13 simple Google Gemini tips and tricks for maximum productivity

Far more than just a talented chatbot, Google Gemini offers multi-modal AI functionality and powerful, painless interactivity. The highest tier of Google One, one of today’s best cloud storage services, conveniently includes access to its most powerful version.



Issuing simple prompts and generating competent, written text comes easy to new Gemini users, but its ever-expanding tool set provides impressive productivity enhancements. These are some of the most useful time-saving and output-increasing ways to use Google’s constantly improving AI agent.


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13 Upgrade time management and self-care routines

Learn efficient habits and effective practices

moto 360 on wrist with clock face showing

Feeding Gemini a thorough to-do list, complete with recurring chores and one-off activities, can return a concise schedule that prioritizes your personal routine, important upcoming deadlines, or new habits you’re trying to pick up. Alternatively, give the AI agent an in-depth rundown of how you spent the last few days, and it can provide tips on streamlining your schedule to fit everything more comfortably.


In your professional life, outlining a project’s needs and resources lets Gemini break down the most time- and cost-effective ways to achieve goals. After all, nothing helps develop machine-like efficiency like asking a machine.

12 Get straightforward YouTube video outlines

Don’t waste time sitting through extended videos

The YouTube extension in the Gemini app for Android.

Sometimes, informative creators go on long tangents, and educated experts get long-winded. Instead of waiting for long videos to get to the point, or trying to keep all the elements straight in your head, ask Gemini for a summary. It can pick out the most important points throughout a production and lay them out in an easy-to-read format.


It works especially well with how-to videos, like repair and cooking tutorials, but comes in handy with all kinds of content. It can even help avoid tedious ads, for those not yet subscribed to YouTube Premium.

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11 Summarize large, complex datasets

Parse overwhelming amounts of information

Summerize a spreadsheet using Gemini

If you have a spreadsheet with too many pages and columns to make quick sense of, have Gemini break it down for you. It can draw general inferences from the entire collection of data, investigate trends within single categories, and even help develop charts to visualize the information. You can ask for simpler or more complex outputs if you’re still having trouble understanding a document, or need more in-depth insights.


10 Autofill spreadsheets based on context

Quickly complete repetitive data entry

AI autofill in Google Sheets

Source: Google

Gemini in Google Sheets’ enhanced Smart Fill feature detects patterns and provides automated solutions to tedious text entry. It swiftly ports relatively simple data from one column or format to another. Gemini Autofill adds a layer of AI integration, identifying more complex relationships and suggesting ways to record it clearly and effectively. These two features exemplify the usefulness of what some call a “glorified autocomplete.”

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9 Easily analyze websites’ SEO quality

Check blog entries and editorials for thoroughness

A quick prompt enables Gemini to examine just how well you or an outlet put a site together. It can compile a report on the cohesiveness of headers, meta descriptions, keywords, and interlinks. You can also use it in tandem with your Search Engine Results page to see just how well you’re connecting with what the public wants. It especially excels at generating People Also Ask questions and Featured Snippets.

With access to Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool, few AI agents can match Gemini’s ability to analyze a page’s structure and navigation. Like with other direct requests for analysis, though, make sure to sense-check Gemini’s responses. Instead of relying on its SEO advice to be correct, use its claims to compare the page to current, established SEO techniques, and be ready to ask for revises output or a second opinion.

8 Troubleshoot and double-check code

Bounce programming ideas of a programmed model

: A continued conversation where the corrected YAML code for the 'Home Arrival' automation is displayed, along with explanations for the changes made and how they resolve the issues.


Coders have long used rubber ducks as inanimate listeners to help find problems slipping through the cracks. Gemini can talk back, making it even more effective. It can give you numerous starting points and methods of approaching a programming task, and evaluate how efficiently your already-written code will run.

You’ll want to check its suggestions against your knowledge and resources, and it sometimes runs into dead ends or hallucinates, but it’s much more effective than a bath toy.

7 Create inspiring travel itineraries

Let Gemini act as a springboard for holiday plans

Ask Gemini what the weather is like at the destination

Use Gemini for Google Sheets to assemble seamless travel plans, whether for a work or recreational trip. It can direct you to the most famous sites, show you more under-the-radar attractions, and even introduce you to some obscure, local haunts. Naturally, you can always use its sample itineraries to help brainstorm where you want to go and what you want to do, taking the stress out of planning long-distance outings.


6 Devise more effective AI prompts

How Gemini helps you use Gemini

Telling the AI assistant you need help with the right Gemini prompt can unlock strategies you might otherwise have to research and guess at. This makes sense, because what knows Gemini better than it does? Describing your needs, including context, format, and degree of specificity can slash the amount of time it takes to get useful information. You can also tailor the output for the right tone to communicate with specific groups of people.

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5 Simplify technical writing for general readers

Cut down on jargon and streamline complicated topics

For a technical writer explaining advanced topics to generalists, or a layperson trying to grasp the intricacies of a high-tech field, Gemini works wonders at making confusing topics simple. It replaces field-specific terminology with straightforward wording, and helps readers and writers at both ends of the spectrum stay on the same page.


4 Find answers to obscure questions

When Google Search isn’t quite enough

Google Gemini on an Android phone.

It’s difficult to get the exact answers to some questions, but Google’s vast Knowledge Graph links its huge array of information in powerful ways. It enhances your ability to research and create in-depth, informative content, especially when using Gemini within Google Docs.

Gemini and other LLMs do make mistakes, and you’ll always need to double-check its answers, but a quick copy and paste makes that easy. If nothing else, searching the web via Gemini gives you the perfect springboard for answering extremely specific queries.

3 Implement advanced spreadsheet formulas

Bypass the process of mastering Google Sheets

Gemini created formula in Google Sheets


You don’t need to spend countless hours mastering spreadsheets anymore to plug in the most effective formulas. Gemini for Google Sheets already does a fantastic job of suggesting the right operations, and it’s always getting better. Competent spreadsheet management can make or break a team, making this a powerful professional tool.

2 Prepare for important interviews and meetings

Have Gemini ask the questions to avoid getting blindsided

Text-to-speech logo overlayed on image of person holding Android phone

Source: Android Police

Nothing beats practicing for one-on-one interviews and group panel discussions. Give Gemini your thesis, resume, or discussion topic and resources, and have it grill you on related content. You’ll quickly develop a deeper understanding of your own material, and it could even help you get a job or promotion.


1 Fine-tune custom Gems AI agents

Keep tailored AI assistants on hand at all times

An animation of starting a custom Google Gem Ai agent

Source: Google

Google Gems AI agents let you customize a specific agent for the topics, formats, and tones you regularly need. Develop your own, and keep it by your side for your most common tasks. This can greatly reduce the amount of time and effort it takes to use AI, in another way that Gemini helps you use itself.

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As Google further integrates Gemini within powerful services like the Workspace app, its effectiveness will only improve, especially considering the on-device AI processing that today’s top smartphones allow. It reduces the complexity of training, communication, summary, and creation, and can help keep your thoughts in order when you seemingly have too much information to handle.

If you use these or other productivity tips often, you’ll probably benefit from a Gemini Advanced subscription, which gives access to more powerful processing than standard Gemini.