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Creating and syncing Google Tasks to Reclaim
Creating and syncing Google Tasks to Reclaim

How to create, customize, and sync Google Tasks to and from Reclaim.

Updated over a week ago

The Google Task integration allows you to sync your Google Tasks to Reclaim to create them as Tasks and schedule them on your calendar. This document will cover how to create, customize, and sync your Google Tasks to Reclaim.

Required fields for Google Tasks

The only required field for syncing a Google Task to Reclaim is a title for the task, which will also be used as the title for the Task in Reclaim as well as the title of the calendar events created for that task.
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You do not need to specify a due date to sync a Google Task to Reclaim.

Syntax for Google Tasks

There are some fields (e.g., due date) that can be added via the Google Tasks UI by pointing and clicking. There are some fields that are native to Reclaim that Google Tasks doesn't have UI for, and in those cases you can use words in the title to indicate what those fields should be set to.
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Below is an example of a Google Tasks item with the full syntax entered in, along with a reference for what each part of the syntax means:

Example and reference guide

Write the docs (type work duration:30m due Friday not before Monday priority:critical upnext)

Syntax

Definition

type

Sets the Hours that the Task will be scheduled during. Can take either work or personal to map to Working or Personal Hours. See more details below.

due

Sets the due date. See more details below. due can take multiple date formats, such as monday, next monday, tomorrow, August 7th, in 1d, 9/22, next January.

not before

Sets the "earliest scheduling date" for the item. See more details below. not before can take multiple date formats, such as monday, next monday, tomorrow, August 7th, in 1d, 9/22, next January.

priority:

Sets the priority of the item in Reclaim. See more details below.

upnext

Sends the item to Up Next in Reclaim. See more details below.

duration: (e.g., 30m or 1h)

Sets the duration for the item in Reclaim. See more details below.

nosplit

Sets the task to not split into multiple events & to schedule the entire duration as one event

Once synced, Reclaim will automatically strip out other parameters besides the title, so your calendar events and Google Tasks won't have a lot of extra words on them when they're placed on your calendar.

Setting duration for Google Tasks

Once you have your Google Tasks integration set up, you can begin syncing Google Tasks as smart Tasks right to your calendar via Reclaim.

By default, Reclaim will create Tasks for synced Google Task items based on your default Task duration settings in Reclaim (learn more about setting your Task defaults here).

Set task duration for synced Google Tasks

You can easily set a custom duration for a Google Task by adding it in parentheses next to the title of the task. Simply indicate the number of minutes, hours, or days enclosed in parentheses, such as:

  • (duration:45m) = 45 minutes

  • (duration:2h) = 2 hours

  • (duration:4d) = 4 days

Note: The unit of time is case insensitive.

For example, if you need 2 hours to get board slides completed:

Get board slides done (duration:2h)

Update duration for a synced Google Task

To adjust the duration after the Google Task has been created, edit the duration text to reflect the new duration and re-save the Google Task to update.

Setting "Earliest starting date" for Google Tasks

You can delay when Reclaim should start scheduling your synced Google Task by adding simple text to the title of a Google Task.

To specify the 'Earliest start date and time' for a Google Task to schedule, format the earliest start date in brackets in the item title field: (not before [date] [time]).


For example, to schedule time for catching up on emails from Google Tasks no earlier than next Friday:

Catch up on email (not before next Friday)

Use hard date for 'Earliest start' date

A hard date may also be used in the not before field.

For example, to tell Reclaim to not schedule 4 hours for an OKR review before March 31st 2022, write OKR review (not before 3/31/2022 11am duration 4h) into the title field in Google Tasks.

If you specify an exact date, it must be written in MM/DD/YYYY format.

Setting due dates on Google Tasks

In Google Tasks, a due date reflects the desire of "I want to do this task on this date." In the context of Reclaim's Google Tasks integration, a due date means "I want to get this task done before this date."

