Adding Google Tasks to the main Gmail window

As I get older, I’m having to write down things that I need to do, otherwise I’ll forget. Up until now I’ve been using post-it notes, but my desk is getting rather messy and I’m losing track of which post-it notes are more important than others! So I’ve started using Google Tasks to keep track of what needs to be done, both one-off things and monthly things like paying bills. I can then sync Google Tasks to my Android phone with Astrid.

Since Gmail’s recent redesign, you can access Tasks from a dropdown menu in the top left:

However, this just displays the tasks in a pop-up in the bottom right. Thankfully, there’s a way to display them in the main window, so I can keep track of tasks without having to navigate to an extra window. First, open your Mail settings by clicking on the config icon in the top right, then selecting Mail settings:

Then, select the ‘Labs’ tab. You want to enable a feature called ‘Add any gadget by URL’.

Finally, select the ‘Gadgets’ tab, and enter ‘http://www.google.com/ig/modules/tasks.xml’ in the text box and click Add.

You’ll now have a Tasks gadget in the Gmail sidebar – much more convenient!