Google Calendar's latest work-from-home feature keeps you on task
- Google Calendar gets a new focus time entry.
- The new option allows users to block out time to focus on their task, automatically rejecting conflicting events.
- The new feature starts rolling out now and will reach eligible users by mid-November.
Working from home can be difficult for some, especially when it comes to keeping on task. Thankfully, Google Calendar wants to help with that by allowing you to easily schedule some focusing time so you can get your work done without other work-related distractions.
The new "Focus time" entry type is rolling out on Google Calendar, letting you block off time to get things done. With this, you'll be able to set other conflicting events during a block of time to be automatically declined.
Just like the "Out of office" option, Focus time will let you choose a different color so that it'll stand out against your other calendar entries.
"With the changes to our working environments in the past year, having more chats and meetings make it more difficult for people to carve out time for their core individual work," says Google in a blog post. "With the new focus time feature, we hope to make it easier to create dedicated time for thinking and core work."
Focus time can be scheduled from any of the best laptops, but Android and iOS devices will only be able to edit or delete the entry.
For those of you that use Google Calendar Time Insights to track your productivity, Focus time will now be included.
Users on certain Workspace accounts should notice the new option starting now, while others will see the feature arrive beginning November 3. It's not available for Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Frontline, G Suite Basic, or Business customers.
If anything, the new Focus time option is probably the nicest way to tell your coworkers to leave you alone without actually saying anything.