Reclaim automatically pulls in due dates from Google Tasks to defend time on your calendar before the task is due. If you need to update a due date for a synced item in Google Tasks, updates to that due date can be made from both Reclaim or Google Tasks.

To set the due date on a Google Task, you can use one of two methods: add it via the app's timepicker, or add it inline in the task title.

Setting due date via the due date timepicker

You can set the due date by clicking the timepicker on any Google Task.

Setting due date inline in the Google Task title

You can set a due date for when Reclaim should schedule your synced Google Task by via simple text in the title of a Google Task.

To specify the due date for a Google Task to schedule, format the date in brackets in the item title field: (due [date] [time]).


For example, to schedule time for doing the dishes from Google Tasks by next Friday:

Do the dishes (due next Friday)

A hard date may also be used in the due field.

For example, to tell Reclaim to schedule 4 hours for an OKR review by March 31st 2022 at 11am, write OKR review (due 3/31/2022 11am duration 4h) into the title field in Google Tasks. If you specify an exact date, it must be written in MM/DD/YYYY format.

Telling Reclaim how to sync tasks without due dates

The Google Tasks integration allows you to decide whether you want Reclaim to use your default due date when a task doesn't include a due date, or if you truly want to use no due date.

  • If you select Add my default due date ({your default}) to all Google Tasks without a due date, then any task that doesn't have a due date in Google Tasks will use your default due date.

  • If you select Do not add a due date, then any task that doesn't have a due date in Google Tasks will be synced with no due date.

Setting priority on Google Tasks

Tasks synced via Reclaim's task integrations will automatically map Priorities in Reclaim to the priority you set for a task in your project management apps.

Since Google Tasks does not feature native 'priority' levels, specifying your priority level for Reclaim on synced items can be done through native language syntax:

Priority syntax in Google Tasks

Priority level mapped in Reclaim

(priority:critical)

(priority:high)

(priority:medium)

(priority:low)

Critical (P1)

High priority (P2)

Medium priority (P3)

Low priority (P4)

(priority:P1)

(priority:P2)

(priority:P3)

(priority:P4)

Critical (P1)

High priority (P2)

Medium priority (P3)

Low priority (P4)

For example, if you want to set an item called "Eat Bananas" to Priority 1 in Google Tasks, you'd write Eat bananas (priority:critical) or Eat bananas (priority:P1) in the title.

If you donโ€™t specify a priority for your Google Tasks, the task will schedule with the priority setting you have selected in your Default Task Settings under Settings > General in the app. By default, this is set to High priority (P2).

Since you are specifying the priority level in Reclaim when adding it to the task title, updating your priority level for a synced Google Task in Reclaim will reflect the new priority in Google Tasks (unlike other task integrations as outlined in this doc).

For more information on using Priorities with Tasks, check out this doc.

Sending Google Tasks to Up Next

You can automatically add a Google Task to Up Next in Reclaim by using upnext in the title. For example, if you want to send an item called "Read books" to Up Next, you'd write Read books (upnext).

Setting the task type in Google Tasks

You can tell Reclaim to categorize and sync a Task around either your Working or Personal Hours by using type work or type personal. For example, if you wanted to make a task to schedule during your Working Hours for 30 minutes to catch up on email, you'd write:

Catch up on email (type work duration:30m)

How to sync Google Tasks from Gmail to Reclaim

Reclaim's Google Tasks integration allows you to easily create Tasks directly from Gmail with a single click or keyboard shortcut.

  1. Navigate to Gmail and find a message you want to convert to a Task.

  2. At the top of the message, click the Add to Tasks button or use the keyboard shortcut Shift-T.

  3. The message subject will be added to your Google Tasks as a new Task.

Make sure the Task gets added to the ๐Ÿ—“ Reclaim task list, as this is the list that syncs with Reclaim. The task will contain a deep link from the task to the email thread for context.

By default, it will assign one hour of time to work on it and a due date of three days from now. You can change this either by editing the Task in Reclaim or utilize the natural language syntax.

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