If you’re reading this, you probably know that Google decided to remove the Google Calendar Goals feature in November 2022, and Users. Are. Upset.
Goals was a feature in Google Calendar that let users tell Google something they wanted to accomplish a certain number of times a week, and then Google Calendar would automatically schedule time for that task directly into your calendar. This could be used for things like “work out”, “practice guitar”, or “walk the dog”. Things that you want to do regularly but the exact time of day that you do it doesn’t really matter.
Anyone who has heard of “time blocking” knows that scheduling time for your tasks is an extremely effective time management strategy because you’re much more likely to get tasks done if they’re on your calendar. But time blocking has one critical downfall: when something comes up or you get behind, you have to manually rearrange the events you created for your tasks. This can get extremely tedious and discourage you from planning your day with time blocks in the first place.
This is the problem Google Calendar Goals was solving by dynamically scheduling your repeating tasks, and it was helping people get more done and achieve their goals. Unfortunately, Google Calendar Goas was reportedly somewhat buggy, lacking in features, and has ultimately been killed by Google.
The solution? FlowSavvy.
FlowSavvy is an app that has the auto-scheduling capabilities you love from Goals, and much, much more. It’s designed to be powerful enough for even the busiest schedules, yet simple to use. It syncs seamlessly with Google Calendar and automatically blocks time for both repeating tasks/habits and one-off tasks, something Goals never even supported.
Other features that make FlowSavvy the best Google Calendar Goals alternative:
- Robust free version
- Advanced auto-scheduling algorithm handles everything you can throw at it with ease
- Fully featured web, iOS, and Android apps
- Multiple highly customizable scheduling profiles (work, personal, etc)
- Automatically rebuild your schedule whenever you make a change (no more manually shifting all your time blocks!
- Partial completes and progress tracking
- And so much more!
FlowSavvy in practice
Here’s an example of how FlowSavvy is the perfect alternative for Google Calendar goals: Let’s say you wanted to work out 3 times a week. This would have been a great candidate for Goals. But now, you can just create a task in FlowSavvy, set it to repeat 3 days a week, and it will automatically find a time for each workout! Along with that, FlowSavvy has even more customizability than Goals ever did. For this workout example, you could tell FlowSavvy that you want to work out sometime from 7am to 12am or 5pm to 9pm on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, or every other day, or any other custom repeating rule you can think of. Then, after you complete a workout, you can check it off directly on your calendar.
Here’s an example of how FlowSavvy works especially well for students: Let’s say you have an exam coming up and you want to schedule some study sessions, but don’t care exactly when. You could enter “Study for exam” as a 2-hour task in FlowSavvy, then set it to repeat 3 times, ending just before your exam. That way FlowSavvy will schedule three 2-hour blocks of time for you to study, and it will dynamically adjust those time blocks if your schedule changes.
“But what happens if there’s no room in my schedule for my tasks?” Google Calendar Goals was notoriously bad at this scenario. It would just not schedule your tasks if they didn’t fit, and you wouldn’t even notice. That’s not ok for things that need to get done, like assignments, important tasks at work, or just habits that you’re passionate about.
FlowSavvy will always try to schedule tasks before their assigned due date, but if there simply isn’t room in your schedule, FlowSavvy will still schedule the task after the due date but automatically color-code the task red to indicate that it is scheduled to be finished after its due date. This automatic color coding lets you quickly see when you’re overcommitted and encourages you to confront the fact that you have too much on your plate, without letting you forget important tasks.
Time blocking is a crucial skill, and Google Calendar Goals was making that easier and more accessible for people. Although Google Calendar Goals is going away, FlowSavvy can still help you auto-schedule your week, and it’s here to stay! Create a free-forever account today, tell FlowSavvy what’s on your plate, and watch it automatically plan time for your tasks.