Stop Being Late for Virtual Meetings

Tampermonkey script that completely interrupts your workflow to remind you of meetings.

I spent a lot of time in Google Meet (formerly Hangouts). I just counted my meetings for the week, and I have 27 on the calendar (and I have this Friday off). When people ask what I do for a living, I used to say I'm a programmer. Now I say, "I mostly attend virtual meetings."

This post is not really about meetings, their needs, or their effectiveness. It is about getting there on time. I tend to zone out when I'm in the middle of a project, and I have effectively learned to ignore the little toaster notifications that MacOS provides.

I once ran across a nice Chrome extension called Checker Plus for Google Calendar™ by Jason Savard. There was only one feature that I relied upon. When it was time for a meeting, a new browser window would open in the middle of my screen to alert me. This window got in my way and totally interrupted my workflow. I know most people would hate that, but for me, it was needed to grab my attention and say, "Stop working! It is time for your 1:1 meeting with your boss."

Unfortunately, our company cracked down on tools that are allowed to access our Google accounts. Therefore, I can no longer use that extension as it requires API access to my Google Calendar.

Frustratingly, I found myself being late, or missing meetings altogether again. It was embarrassing.

So I set out to write a replacement that does the same thing, without the need to access my Google account. I came up with the following Tampermonkey script:

1// ==UserScript==
2// @name         Google Calendar Alert Interrupter
3// @namespace    http://dustindavis.me/
4// @version      0.1
5// @description  Interrupt me to get my attention where there is a meeting!
6// @author       Dustin Davis
7// @match        https://calendar.google.com/calendar/*
8// @icon         data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
9// @grant        none
10// @run-at       document-start
11// ==/UserScript==
12
13;(function () {
14  'use strict'
15
16  var alrtScope
17  if (typeof unsafeWindow === 'undefined') {
18    alrtScope = window
19  } else {
20    alrtScope = unsafeWindow
21  }
22
23  alrtScope.alert = function (msg) {
24    console.log('Intercepted alert: ', msg)
25
26    window.name = 'gcal'
27    var newWin = openWindow('', 900, 600)
28    var html = `
29            <style>
30                body {
31                    background: #4185f4  }
32                section {
33                    background: black;
34                    color: white;
35                    border-radius: 1em;
36                    padding: 1em;
37                    position: absolute;
38                    top: 50%;
39                    left: 50%;
40                    margin-right: -50%;
41                    cursor: pointer;
42                    transform: translate(-50%, -50%) }
43            </style>
44            <section id="go">
45                <h1>${msg}</h1>
46            </section>
47        `
48    newWin.document.write(html)
49    newWin.document.write('<script/>')
50
51    var g = newWin.document.createElement('script')
52    var s = newWin.document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]
53    g.text =
54      'document.getElementById("go").addEventListener("click", () => { window.open("", window.opener.name); window.close();})'
55    s.parentNode.insertBefore(g, s)
56  }
57
58  function openWindow(url, width, height) {
59    var myWindow
60    var center_left = screen.width / 2 - width / 2
61    var center_top = screen.height / 2 - height / 2
62
63    myWindow = window.open(
64      url,
65      'Title',
66      'scrollbars=1, width=' +
67        width +
68        ', height=' +
69        height +
70        ', left=' +
71        center_left +
72        ', top=' +
73        center_top,
74    )
75    myWindow.focus()
76    return myWindow
77  }
78})()

What it Does

This script will basically override the default alert function on calendar.google.com. Instead of showing a browser alert message, it will open a new window - essentially doing the same thing as my other script by getting my attention.

Making it Work for You

If you would like to use this script, do the following:

Install the Tampermonkey extension on your favorite browser.
Install my script - Google Calendar Alert Interrupter.
Set up Google Calendar to show alerts in your browser for calendar events. You can do this by going to Settings -> General -> Notification Settings. I have mine set to alert 1 minute before events. I've found I never need more than a 1-minute notice.
Keep your calendar open all day. I pin my calendar tab to keep it open.