I utilize Google Sheets as my to-do list.
I’ve tried many to-do-list apps like Todoist, Trello, Any.do, the list continues–and the only one that hasn’t overwhelmed me or, even more than that, made me feel overwhelmed was Google Tasks. This is what works for personal matters and reminds me to wash my laundry or call my dentist or set up a vet appointment for my pet. However, at work, it’s not going to cut it. It’s not sufficiently customizable and doesn’t have enough fields that are distinct enough for complicated tasks. Google Sheets fixes that.
The app isn’t designed to be a list-making application, but that’s the reason I like it. It’s an application I already use. It’s very customizable. It requires a lot smaller clicks than the majority of alternatives. Let’s face it there’s no the time to click on a million additional times. You want to finish your work and not be juggling the tasks that you must complete.
This is how you can use an Excel spreadsheet to create your task list.
The fundamental set-up
When you’re working on your work There are typically two essential things to track: what you should do and when–and then…other items. These are the three columns that you’ll find on the spreadsheet:
Time of day and night
Tasks
Other things: Notes/Links
Naturally, it is possible to are able to modify the columns at any time or create new ones.
For instance, if I plan my week’s activities by day, perhaps you don’t make your list of tasks as an agenda, therefore you don’t have an entry for Day.
Maybe you’d like to add some tags to your work. Simply add a column for Tag. If you’re congru with your tags you can organize or filter the spreadsheet using this column to classify similar tasks. If you’re not as consistent — I am definitely not, you have the complete freedom to choose. The tags you use can vary from between weeks and serve as brief reminders of what’s currently in your schedule.
Sometimes it’s useful to know the time it will require. It’s possible to create an Time estimate column, and add the number of hours you expect to take into it. I suggest that you use half-hour increments (i.e., .5, 1, 1.5, and so on) to ensure that you don’t end having to fight time frames. If you are doing a lot small tasks you can choose to use the 15 minute increments (i.e., .25, .5., .75, and etc.). The process of tracking your time is especially useful if you need to ensure that you’ll have enough time to finish everything. Mark those cells for the entire week and make sure that they do not add up to more than 40.
It’s simply a template. it’s yours to customize.
The last important element is to break the sheet into weeks. I prefer a solid gray bar with dates on the left column to visually distinguish weeks. I like to have around months worth of weeks to place tasks into. Also, I’ll add an area at the bottom of the page for tasks that will be needed later down the line: those that are “eventually” projects. So I’m still able to browse through the list to see what’s next while keeping my eye on the here and the present.
How to format Your Google Sheets to-do list
The benefit of the use of Google Sheets or another spreadsheet tool to keep track of your tasks is that you can use so many options for formatting. Sometimes, I change colors of cells to signal that it’s important. Other times , I make it bold. Other times I simply write “IMPORTANT” in the middle. Whatever is effective.
However, if you prefer to keep things constant, you can select colors that represent certain things like priority, levels of effort, the type of work, or whatever else you’d like to be able to view in one glance. For instance, I will mark a row with blue when I’ll be away from the office. So I don’t have to over-plan my week. And I highlight a row in red if it’s a non-negotiable–something I have to do the day it’s scheduled because of an external deadline.
Because you’re able to use formatting options for text–something that many to-do lists do not–you can customize your formatting as precise that you’d want. You can bold certain kinds of tasks, bold others or even create borders around cells. Whatever you like visually, then go for it. You can also use conditional formatting to create rows that have particular words, for instance, for instance, if you prefer to highlight rows that contain names of specific individuals, such as an essential client or boss.
The process
If you use this task list template designed for Google Sheets, you’ll add tasks as they are added. Create a row, add the task into it and then include any additional information or labels you’d like. Since moving the tasks about is just as simple as moving a row to the new position, you are able to easily revise your priorities without having to jump between views or clicking 12 times to get to where you’re looking for. In addition to adding tasks it is a simple process.
1. Make sure to strike through the text after you’re done. It is possible to use keyboard shortcuts to accomplish this. For the Mac you can use command+shift+X. on the PC the shortcut is Alt+Shift+5.
2. When you’re done with the week, you can hide the rows from the previous week to ensure that your current week always appears in the top position. To accomplish this simply highlight the rows that you wish to hide, click right and choose Hide rows (numbers of the selected rowsThe rows you want to hide are the numbers of selected rows.
It’s no surprise that I use Zapier to streamline my to-do list. My most-loved Zap (our term to describe an automatic workflow among applications) is an easy one to send every message I saved in Slack onto the Google Sheets to- do list. We’re on Slack at Zapier, so my most important tasks are directly from the app or my mind.
Send saved messages from Slack to Google Spreadsheets. Google Spreadsheet
Sheets + Slack from Google Sheets + Slack
Click here for a Google work tracker template.
More details
I’ll send an email to the Task column, and then add it also adds the URL for the Slack thread is added to note/links in that column. So I can look back on the thread in case I require more information as I get ready to finish the task. I also have particular Zaps that I have set up for a few of my routine workflows.
Of course, if are a user of email you could create the same system. For example, you could forward all emails with a particular name into your Excel spreadsheet.
Save all new Gmail emails that match certain characteristics to an Google Spreadsheet
Google Sheets and Gmail Google Sheets
More details
Zapier is an automated, no-code tool that allows you to connect your apps to automated workflows so that every individual and company can be moving forward with rapid growth.
FAQs
I’m often asked queries about the system, and often it’s just “nope that’s not possible. this.” However, my solution is straightforward and there are plenty of ways to complicate — or make it better. This is why I’ve included a couple of questions to help you determine whether Google Sheets is the right choice for you. Google Sheets to-do list might be a good fit for your needs.
What’s wrong with using google Docs task list?
You can do it if Google Docs works for you Use it. It’s for me, too wide-ranging. There are plenty of fantastic Google Docs to-do lists templates that you can choose from.
Doesn’t it get cluttered?
If you keep your work from the previous week you can usually manage it. If you’re feeling that you’re “eventually” area is becoming too long or you have a group of things which don’t quite make sense, you may want to include an additional worksheet. For instance, I’ve included the worksheet To read, to help keep a list of work-related reading. It is possible to go to this worksheet to look up an article when I need some time to relax.
You could even automate the read-it-later sheet by sending every the latest Pocket content to the worksheet.