Automate Your Daily Tasks with Google Sheets and Apps Script A Complete Tutorial

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Title: Enhancing Productivity with Automated Daily Task Tracking

Introduction: In today’s fast-paced world, managing daily tasks efficiently can be a challenge. However, with the power of automation and the versatility of tools like Google Sheets and Google Apps Script, it’s possible to streamline your task management process. This blog post will guide you through creating an automated daily task tracker that reads tasks from a Google Sheet, identifies those due today, and sends a daily summary email.

Setup the Google Sheet: Start by creating a new Google Sheet and adding “Task Name,” “Due Date,” and “Status” as headers. Populate your sheet with tasks, ensuring you include a mix of due dates and statuses. This step is crucial for organizing your tasks and preparing them for automation.

Open Google Apps Script: Access Google Apps Script from your Google Sheets by navigating to Extensions > Apps Script. Here, you’ll give your project a name, such as “Daily Task Tracker,” setting the stage for your scripting adventure.

Writing the Script: Replace any existing code in the Apps Script editor with the provided script. This script will be your magic wand, filtering through tasks, identifying those due today, and preparing them for notification.

Setting a Trigger for Daily Execution: To ensure your script runs daily without manual intervention, set up a time-driven trigger. This step involves selecting your function and specifying when and how often it should execute, automating the process of task tracking.

Save and Authorize: After saving your script, run the sendDailyTaskSummary function manually to authorize it. This initial run-through is necessary for permissions and ensuring your script operates smoothly thereafter.

Conclusion: With your automated daily task tracker in place, you’ll start receiving emails summarizing tasks due today, transforming how you manage your workload. This exercise not only enhances your productivity but also offers a hands-on experience with automation and script writing. Whether for personal use or within a team, this solution paves the way for efficient task management and optimized daily routines.

By embracing technology and automation, you can reclaim time and focus on what truly matters. Dive into this project and experience the satisfaction of a well-organized workflow!

Tags: #GoogleSheets #GoogleAppsScript #Automation #Productivity #TaskManagement #EmailSummary #CodingExercise #WorkflowOptimization

Exercise: Automated Daily Task Tracker

Objective: Build a script that reads tasks from a Google Sheet, identifies tasks due today, and sends a daily summary email of these tasks.

Required Data in Google Sheets

Task NameDue DateStatus
Task 12024-02-10Pending
Task 22024-02-10Completed
Task 32024-02-11Pending
  • Task Name: The name or description of the task.
  • Due Date: The date by which the task should be completed, formatted as YYYY-MM-DD.
  • Status: The current status of the task (e.g., Pending, Completed).

Step by Step to Achieve

  • Setup the Google Sheet:
    • Create a new Google Sheet.
    • Add the headers “Task Name”, “Due Date”, and “Status” in the first row.
    • Fill in some sample task data according to the table format above.
  • Open Google Apps Script:
    • Go to Extensions > Apps Script.
    • Give your project a name, for example, “Daily Task Tracker”.
  • Write the Script:
    • In the Apps Script editor, replace any existing code with the script provided below.
  • Set a Trigger for Daily Execution:
    • In the Apps Script editor, go to Edit > Current project’s triggers.
    • Click Add Trigger in the lower right.
    • Choose the function sendDailyTaskSummary.
    • Set Select event source to Time-driven and select the type of time trigger (e.g., Day timer) and time of day.
  • Save and Authorize:
    • Save your script.
    • Run sendDailyTaskSummary function manually for the first time to authorize the script. Follow the prompts to allow permissions.

Full Code

function sendDailyTaskSummary(){

  const sheetName = ‘tasks’;

  const sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getSheetByName(sheetName);

  const range = sheet.getDataRange();

  const data = range.getValues();

  const values = data.slice(1);

  Logger.log(data);

  const today = new Date();

  today.setHours(0,0,0,0);

  const tasksDueToday = values.filter((row)=>{

    const dueDate = new Date(row[1]);

    dueDate.setHours(0,0,0,0);

    return dueDate.valueOf() === today.valueOf() && row[2] === ‘Pending’;

  })

  if(tasksDueToday.length >0 ){

    const email = Session.getActiveUser().getEmail();

    let messageBody = ‘Tasks Due Today;\n\n’;

    tasksDueToday.forEach((task)=>{

      messageBody += `${task[0]}\n`;

    })

    const subject = ‘Daily Tasks Summary’;

    MailApp.sendEmail(email,subject,messageBody);

  }

  Logger.log(tasksDueToday);

}

Explanation of the Code

  • Line 2: Opens the active spreadsheet and selects the sheet by name.
  • Line 3-4: Gets the full range of data in the sheet and reads the values into a 2D array.
  • Line 5-6: Sets today’s date with time stripped off for comparison.
  • Line 8-13: Filters the tasks to find those that are due today and are pending.
    • Converts the due date to a Date object and normalizes it for comparison.
    • Compares the due date to today’s date and checks if the status is “Pending”.
  • Line 15-23: Constructs the email message if there are tasks due today.
    • Iterates over the filtered tasks and appends each task name to the message body.
  • Line 25-27: Sends the email to the active user with a summary of tasks due today.

This exercise demonstrates reading from a Google Sheet, manipulating dates, filtering data based on conditions, and using Google Apps Script to automate daily notifications. It’s an excellent way to learn how to automate routine checks and notifications based on spreadsheet data.

“Automate Your Daily Tasks with Google Sheets and Apps Script: A Complete Tutorial”

Join us in this step-by-step tutorial where we dive into creating an automated daily task tracker using Google Sheets and Google Apps Script. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced coder, you’ll learn how to set up a Google Sheet, write a script to read tasks, identify those due today, and send a summary email of your pending tasks directly to your inbox. This guide is perfect for anyone looking to increase productivity and automate their daily task management. Don’t miss out on optimizing your workflow with this practical coding exercise!