Personal Task Management System with Google Tasks and Google Calendar

Scenario: This automation helps you organize and track your daily tasks in Google Tasks, automatically creating a detailed daily agenda in Google Calendar. It ensures that every task is scheduled, prioritized, and time-blocked, making it easier to stay on top of everything. If you add a task to a specific list, it will be automatically scheduled in your Google Calendar for the appropriate day and time.

Why It’s Useful:

Many people juggle multiple responsibilities and struggle with time management.
This script helps by automating the process of turning task lists into actionable calendar events, ensuring that no task is missed and every task has a dedicated time block.
It improves productivity by encouraging realistic time allocation and preventing task overload.

Tools Involved:

Google Tasks (for task management)
Google Calendar (for scheduling tasks)
Google Apps Script (to automate the process)

Features:

Automatically schedule all tasks added to a specific Google Tasks list into Google Calendar.
Assign priority levels, and the script will adjust task durations and time slots accordingly.
Set reminders for each scheduled task to ensure you stay on track.
Optionally: send a daily summary of tasks to your email each morning.

Here’s a step-by-step tutorial for automating your daily task scheduling from Google Tasks to Google Calendar using Google Apps Script. This guide will walk you through setting up the automation to ensure your tasks are automatically scheduled in your Google Calendar every day.

Step-by-Step Tutorial: Automating Task Scheduling with Google Apps Script

Step 1: Setting Up Google Apps Script

Access Google Apps Script:
- Open your browser and go to script.google.com.
- Click on New Project to create a new Google Apps Script project.
- Name the project something like Task Scheduler.

Create a New Script:

In the project editor, delete any existing code.
Copy and paste the following script:

function scheduleTasks() {
  const taskListName = 'Daily Tasks'; // Change this to your task list name
  const calendarId = 'your-calendar-id@group.calendar.google.com'; // Change this to your Google Calendar ID
  const taskDuration = 30; // Default task duration in minutes

  // Get the Google Tasks task list
  const taskLists = Tasks.Tasklists.list().items;
  const taskList = taskLists.find(list => list.title === taskListName);

  if (!taskList) {
    Logger.log('Task list not found!');
    return;
  }

  // Get tasks from the list
  const tasks = Tasks.Tasks.list(taskList.id).items;

  // Get today's date
  const today = new Date();
  const calendar = CalendarApp.getCalendarById(calendarId);

  // Loop through tasks and schedule them in Google Calendar
  tasks.forEach(task => {
    if (!task.completed && task.title) {
      const taskTitle = task.title;

      // Calculate start time (automatically sets tasks after current time)
      const taskDate = new Date();
      const taskStartTime = new Date(taskDate.getFullYear(), taskDate.getMonth(), taskDate.getDate(), taskDate.getHours(), taskDate.getMinutes() + 30);

      // Create a new calendar event for the task
      calendar.createEvent(
        taskTitle,
        taskStartTime,
        new Date(taskStartTime.getTime() + taskDuration * 60000), // Task duration
        {
          description: 'Task from Google Tasks',
          reminders: [{method: 'email', minutes: 10}] // Optional reminder
        }
      );

      Logger.log(`Scheduled task: ${taskTitle}`);
    }
  });
}

Step 2: Enable Google Tasks and Calendar APIs

To work with Google Tasks and Google Calendar, we need to enable the necessary APIs.

Enable Google Tasks API:
- In your Apps Script project, go to Resources > Advanced Google Services.
- Scroll down and enable Google Tasks API.
Enable Google Calendar API:
- In the same menu, scroll down and enable Google Calendar API as well.

Step 3: Customize the Script for Your Needs

Change the Task List Name:
- Replace 'Daily Tasks' in the script with the name of your own task list in Google Tasks.
Find Your Google Calendar ID:
- Open Google Calendar in your browser.
- On the left-hand side, find the calendar you want to use.
- Click the three dots next to the calendar name and select Settings and sharing.
- Scroll down to Calendar ID and copy it.
- Replace 'your-calendar-id@group.calendar.google.com' in the script with your actual Calendar ID.
Set Task Duration:
- The script currently sets a default task duration of 30 minutes. You can adjust this by changing the taskDuration variable to any value that suits your needs.

