Particularly when you are managing schedules for more than one person, having a good calendar system is essential for your time management, planning, and overall sanity.
Setting up a good calendar can be time consuming, but once you are up and running, you’ll find it to be one of the most useful tools in your organization arsenal and will wonder how you ever lived without it.
The first choice you have is whether to use a paper or online calendar. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. A paper calendar hung prominently in your home can be like a command center for the house. Everyone can look at it and see what they have planned for the day, where other people are and when they can be expected home, etc. Everyone can add or change appointments easily, and children will find it easier to use. On the downside, you can’t take it with you and will probably end up supplementing it with a day planner or notebook, and you will have to transfer any changes to the paper calendar when you get home. Since you don’t have your calendar with you at all times, you may end up doing more rescheduling as you discover conflicts when you do get in front of the calendar.
An online calendar’s main advantage is in its portability. You can view it online or on your smart phone, and set it up so that everyone in the house can view/modify as you allow. You can take the calendar with you anywhere, making it easier to make appointments and commitments and check your schedule while you are out and about. The downside is that you have to have some electronic device available in order to use it, so if you find yourself with a dead battery or away from a computer, you can’t get to your information. Online calendars are also not as easy for small children to use and navigate.
The best of both worlds is probably the day planner, and if you’re only managing your own time then this is definitely the way to go. You can bring it with you anywhere, and updates and changes are a snap. The downside is that only you can see it, so if you need to share your schedule with a spouse or other household member, or you are making appointments on their behalf, that’s a challenge.
There are a lot of options out there for calendar systems. If you like a paper calendar, check out these offerings from Post-It; and Real Simple;. They both offer lots of space to write, color coding for different family members or categories, and easy changes and updates.
If you’re more into the idea of a digital calendar, check out Family Time Planner and Google Calendar (which is what my family uses). These calendars have the advantage of mobile access, shared ownership, color coding, and reminders. They also tie in to-do lists and messaging if you choose to use those options.
There are more day planner options than I could ever hope to list here, so shop around and find something that works for you. Look for something durable, with a strong cover, and portable. You may also want to consider one that holds your money, cards, etc. and therefore performs double-duty as a wallet. Some day planners also have address books built in, which can be a useful function.
If you’re managing calendars for more than one person, assign each person their own distinct color – either a different pen or a different color on the calendar app. You’ll also probably want to set aside a color for group or family events and one for holidays, birthdays, etc. Keep in mind that colors like yellow and orange can be hard to see, but colors like black and navy can be hard to distinguish from one another. Try to keep everyone’s color visible, but unique.
Once you have your calendar and your colors, grab every other calendar that you use – your company’s holiday schedule, the kids’ school calendar, your book club’s meeting schedule – anything else that lists dates and times that you need to know. You’re going to take all that information and consolidate it into your new calendar so it’s all in one place.
OK, so you have your calendar, you have your colors, you have your information…you’re ready to go!
The first step is the easiest – use last year’s calendar and write in all of the birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays.
Next, write in recurring appointments – practices, rehearsals, meetings, classes, etc. I know that you know that you have Girl Scouts every Tuesday at 6, but write it down every Tuesday, anyway. This way you don’t have to remember it, and you won’t run into a situation where you make a conflicting appointment because you forgot it was Girl Scout day when you were checking out at the doctor’s office. When in doubt, write it down.
The third step is to take all of those other calendars in your life and add that information to your calendar. Write in the days your office is closed, the days your kids have half days of school, the days you are scheduled to volunteer someplace. Write in the school concerts, picture days, bake sales, etc. All of the stuff you have to know about or prepare for. You can leave out the stuff you’re not going to do. If you never go to the YMCA’s movie night, don’t clog up your calendar with the information.
Last, add in any upcoming appointments that you already know about – play dates, doctor visits, promises to pick a friend up from the airport. Take this opportunity to add in reminders for appointments you need to make in the future, as well – notes early in the month that the family is due at the dentist or you have to make a well-baby visits, or that registrations are due.
If you are working with a paper calendar, show the end result to your family. Hang it in a prominent location and set ground rules about who can make changes to whose schedules. Introduce everyone to their colors and make sure they use them. If you’re going digital, set up permissions for what other people can see and make changes to, and make sure they know the color system as well.
Calendar setup is only step one – you still have to maintain and use the calendar in order for it to be effective. It may take you a couple weeks to figure out the systems that work best for your house, but once you do, you will find that a good calendar is something that no house can run well without.
