link to those notes. If I open - This in full screen mode, you can see here within the description, we are just one click away from accessing these notes.

Let's go back to our Google doc and let's maybe fill in a few notes. 

Now, keep in mind, you can edit anything here within the document. This doesn't have to stay as notes. It could be agenda items, maybe that's what we want to call this.

And then down below we can start to add whatever we want. We're going to review the budget, we're going to address the cold temperature in the office. Maybe that's been an issue. And we're also going to discuss buying some new desks for everyone.

So these are the things that we're going to address in the meeting. Down below, we have an action items area, which is pre-populated with a checkbox. Now, in most cases, you're not going to add these action items until during the meeting or maybe shortly after the meeting.

But let's go ahead and just add a few as an example. Maybe there's going to be two or three tasks that we want to accomplish, and we want to make sure that people commit to this. So the other great thing about using this within Google Docs is that we can pull up that at symbol one more time, and I can make an assignment to any of these tasks.

So maybe I'm going to take on task number one here. I can assign myself directly to this task so I can stay accountable. We can make others accountable as well. And as things get crossed off, you can come here and check them off within the document as well.

When I'm finished adding all of my notes and making other changes here, I can go ahead and email these notes or this agenda to everyone who is attending without having to jump back into Google Calendar or without having to open up Gmail itself.

I'm going to come up here and select this email meeting notes link. And over on the right hand side, it's going to bring a small pop-up dialogue, which of course already has all of the attendees included. I don't have to add anything further.

I can edit the subject if I want. And here within the body of the email, we have all our agenda items and the action items. Anything that we would have included here within the document.

The benefit now is that either before the meeting, everyone can come in here and review the agenda, but in addition, this link to this doc is always going to remain here. So if we need to come back, maybe a few days have passed and someone wants to say, what was it exactly we discussed, or what were the action items from that meeting on Monday?

They can always come in here and see this live document where we can update one another with our different tasks.

Lastly, as a bonus, if this happens to be a recurring meeting, we don't have to create this all from scratch. In fact, we can keep all of our notes in the same doc here beside our email meeting notes. We want to select these more actions, and you'll see there's an insert, another instance. So here's our upcoming meeting.

I'm going to select that, and now I can add new notes for our upcoming meeting while still tracking the things that we created this week.

Now, if you enjoy today's video on getting the most out of Google Calendar and Google Docs, why not join the SimpliVity newsletter? Simply click the link on the screen or go to simplivity.com and subscribe for free.

Thank you so much for watching. And remember, being productive does not need to be difficult. In fact, it's very simple.

You probably already spend a lot of time here within Google Calendar, so let's make it easier for you to find the dates and the events that you're looking for and get to where you need to be a lot quicker.

First off, let's take a look at one of my favorite shortcut keys, which is the letter G. If we select G on our keyboard, this go-to date, dialogue appears in front of us. So if I want to quickly jump ahead to the month of September, I don't even have to write in the full month. I'm just going to enter in SEP and hit enter on my keyboard and immediately I am brought to September.

What was I doing last November? Well, let's just type in November, 2023, hit enter, and I'm immediately brought back to that timeframe as well. So hitting G on your keyboard is going to be the fastest way to jump to a particular date, but rather than type in today's date, what if we are somewhere in the past or somewhere in the future? 

In that case, we want to use the letter T on our keyboard. Yes, T for today. We could, of course, always take our cursor and come all the way up here and select the today button, but why make all that effort when we can just select T on our keyboard and come directly to today's date?

Now, there's a couple of other shortcut keys that I want you to be made aware of, and they're tucked up here within our different views. You're probably already aware of the different types of views we have available to us, including a day, week, month, and year view. And you can see that the shortcut keys conveniently start with the first letter D for day W for week, and so on. But if you don't want to waste your time searching for these different letters on your keyboard, I've got an even faster way in which you can do. 

