Time management is more important than many people working from home, blurring boundaries between career and person’s home life. To help users track their time and how much is spent at a meeting with another, Google has introduced a new calendar feature called the ongoing timer insight.
Insights time exactly what it feels like: a tool that provides insight into where you go, at least when collaborating with other people and go to the meeting. This feature, unfortunately, is only available when accessing the Google calendar on the desktop browser; It is not clear whether the feature will come to the cellphone in the future.
When opened, the user will see how much time they are spent at a one-on-one meeting with people, and how many guests participate in group meetings and how long the sessions take place. Data is easily digested in a circular graphic format and time bar. Insights including the days you have the most meetings and the average time spent in meetings every day.
Google specifically mentions changes in how many people work during a pandemic, note that time insight offers a greater awareness of where someone’s working hours are running. This will, ideally, make it easier for users to adjust their schedules and manage their time if necessary, including, potentially, reduce how much time is spent on video calls.
Other features offered with time insight include the ability to live the main contacts to ensure you stay up to date with them, and highlight certain individuals to see when your meeting is scheduled. This feature lasts for the next few weeks, but only for a particular workspace plan (the basic G Suite won’t get access, for example).
