To reduce distractions while you work, you can schedule a focus time event in Google Calendar.
When you schedule a focus time event, you can:
- Mute chat notifications.
- Automatically decline meetings.
Learn who can use focus time
To schedule a focus time event, you must have a work or school account:
- Google Workspace for Business Standard and Plus
- Google Workspace for Enterprise Standard and Plus
- Google Workspace for Education
- Google Workspace for Nonprofits
Schedule focus time
Important: You can only create focus time events from Day and Week views. The events must have a specific start and end time.
- On your computer, open Google Calendar.
- Click the time you want to schedule focus time.
- At the top of the event, click Focus time.
- Select when you want your event to begin and end.
- Set your focus time preferences:
- To receive notifications for Chat messages, next to "Do not disturb," deselect the box.
- To automatically decline meetings during focus time, next to “Automatically decline meetings,” check the box.
- Click Save.
Tips:
- When you deselect Do not disturb, it becomes the default setting for new focus time events.
- By default, focus time declines new and existing meetings. However, you can update your focus time settings to “Only decline new meetings.”
Edit or delete focus time
- On your computer, open Google Calendar.
- Click the focus time event.
- Focus time events are marked with headphones
.
- Focus time events are marked with headphones
- Select an option:
- To edit the event:
- Click Edit
.
- Make your edits.
- Click Save.
- Click Edit
- To delete the event, click Delete event
.
- To edit the event:
Change how meetings are declined during focus time
- Click the focus time event.
- Click Edit
- Under “Automatically decline meetings,” select:
- Only new meeting invitations
- New and existing meetings
- Click Save.
Repeat a focus time event
- Click the focus time event.
- Click Edit
- Next to “Does not repeat,” click the Down arrow
.
- Select how often you want to repeat your focus time event.
- Click Save.
Change privacy settings on a focus time event
- Click the focus time event.
- Click Edit
- Under the calendar name, click Default visibility.
- Next to “Default visibility,” click the Down arrow
- Select Public or Private.
Change the color of a focus time event
- Click the focus time event.
- Click Edit
- Click Color
.
- Select a color.
- Click Save.
Tip: Your color selection is saved for future focus time events.
Learn about focus time & Chat notifications
- You can only choose to mute Chat notifications if:
- Your organization turns on Chat.
- The focus time block is less than 24 hours.
- The first time you use focus time, "Do not disturb" for Chat notifications is turned on by default.
- When you create or edit focus time, you can turn off Chat notifications.