So all six of these views also correspond with the numbers one through six on our keyboard. Let me show you how, if I type in the number one, that's going to be our day view. Number two is our week view. Three is our month view. Four is going to be our custom view. This is the custom view we set up in settings. More on that in just a moment. Five is going to be our schedule view, a view that I often don't use enough, but I do find very helpful. And then six is going to bring us our yearly or our annual view.

So this is a much faster way as I cycle through my different views, I can use my keypad, I can use the numbers on my keyboard to quickly go through these particular views. Now, if you want to set up your custom view here, you can see that mine is set for two weeks. Let's use the shortcut key S to get us into settings. Otherwise, we'd have to hit the gear icon and then select settings. Oh my goodness, that's two whole clicks. Let's just hit S on our keyboard, go directly to settings, and then come down to view options. And here you can see under our dropdown menus, we can set a custom view. 

Now we've got a number of different choices available. Anything from between two days all the way out to four weeks. Yes, I bet you didn't realize that you could even have a custom view of two or three weeks in advance. Or maybe you just want something like three days. I'm going to set it to three days, and there's no need to hit save. There's no save button. Actually here within Google Calendar settings, everything is automatically saved.

So if I come back here and if I select my custom view of three days, I'm going to get those three days on the screen in front of me. But here is the last and bonus tip and something that I bet you didn't know you could do with Google Calendar. If we come over here to the mini calendar, which of course you're probably familiar with going to a specific date into the future or selecting a specific date on a calendar.

But instead, if we click and drag, we can get those custom views in front of us at any duration, at any time. Let's say I just want to see next weekend. Let's say this Friday to this Sunday, I can now see those three dates, but what if I want more than three dates? 

Maybe I want next week, Monday through Friday, I'm going to click and drag. And when I release, I'm going to see that entire week.

How about the last two weeks of this month and the beginning of next? I can do that here as well. So whenever you want to see a custom set of days, just remember that you can click and drag and view them immediately here within your calendar.

I hope you enjoyed these Google Calendar tips and tricks and would love to hear from you. Next, what are some things that help you be more efficient as you navigate and use Google Calendar?

And if you're wanting even more ways to get the most out of Google apps, be sure to visit simplivity.com and subscribe to our newsletter.

Thank you so much for watching. And remember, being productive does not need to be difficult. In fact, it's very simple.

Managing notes in Google Keep can sometimes feel overwhelming. By default, all notes are displayed on the home screen, even if they’re organized with labels. This clutter can make it difficult to focus on high-priority tasks. However, using Google Keep’s archive feature can help transform your experience, making the platform more streamlined and productive. This guide walks you through how to optimize your Google Keep workflow using labels and the archive feature effectively.

Why Use Google Keep's Archive Feature?

One of the frustrations with Google Keep is that, despite assigning labels, all notes remain visible on the home screen. This creates unnecessary clutter and makes it harder to focus on specific notes. Here’s why archiving is a game-changer:

1. Declutters the Home Screen: Archived notes disappear from the main home screen but remain accessible in their respective labels.
2. Retains Full Functionality: Archived notes are still searchable, editable, and usable, just like regular notes.
3. Boosts Focus: By archiving less relevant notes, you can prioritize important tasks on the main screen.

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Step-by-Step Guide to Organizing Your Google Keep Notes

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1. Label All Your Notes

The first step to effective organization is ensuring every note has a label. Labels are categories that help you group related notes for easier access. Here’s how to label your notes:

• Open a note.
• Click on the three vertical dots or the "Add Label" option.
• Assign a relevant label, such as "Work," "Personal," or "Family."

For example, a note titled “Read the financial report from last month” can be labeled as “Family.” Once labeled, the note will appear both in its assigned label and on the main screen.

2. Archive Your Notes

To reduce clutter on the home screen, archive notes after labeling them. Archiving removes notes from the main screen while keeping them accessible under their labels. Here’s how:

• Locate the note you want to archive.
• Click the archive icon (a small box with a downward arrow).
• The note will disappear from the home screen but remain visible under its label.