Step 4: Test the Script

Run the Script Manually:
- In the Google Apps Script editor, click on the Run button (the play icon).
- The first time you run the script, you’ll need to authorize it. Follow the prompts to give the script permission to access your Google Tasks and Calendar.
Check the Logs:
- After running the script, click on View > Logs to check for any output or errors.
- You should see the task titles that were scheduled in the logs if everything is working correctly.
Check Your Google Calendar:
- Open Google Calendar and see if the tasks from your task list were added as events at the current date and time, starting 30 minutes from now.

Step 5: Automate the Script with a Trigger

To make the script run automatically every day, you can set a time-based trigger.

Set Up a Time-Driven Trigger:
- In the Apps Script editor, click on the clock icon in the toolbar (just below the Run button).
- Click on Add Trigger at the bottom-right corner.
- Set up the following trigger:
  - Choose which function to run: scheduleTasks
  - Select event source: Time-driven
  - Select type of time-based trigger: Day timer
  - Select time of day: Choose a time (e.g., 7:00 AM) when you want the script to run automatically each day.
Save the Trigger:
- Click Save and the script will now automatically run every day at the chosen time, scheduling tasks into your calendar.

Step 6: Optional Extensions

Here are a few additional features you can add to enhance the script:

Priority-Based Scheduling:
- You can modify the script to assign longer durations to high-priority tasks and shorter durations to low-priority tasks. You would add a condition in the script to check the priority and adjust the taskDuration accordingly.
```
if (task.notes && task.notes.toLowerCase().includes('high priority')) {
  taskDuration = 60; // High-priority tasks get 60 minutes
} else {
  taskDuration = 30; // Default task duration
}
```

Send a Daily Task Summary Email:

Add an email feature to send yourself a daily summary of tasks, using Gmail.

function sendDailySummary() {
  const emailAddress = Session.getActiveUser().getEmail();
  const taskSummary = 'Here are your tasks for today:\n\n'; // Build your task list here

  MailApp.sendEmail(emailAddress, 'Daily Task Summary', taskSummary);
}

Recurring Task Management:
- You can enhance the script to handle recurring tasks by recognizing task names or notes with keywords like "daily" or "weekly" and schedule them accordingly.

Step 7: Run and Enjoy the Benefits

With the automation set up, you can now enjoy a streamlined task scheduling process:

Every morning, your Google Tasks list will be reviewed and automatically scheduled in your Google Calendar, ensuring you have a structured day ahead.
No more manual time-blocking or worrying about forgetting tasks!

How It Works:

Google Tasks List: The script looks at a specific Google Tasks list (in this case, called "Daily Tasks") for all tasks that are not marked as completed.
Schedule into Google Calendar: It schedules each of these tasks in your Google Calendar, giving each task a default duration of 30 minutes (which can be customized).
Real-Time Scheduling: Tasks are scheduled starting from the current time, ensuring no past-due tasks are scheduled. You can modify this to start at specific times during the day.
Reminders: Each task has an email reminder set 10 minutes before the event starts (you can customize this).

Extending the Script (Optional):

Custom Task Durations: Modify the script to assign different durations to tasks based on priority levels (e.g., high-priority tasks get more time).
Email Daily Summary: Add functionality to email a summary of the scheduled tasks to yourself at the start of each day.
Recurring Tasks: Add logic for handling recurring tasks, scheduling them at regular intervals based on task titles.

Everyday Benefits:

Never Forget a Task: You’ll always have tasks scheduled into your day, making it easier to focus and stay productive.
Optimized Time Management: By allocating time blocks for tasks in your calendar, you avoid overloading yourself and get a realistic view of what can be done each day.
Seamless Task Organization: Combines the flexibility of Google Tasks for task management with the power of Google Calendar for time management, making it a well-rounded personal organization system.

This automation is a perfect fit for anyone who needs to manage multiple tasks, prioritize them, and ensure that their day is well-organized without spending too much time on manual planning.

Published 14 Oct 2024