How to Organize a Family Calendar

Posted On July 25, 2021

As a family, you probably have so many activities and obligations during the day, and keeping all that in just your mind is impossible. Your daily and weekly schedules sometimes seem like a mess if all of it it’s not put on paper or kept in one place where everyone can track it. You probably have soccer practices, ballet classes, foreign language classes, school activities, your jobs, meetings, date nights and you might have even planed some time to have just for yourself. And keeping track of all that is impossible unless you’re using a family calendar.

However, even a family calendar can get overcrowded and hard to read if you don’t organize it properly. And that is why you need to learn how to organize a family calendar and always know where to go next during your day and keep track of everyone.

Benefits of using a family calendar

Before you learn how to make a family calendar, you should know why you should use it. It certainly can keep you organized, but it also brings many other benefits for the whole family.

Firstly, when using a family calendar, you will never forget any meetings, soccer practices, school plays or some other non-regular scheduled events.
Secondly, you don’t have insight into your calendar only. You can actually see everyone else’s’ schedules as well and really know what’s on the agenda for each day.
Then, a family calendar can bring a family together and help you play each day as a team. Plus, it keeps the whole team well-informed on the plans and makes getting around much easier.
Also, you get to see if some member of your family is overcrowded and you can even step in and help with getting some things done.
Knowing how to organize a family calendar and how to use it properly can make planning some family time a lot easier. You can even make it a priority this way.
Lastly, with a family calendar, no one will forget something important. Even the less important things won’t be forgotten, such as getting that book back to the library.

Don’t forget to color code

It goes without saying that you know how to make a family calendar, but you might need a bit of help when it comes to its organization. Whether you have one big calendar hanging on your hallway wall, or you’re using a Google calendar or any other apps, you should rely on good old color coding.

Sit together and decide on the colors for each event, reminder, activities, tasks and so on. You can even dedicate a different color to each family member so it’s easier to find what they’re up to next or where they need to be. With color coding, you will always know at whose calendar you’re looking and it will be so much easier to go through your days and don’t forget any event that’s coming.

Sharing is caring

Let’s say you’re going to switch to Google calendar or some other app to keep track of your daily tasks. However, once you’ve put entries in and made the calendar, don’t just keep it to yourself. That way, the burden is again on you alone and no one can help you stay organized. That is why you should share the calendar with each family member. Even if you all have your separate calendars – you, your partner, your daughter, your son – you should all invite each other to your calendars and always have a clear insight into your tasks and where everyone is going to be throughout the day. You can even share the calendars with Grandma and Grandpa and keep them posted on family visits, planned vacations or a Sunday barbecue.

Check if the school is using one

Your kids might have plenty of extracurricular activities or the school organizes plenty of such events and there is a chance they are using an app for that. This can make things a whole lot easier and you can simply sync it in with your family calendar. So, ask the school or your kid to share it with you and you will stay organized.

Add things as they happen

As soon as your kids get the school calendar and their activity schedules, make sure to put the dates and time into the family calendar. Also, as soon as you find out about a meeting at work or some new things you get to do this week or even a few months ahead, don’t be shy to enter it into the calendar immediately. Otherwise, you might forget about that event or about putting in and once again you will face with an unpleasant surprise of being late for something or calling your babysitter at the last minute.

Highlight the important things

Some things may carry more importance than the others in the calendar, and you should highlight them. This can be done through color coding and have a specific color for very important things or have a separate label. Also, for some important events that need a bit of preparing beforehand, you can easily set up reminders and always be on alert; for example “Start packing for the holiday!” reminder can be made a week ahead so you can know slowly and easily start preparing for your family holiday.

Add birthdays

It’s easy to forget someone’s birthday if your daily schedule is a bit crowded. So, it is a good idea to put in the birthdays of your family members and close friends of all of you. This way, a reminder will pop up and you all will know to congratulate your Grandpa or Grandma. You can even put in the events of family gatherings, birthday parties, and other special occasions so you can plan around those and never miss a thing.

Having a family calendar makes things a lot easier. Settle on the app you want to use or if you want to simply hang in on the wall, and always have insight into what’s going on with each and every one of you.

Author: Catherine Evans

Catherine is a writer from Canada who simply loves toys, collectibles and superhero figurines. Writing is her passion, but she also loves reading, enjoying her “me time” and finding new ways to improve her work and ways to entertain the readers.

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