To archive multiple notes at once, use this quick shortcut:

• Press Ctrl+A on your keyboard to select all notes on the screen.
• Click the archive icon in the top-right corner.

This method allows you to instantly clear your home screen, creating a blank slate for daily priorities.

3. Access Archived Notes by Label

Once archived, your notes can be easily accessed through their labels on the left-hand menu. For example:

• Click on “Work” to see all work-related notes.
• Navigate to “Personal” to find personal notes.

The notes will be organized into two sections:

1. Archived Notes: Notes that have been archived but are still assigned to the label.
2. Active Notes: Notes that are currently displayed on the home screen.

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4. Bring Notes Back to the Home Screen

If you need to focus on a specific task or note, you can unarchive it with one click:

• Go to the relevant label or the archive menu.
• Select the note you want to bring back.
• Click the unarchive icon.

For instance, if you’re focusing on “Wednesday Tasks,” unarchive the note, and it will reappear on the home screen. This flexibility allows you to highlight tasks that require immediate attention while keeping everything else neatly stored.

5. Understanding the Difference Between Archive and Trash

It’s essential to differentiate between archived notes and those in the trash:

• Archive: Notes are hidden from the home screen but remain searchable, editable, and permanently stored unless manually deleted.
• Trash: Notes moved to the trash are automatically deleted after seven days. However, you can manually retrieve or delete them during this period.

Rest assured, archiving a note won’t lead to accidental deletion. You can safely archive as many notes as needed without worrying about losing them.

6. Optimizing Google Keep Search with Archived Notes

Google Keep’s search capabilities remain fully functional for archived notes. You can search by:

• Keywords: Type a keyword (e.g., "email") to find all related notes.
• Filters: Narrow results by criteria like images, audio, or checkboxes.

For example, searching for “email” might bring up archived notes alongside unarchived ones. Filtering by “images” will show only image-containing notes, whether archived or not. This ensures that your archive system doesn’t hinder your ability to find specific content.

7. Tips for Maximizing Productivity with Google Keep

Here are additional strategies to optimize your Google Keep experience:

a) Use Labels Strategically

Choose labels that reflect your workflows or life categories. Common examples include:

• Work
• Personal
• Family
• Projects

Avoid overcomplicating your system with too many labels; simplicity is key.

b) Create Temporary Focus Zones

Unarchive only the notes that are relevant to your current tasks. For example, if you’re working on a presentation, unarchive notes like “Presentation Draft” and “Research Materials.”

c) Review and Clean Up Periodically

Set aside time weekly or monthly to review your notes:

• Archive completed tasks.
• Delete outdated notes or those no longer relevant.
• Ensure all new notes are appropriately labeled.

d) Leverage Google Keep Integrations

Google Keep integrates seamlessly with Google Workspace. Use this integration to:

• Attach notes to Google Calendar events.
• Sync with Google Docs for detailed documentation.

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Common Questions About Google Keep Archiving

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Q: Will archiving a note affect collaboration?

No. If you’ve shared a note with collaborators, they can still access and edit the note, even if you’ve archived it.

Q: Can I archive pinned notes?

Yes, pinned notes can also be archived. They will no longer appear on the home screen but remain accessible under their respective labels.

Q: What happens if I delete a label?

If you delete a label, the notes themselves are not deleted. They will simply lose the association with that label and appear in the unarchived section of your home screen.

Benefits of Archiving in Google Keep

By using the archive feature effectively, you can enjoy several benefits:

1. Improved Focus: The home screen becomes a clean space for your most pressing tasks.
2. Efficient Organization: Notes are grouped by labels and neatly stored in the archive.
3. Enhanced Searchability: Archived notes remain fully searchable, ensuring no information is lost.
4. Reduced Mental Clutter: A tidy home screen helps you concentrate on what truly matters.

