Google Calendar’s Focus Time Can Deny Unwanted Meetings

Google Calendar is getting a new Focus Time feature that will be useful for people who get a lot of meeting invites and don’t have the time to attend all of them. Focus Time will now automatically deny meetings for you in a selected time slot. The feature works by indicating the working status of users, making it easier to block out time for focused individual work.

In a blog post, Google wrote that it hopes to make it easier to create dedicated time for thinking and core work for users. Focus time is said to function a lot like an Out of Office event. You can now set Focus Time on Google Calendar. It is indicated by a small headphones icon, which can be customized in terms of color so each entry looks different from one and another.

Focus time will automatically decline conflicting events such as meetings. The entries will be available to be viewed in the Time Insights panel that will show how a user’s working hours are spread between meetings and other activities, allowing them to plan better.

To set a Focus Time, you need to go to Google Calendar and select when you want to schedule the entry. At the top of the event, click Focus Time and select the starting time of the event. Tap on the Save button.

The Focus Time feature is now available for Google Calendar for people in the Rapid Release domains. Notably, Focus Time entries are limited to users on certain Workspace accounts — Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Education Standard, Education Plus, and Nonprofits customers. It is not available for G Suite Basic and Business customers.

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