Google Bets on 'Timeful' for Better Time Management

by Monica Joshi

Why are there only 24 hours in a day? The question looms over a ton of heads as the day draws to a close. We have the absolute desire to get all that we want done in the little 24 hours that we call a “day” and yet, so many boxes are left unchecked on our calendars day after day. Even though there are infinite tools at our disposal to be productive such as apps, calendars, and organizers, we are still left with the overwhelming feeling that we didn't get all that we could get done in the day.

For all those wanting a better tool to focus and be productive throughout the day, Google is betting on a newcomer to the iOS scene, Timeful. The app is designed by a group of researchers who have studied people's intentions and the irrational ways in which they cannot make the best-laid plans work.

The idea behind Timeful is that you not only plug into your calendar meetings and appointments; it also encourages you to indulge in a little wishful thinking, about the way you'd ideally be spending your time. You can put in, for example, something that you'd like to do when you have free time once a week like fitting in a quick workout. Whenever free time crops up in your calendar anytime during the week, it will pop up with the suggestion “Do 20 Minute HIIT”. You can put in as many or as few suggestions as you want and the app will let you fill in all your free time.

The concern with an app like this is that it might leave you feeling overwhelmed. Although we want to be productive and get a lot of things done, maybe an app like this might add to our feeling underachieved during the day. An app like this might not to be a solution but rather a part of the problem.

Is it really necessary for us to schedule in everything? For instance, mini breaks between longer work sessions for stretching. Studies have shown that brief diversions from the task at hand will help the brain focus on the task after returning, but it doesn't seem necessary to always schedule those in. Depending on the person's ability to focus on longer projects and their momentum, the alarm-like setting might cause them more anxiety rather than make them more productive in the given 45 minutes for a task.

It is also possible that looking at the schedule and seeing it crammed with numerous things might cause you to be less than thrilled about waking up and getting on with the day.

Yet another is the number of apps that promise you that they will help you be more productive when they simply end up occupying space on your phone. In the iPhone app store alone there are over 3000 apps when you search up “time management” and “calendar”, but only a few have truly helped users with their time management issue. Evernote, for example, is one of the only calendar-like apps with a Post-it note approach that boasted of a loyal a 100 million users last year. With the competition so tough, we have to wonder where Google's latest find will fit into the mix and whether it will make it to the top of the search box.