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Conclusion: Simplify and Focus with Google Keep’s Archive Feature

Google Keep is a powerful tool for managing your notes, but its true potential is unlocked when you take control of the clutter. By leveraging the archive feature alongside labels, you can transform your workflow into a more streamlined, focused, and productive system. Follow the steps outlined in this guide to declutter your home screen, keep your notes organized, and make the most of Google Keep’s robust features.

This video is brought to you by SaneBox more about them a little later in the video. If you use Gmail for email, but you're not making use of the Chrome side panel, you are missing out. So in this video, I'm going to show you four different ways to make use of these side panel so you can be more effective and productive while dealing with Gmail.

Where to find the Gmail Side Panel

Now, first things first, if you don't see these icons here on the right hand side of your Chrome browser, when you're within Gmail, I want you to come down to the bottom right hand corner, and you may see this little arrow here. We want to expand it, and that's going to reveal this side panel.

Google Calendar

At the very top, we're going to have access to our Google calendar, and of course, this is very helpful if we want to glance at our schedule or our day. We have two different views here. We can view it here by day and then just toggle ahead to different dates, or we can come up here to the more option and select, schedule.

Now for me, this looks a little busy, so I prefer the day schedule, but I also prefer the day schedule for another reason. It makes it a lot easier for me to create appointments.

So for example, let's say that I've opened up this email here and it's reminded me that I need to set up a meeting. Well, all I need to do is click on my schedule here. I'm going to drag it out for an hour, and now I can immediately start to create that meeting. 

Now, by default, it's going to take the subject line of this email address and put it up here at the name of the event. I'm probably going to change that to something a lot more relevant, but the main benefit of this feature is I don't have to open up another tab.

I don't have to go somewhere else to create that meeting. I can do it all right here from within my Gmail account. Now, next up, we have access to Google Keep.

And of course, just like the other Google apps we have access to, it is a lot more convenient to access your checklist, your notes, your reference material without having to open another tab.

But there's an additional bonus to making use of keep right here from within Gmail. 

So once again, I'm reviewing or I'm dealing with this particular email, and maybe I want to come back and reference this information a little later in the future. Well, if I come up here and say, take a note, it will automatically create a link to this particular email, whatever email I currently have open.

Now, you don't have to keep that link. If I just decided to take a note while this email was up, you'll see that there is always going to be this little X if I want to remove this source. But if I want to say, review this email or something along those lines, I've quickly and easily created this note, and whenever I go to access it, I will have a direct link to this particular - Message.

Google Tasks

Next up, let's access our Google tasks. And here we can access all of our different lists. So whether you manage one or a variety of to-do lists, you can manage them all and access them all right here from within your Gmail account.

But just like how we saw in Google Keep, we can make a connection. We can do that here within tasks as well. Now, at this point, you may assume that if I come up here and select add a task, it will automatically add this connection. That's actually not the case.

I can continue to add and edit my tasks here regardless of what I have in front of me here on the screen. But if I want to make a connection, I actually need to come up here to the top of the email and say, add to tasks. Now, here again, by default, the name of the task is going to be the subject line, which is probably not that relevant.

We may want to change this to review the invoice or something along those lines. But regardless here you can see it has made that connection directly to this particular email. So this can be a fantastic way to process your email and deal with email and come back to those important emails in a more timely manner.

Contacts

Last but not least, let's take a look at the contacts option, which is a much quicker and faster way to access and create and manage your contacts rather than having to open up a new tab.

So here you can see I've got a full list of my contacts. I can come up here and search for those contacts. But what makes this even more valuable is that when I am dealing with a particular email message, it's going to show me exactly who is involved in this thread.

Let's say, for example, there's maybe a few other people who are CC'd, and I'm not sure who they are or what my relationship is with them. They will all be listed here within the, in this Thread tab.

And better yet, if I select one of these contacts, it's going to open up their contact information where I can further go ahead and edit it. 

But what I think is most helpful is coming down to the recent interactions. By default, it's going to show me the last three emails which they have sent or been a part of.

I can come down here and select more, and it's going to give me a full history, and then I can click on any one of those messages and go directly to them as well.

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