Google Tasks: Top 10 Tips for Getting Things Done!
About this video
Jeff Su explains why Google Tasks suits two kinds of users — minimalists who want capture-and-track with minimal friction, and Google Workspace users who want seamless integration — then gives seven little-known tips. First, use the standalone Tasks web view via a direct URL (linked in his description) instead of the Switch to Tasks button inside Calendar: the Calendar route has an annoying bug where pressing C sometimes creates a calendar event instead of a task and Escape reverts to the calendar view, while the pinned standalone bookmark never reverts. Because most of his work tasks come from email, tip two is Gmail capture: with an email open, press Shift+T to add it as a task in the sidebar, rename it to start with an action verb (his example turns a subject line into ‘Adopt Jeff’s new email workflow’), assign a due date, then archive the email with E — the same task should never exist in two places. You can also drag emails onto the task list, select multiple emails and use Add to Tasks, or use the three-dot menu in the Gmail mobile app; every captured email stays linked inside its task and opens in a clean standalone window so you don’t get sucked back into the inbox. Third, pull from Google Chat: any message’s three-dot menu offers Add to Tasks on web and mobile — his commuting pattern for requests he can’t handle immediately — and inside a group chat you can create a task with a due date and an assigned owner that lands in that person’s own task list; the group tasks view can be sorted manually, by date, or, his preference there, by assignee. Fourth, connect Calendar: enable the Tasks view under My Calendars, then choose one of two workflows — put visible blocks like deep work on the calendar and add time-specific tasks on top, or (his preference) capture tasks as all-day items with due dates and, during daily review sessions, convert upcoming tasks into calendar blocks and check them off.
Key takeaways
- Skip the Calendar detour: bookmark the standalone Tasks web URL so the ‘C creates an event’ bug and view-reverting can’t happen.
- Turn emails into linked tasks at the source (Shift+T, drag, or Add to Tasks), rename them to start with an action verb, then archive the email so the task lives in one place only.
- Exploit the Workspace integrations: Google Chat messages go to Tasks from the three-dot menu, group chats can assign owned tasks, Docs checkboxes assign tasks in Workspace accounts, and Calendar offers visible time blocks or all-day capture plus daily review.
- Capture at zero friction: the Google sidebar in Gmail, Drive, and Slides for desktop thoughts, and a home-screen Tasks widget — he captures 70 to 80% of tasks on mobile.
- Keep Tasks for dated action items only; ideas, thoughts, and quick notes belong in Google Keep with labels and context.
Episode details: published February 25, 2025 · 8:13 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Jeff Su’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.
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