How To Use Motion To Optimize Your Day | Motion App Review
Howto & Style
Introduction
Time management is crucial to enhancing productivity, and one effective way to achieve this is by utilizing a calendar to track your commitments, events, and tasks. With a clear overview of what to expect, you can plan your day strategically and maximize productivity. Various apps have been available for years to help you organize your workday alongside your calendar; however, none are quite like Motion. This article will provide a detailed review of the Motion app.
What is Motion?
Motion is an AI-driven calendar application designed to help you manage your entire life efficiently. It allows you to track your schedule, recurring tasks, and meetings while automatically planning your day based on various parameters such as deadlines, working hours, and available resources. Using Motion, users can gain insights into their schedules and streamline their time management effectively.
Getting Started with Motion
When you begin using Motion, you’ll be prompted to connect either Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook, as these are the only options currently available. During the setup process, you will also define your work hours, which set the parameters for adding work-related tasks. Additionally, you can establish recurring time blocks for activities like lunches or weekly team meetings.
Once your preferences are set and you feel comfortable navigating the user interface, you can start adding tasks. Motion will then automatically schedule these tasks in your calendar, taking into consideration several factors: priority levels (ASAP, hard deadline, soft deadline), start dates, completion deadlines, and your availability during specific periods (like mornings or evenings).
Key Features of Motion
Motion has three primary features: tasks, calendars, and a booking system. All planned tasks and scheduled meetings are incorporated into your calendar, ensuring everything is organized. Motion is accessible as a web app, mobile app, and Chrome extension, but to fully leverage its potential, the Chrome extension is highly recommended for utilizing shortcuts and maximizing productivity.
When adding tasks, you may notice color-coding systems within the app. Tasks created directly in Motion display as grey blocks, with dotted borders indicating flexible tasks that can be completed at different times before their deadlines. In contrast, tasks with solid borders are designated as locked tasks, which must be completed at a specific time.
Managing Meetings & Booking
If your role requires frequent meetings, Motion's booking feature is a beneficial tool. You can create booking pages similar to tools like Calendly but with fewer features. The time booked is integrated automatically into your Motion calendar. Motion also provides a template maker to assist users in identifying shared free time for scheduling, which is particularly valuable when dealing with multiple time zones.
With the Chrome extension, you can access your calendar, add tasks, view existing items, and share availability easily. Motion's anti-distraction system helps keep your social media usage in check while enhancing focus with timely alerts.
Room for Improvement
Despite its strengths, as I engaged with the tool more, I began to notice some missing features that one may typically expect from productivity apps today. The lack of ability to color-code tasks that originate from the app is a drawback, as is the absence of import functionality for tasks from other platforms like ClickUp without routing through Google Calendar.
Moreover, as Motion is still under development, it feels like it primarily functions as an extension reliant on Google or Outlook rather than as a standalone calendar solution.
Pricing
The cost of Motion is $ 34 per month, which can be considered pricey, but if billed annually, this drops to $ 19 per month. While the app's creators suggest it can help users complete 25% more tasks, I did not experience that level of efficiency. However, it does enable more effective task completion overall. Ultimately, whether it's worth the investment comes down to individual valuation of time; if it saves you even 30 minutes daily, the investment can be justified.
Conclusion
In summary, here are some pros and cons of the Motion app based on user feedback:
Pros:
- AI-driven automatic task scheduling.
- User-friendly interface and customizable settings.
- Integration with major calendar platforms.
- Booking features for easy meeting organization.
Cons:
- Limited calendar integrations.
- Lack of task color coding.
- Still in development, which may hinder features.
Overall, Motion serves as a powerful tool for managing your time more efficiently.
Keywords
- Motion app
- AI calendar
- Time management
- Task scheduling
- Productivity tool
- Meeting booking
- Google Calendar
- Microsoft Outlook
- User-friendly interface
- Chrome extension
FAQ
What is the Motion app?
Motion is an AI-powered calendar application designed to help users manage their schedules, tasks, and meetings efficiently.
What calendars can I integrate with Motion?
Currently, Motion only supports integration with Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook.
What are the main features of Motion?
Motion offers features such as task management, calendar integration, and meeting booking systems.
How can I add tasks in Motion?
You can easily add tasks using keyboard shortcuts or by dragging and dropping tasks within the calendar interface.
Is there a Chrome extension for Motion?
Yes, Motion has a Chrome extension that enhances usability, providing shortcuts and quick access to calendar features.
What is the pricing for Motion?
Motion costs $ 34 per month or $ 19 per month when billed annually.
