Clockwise to Reclaim: Step-by-Step Migration Guide

Before You Start

• Estimated time: 45 minutes
• Cost: $0 (Reclaim has a free Lite tier that covers most Clockwise features)
• You'll need: access to your Google Calendar or Outlook account and (ideally) screenshots of your old Clockwise settings

Step 1: Audit Your Clockwise Setup (5 min)

Before you touch Reclaim, make a list of what Clockwise was actually doing for you. The typical list includes:

• Focus Time blocks — how many per week, what duration, what days
• Smart 1:1s — which teammates, how often, preferred times
• Slack Focus status sync — on or off
• Working hours configuration
• Meeting buffers — minutes before/after
• Meeting Hours policies (if your team used them)

If you still have access to Clockwise, screenshot each of these pages. If not, just write down what you remember.

Step 2: Sign Up for Reclaim.ai (2 min)

Go to reclaim.ai and create a free account. Use the same Google or Microsoft account you used with Clockwise — this ensures Reclaim connects to the same calendar. The free Lite tier is enough to recreate your Clockwise setup; you can upgrade to the $10/month Starter plan later if you want unlimited habits and scheduling links.

Step 3: Configure Working Hours (3 min)

In Reclaim, go to Settings → Hours and set your working hours to match what you had in Clockwise. Reclaim distinguishes between Working Hours (for meetings) and Personal Hours (for habits), which is subtly different from how Clockwise worked. For a direct port, set them the same.

Step 4: Recreate Focus Time as Habits (10 min)

This is the biggest conceptual shift. Clockwise's Focus Time was a single toggle; Reclaim models it as Habits. A Habit is a recurring time block with a duration, frequency, ideal time, and priority. To replicate Clockwise Focus Time:

1. Go to Habits → New Habit
2. Name it "Deep Work" (or whatever you want)
3. Set frequency: "Every weekday"
4. Set duration: 2 hours (or however much focus time you want)
5. Set ideal time: "Mornings" if you want it front-loaded
6. Set priority: "High" — Reclaim will protect this against non-urgent meetings
7. Save

Repeat for any other recurring focus blocks you had (e.g., a weekly planning session, a daily workout, a weekly learning hour).

Step 5: Recreate Smart 1:1s (5 min)

Reclaim's Smart 1:1 feature is the direct analog of Clockwise's Smart 1:1s. Go to Smart 1:1s → New Smart 1:1, pick a teammate, set frequency (weekly, biweekly), and Reclaim will find a slot that works for both calendars — and automatically reschedule when conflicts appear.

Important: Both participants need Reclaim installed for Smart 1:1 auto-rescheduling to work. Send your teammate a link to install Reclaim's free tier before you configure the Smart 1:1.

Step 6: Install Reclaim Slack App (2 min)

Go to Integrations → Slack and install the Reclaim Slack app. This syncs your Slack status to "In focus time" during habit blocks and "In a meeting" during calls — the same behavior you had with Clockwise's Slack integration.

Step 7: Connect Your Task Manager (5 min)

This is a feature Clockwise didn't have. Reclaim can pull tasks from Todoist, Asana, Linear, Jira, ClickUp, Trello, or Google Tasks and auto-schedule them on your calendar. Go to Integrations, connect your task manager, and set up task priorities. Even if you don't use this heavily at first, connecting now means future tasks will get auto-scheduled as you add them.

Step 8: Set Meeting Buffers (3 min)

In Settings → Meetings, configure the same buffer times you had in Clockwise (typical: 5-10 minutes before and after). Reclaim will automatically apply these to new meetings on your calendar.

Step 9: Test for a Week (5-7 days)

Run Reclaim for a full work week before tweaking. Pay attention to:

• Are your habits actually showing up on the calendar?
• Are they being defended against meeting invites?
• Is the Smart 1:1 auto-rescheduling working?
• Is the Slack status syncing correctly?

If any habit isn't being defended, bump its priority from Medium to High in the habit settings.

Step 10: Decide on Paid vs Free

After a week, decide whether you want to upgrade. The free Lite tier covers: 2 habits, Smart 1:1s, basic task integration, Slack sync. The $10/month Starter tier adds: unlimited habits, scheduling links (Calendly replacement), travel time blocks, custom buffer rules. Most Clockwise users will want Starter because you'll usually have more than 2 habits once you get into it.

Common Migration Pitfalls

• Forgetting to set habit priority. Medium-priority habits yield to meetings; set High for the ones you actually want protected.
• Not installing Reclaim on both sides of a Smart 1:1. Auto-rescheduling requires both calendars to be connected to Reclaim.
• Expecting team-wide optimization. Reclaim optimizes per user, not across a whole team. If you specifically need cross-team meeting rearrangement, consider pairing Reclaim with Fellow.app for analytics.
• Leaving old Clockwise events on the calendar. If Clockwise left behind orphan events, clean them up before Reclaim starts scheduling — otherwise you'll end up with conflicts.

What If Reclaim Doesn't Work for You?

If after a week Reclaim feels wrong, try Motion (more aggressive, different philosophy), Akiflow (if you're a task-manager power user), or fall back to plain Google Calendar + Gemini. See our Clockwise alternatives guide for the full list.

You're Done

That's it. 45 minutes total and you've ported your entire Clockwise setup to a product that's actively developed and has a healthy business model. If you want to go deeper on the differences between the two tools, read our Reclaim vs Clockwise comparison.