The 3 Best Ways to Use Google Calendar as a College Student

Over the past week, I've been experimenting with Google Calendar as a personal planning device. Although it's still in beta (like every other Google product), it boasts an amazing set of features.

You will find many articles scattered about the Interweb about syncing Google Calendar (GCal) with iCal. This article is not about that; this article is about using GCal as a real calendar is used, no matter the situation.

To get started on GCal, just sign up for a GMail account. Then visit http://www.google.com/calendar.

The college student needs to familiarize himself/herself with the following three methods of using GCal:

• Use GCal's quick add function while planning at your computer. The quick add feature allows you to simply type the sentence that you would use to describe the event, such as "Meeting with Tom tomorrow at 5pm in the coffee shop" and Google does the rest of the work. Sweet like Jesus.
• When you're away from your computer, add events to your GCal using SMS on your phone. The cool-factor of this feature is unparalleled in this post-9/11 world. Whenever someone asks me, "Who are you texting?" I now answer "My secretary. Did I introduce you to my secretary? Her name's Google Calendar." To add events to your GCal using SMS, you use the same "quick add" syntax discussing two bullets earlier. It requires some set-up, though: you'll have to register your phone with Google, which is much less scary/1984-esque than it sounds. Once you've registered, just text your event to add to GVENT (48368) on your phone. GCal is even slimmer than PocketMod
• Load your Facebook events into GCal about once a week. While I know some people hate getting Facebook invites, I still find them useful even if they have become borderline to spam. To load them into GCal:
  
  • Navigate to your "My Events" page and press the button in the upper right corner.
  • Save this file somewhere accessible.
  • Then bring up GCal and go to "Settings."
  • Click on the "Import Calendar" tab.
  • Point it to the file you just downloaded and click OK
  Voila!
  

  So go fill up your new calendar, you young entrepreneur you. If I missed any sweet function, let us know in a comment.

  Related Posts:

  If you liked that, you might also enjoy:
  

  
  
  • Syncing Your Cell Phone's Calendar with Google Calendar
  
  
  • PocketMod - Get Organized Easily Without Buying a Dayplanner
  
  

Comments

[HackCollege » Syncing Yo]

[...] already discussed how to make Google Calendar the perfect secretary by texting and exporting new events to it. Now what about syncing your cell phone’s calendar [...]

[A Slim GTD for Students: Keepi]

[...] hard or soft dates that I receive, I punch into phone. Thanks to Google Calendar SMS, I don’t have to squint at my screen when I get home while [...]

[A Slim GTD for Students: Keepi]

[...] hard or soft dates that I receive, I punch into phone. Thanks to Google Calendar SMS, I don’t have to squint at my screen when I get home while [...]

[CHRISTOPHER WADE]

nice article.

my GTD system has been all over the place in recent years but lately i've just got iCal and this neat app called TaskPaper

http://hogbaysoftware.com/products/taskpaper

I only use TaskPaper for large video projects which require a lot of steps. it's a simple to-do list that i can check off when things are done, and it's a lot easier to understand than iCals to-do lists

yo, Chris... have you tried GCal before? How does it measure up to iCal? I guess you have an iphone now so it's different but i'm wondering if you've tried GCal.

[Penny Stock]

Great Article, Google has become an addict to everyone.

[Isa]

*stumbled*
Thanks for the useful info!

[How To Create One Link For All]

[...] This article assumes you’re already using Google Calendar to the fullest. [...]

[DragoneMoby]

Nice article. Just wish found it sooner. It's 2008 now. I'm a year late! :D

[Google Calendar « Geogra]

[...] The 3 Best Ways to Use Google Calendar as a College Student [...]

[Using Google Calendar «]

[...] The 3 Best Ways to Use Google Calendar as a College Student [...]

[Philip Wolstenholme]

You can use fbCal.com to subscribe to your Facebook events in GCal, negating having to spend time manually importing them each week!