I recently received this question from a fellow blog reader.
I have a typical busy household with kids in sports activities and things going on all the time to keep track of. Right now, my husband and I each have our own At-A-Glance calendar that we try to keep coordinated. I have tried going digital on my Blackberry but like to see the whole month at a time, and that just didn’t do it for me. I don’t like the look of having a big calendar on the fridge, and ours is not magnetic anyway. I would like to have one family calendar that we all refer to and add to. In your experience, what do you find works well? Dry erase, traditional paper, one color ink per person to keep track, etc?
With school just around the corner (yes, it starts for my kids NEXT Tuesday!) I thought this was a timely question. For us…life is about to ratchet up on the complications scale…so it’s a good time to rethink the family calendar. So here are my thoughts on family calendars.
I have to agree completely on the digital calendar bit. I’ve tried this before, and like our fellow blog reading friend, found the time horizon to be just (way) too short for me. I prefer a month-at-a-glance calendar and for my family I maintain a big wall calendar from Erin Condren* (that hangs on the fridge.) OK…so the fridge part is where we differ…but that’s OK. There are other options. This is the wall calendar I like.
An important consideration with your family calendar is where to hang it. To be most effective, the calendar should be hung in a centralized location where everyone can see it. This is why the refrigerator works well…your calendar is right smack dab in the middle of everything, reminding you about what’s going on. Other options, depending on the layout of your home, include the laundry room, on the back door (if that’s the door you use daily), the inside of the coat closet door, or on a bulletin board in the kitchen. You could also use a smaller calendar, and keep it tucked in a basket on the kitchen counter or on the back of a cabinet door. Hanging the calendar out of site would require everyone to adopt a new habit of pulling out the calendar and looking at it on a daily basis. This would require some effort.
I’d recommend a paper calendar over dry erase or chalkboard (even though that type of calendar looks so cool) because you can’t plan as far in advance with this type of calendar. For example, now is a great time to get all the school holidays and planned school events on your family calendar. (Or do this as soon as this info is available in your school district.) With a single-month dry erase or chalkboard calendar, you wouldn’t be able to record events further out than the month you’re in. This means you’d have to maintain a secondary calendar and then update your dry-erase calendar at the start of each month. All of this translates into double entry of info, more stuff to keep track of, and more than one place to look to figure out what your family has going on (especially if you’re nearing the end of a month.) Also, with a dry-erase calendar you don’t have a paper record of the past events…which can be nice to have (especially if you’re a scrapbooker.)
As far as color coding goes…well…I’m not a fan. I typically don’t recommend this for clients, unless they have used color coding in the past and found it to solve an organizational problem for them. I know there are advocates of color-coding out there, but for me, the benefit of having everyone assigned a specific color does not exceed the challenge of having four pens at-the-ready each time I go to update the calendar. Color coding just adds a step and an extra thought process…and I don’t find that the added benefit is worth it. Keep in mind I only have two kids, so I usually just put their initials in parenthesis in front of the event or deadline that applies to them and this works fine for us.
I do like color, though. I use brightly colored Sharpies to update my calendar and usually select colors in keeping with the month (orange in October, red and blue in July, green and red in December.) I couldn’t do that with color coding…now could I? 
Wow…who knew I had so much to say about family calendars? Maybe you do, too. Let’s see if you do…
Do you use a family calendar? If so, what’s your favorite kind—paper, chalk, dry-erase, or some other kind? And I’m dying to know: are you a color coder…or not so much?
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I have one calendar for myself. And I’m a color coder. One color for work and one for personal. And I bought one of those “old” Bic pens with the four colors on them, they still make them. And it works great!
I’ve actually found a mom calendar at the grocery store these past two years! Love it. It’s got lines enough for entries for a 5 person family for EACH DAY!! Love it. It’s pretty colors and fun designs… but no big picture at the top for looking at… the spread out design really takes up the room! I keep mine in my pantry tacked to the back of the door (mind you my door opens out)… that way I don’t have to look at it when I don’t want to… and when it’s messy, yuck! But it’s all there. Now… whether or not I’m good about keeping it up to date… I’ll leave that for you to guess!
did that post?
I have the Mom’s Calendar that I LOVE that also has a Desk Planner and I get two one for on the go and 1 for on my desk. The Mom’s Calendar I put right by the door headed to garage for Husband to view and the kiddos.
I have a large calendar from More Time Moms called the Family Organizer. When I buy a new one, I take the time to put each family members initial on a separate line, also one for family and dinner. This is time consuming at the time but well worth it throughout the year. I then add any constant dates like birthdays and annniversaries on the lines below our initials. Anything that is part of an individuals schedule is put on the line next to their initial. Anything involving the family goes on the family line. Whever I get the school calendar I put those dates right on the calendar next to each person’s name. I also like that there is a big pocket on the back. I put important papers in their. Right now I have dentist appointment cards for next year. I also have the school calendars in there for when I buy next year’s calendar. This is hung in our kitchen under our key rack/mail center which is above the garbage. We put it here because everyone uses the garbage and can look at the calendar. My eight year old has been checking the calendar since she was five when she started reading.
I only have one little girl right now and she’s only one so we aren’t into the hectic school schedules yet. We do attend a mommy & me class that we call “school” *smile* but….we use a standard decorative calendar (this year, black labs) and hang it inside a kitchen cabinet door right above the phone. We go into that cabinet every morning for our coffee cups and being so close to the phone/message machine, it’s easy to jot down an appointment or what have you quickly. I keep a decorative cup of pens/markers right beside the phone so we never have to look for one. I like it because I am a scrapbooker and it is a permanent reference that allows me to look back on our past year easily.
My mom has a paper calendar on her fridge that is color coded. She basically writes out the event, appointment, whatever and highlights it. My sister, brother, mom and step dad all have a color. its mainly for mom to have and keep track of the craziness, and its easy to read for everyone to see what’s going on when they choose to. When I have kids of my own, i intend to do the same technique. She also has just gotten into putting things into her palm pilot, b/c she is always on the go and all the events that my brother and sister are involved in, its easy for her to have on her at all times. Before she would have to say she would have to check the calendar at home, and get back to that person or whatever. Seems like a pretty good system to me!
I use a Creative Memories calendar in a fridge frame on my… you guessed it… fridge. I write everything on it (in black ink) from dr’s appts to soccer practice. Then it becomes a page in our family scrapbook for the year. Perfect for helping me remember all the little things from the month that make our family unique- I mean, with 4 kids, you can imagine all the dr’s appts!
I’m a digital gal and love all things Google. I use Google calendar. I can share it with my husband or anyone I want for that matter. My husband can check it from the office. I may start printing it out and posting on fridge so the girls can see. I can schedule recurring events easily. You can even have it email you a reminder prior to the event.
What I like about it is that if I get an email that can you come to some event at 3pm on August 13th, right in the email will be a link to add the event to the calendar.
We use a paper family calendar which we keep right at the entrance to the kitchen because that’s probably my most-used room in the house
(hence the extra kilos on my thighs!)
We don’t have kids yet but it helps us to see at a glance if we’re too busy or if we have space to do things.
We each keep our personal planners too but this helps us to see what’s going on as a family (yes, I consider us a family too :))
Not sure if that just posted???
(hence the extra kilos on my thighs!)
We use a paper family calendar which we keep right at the entrance to the kitchen because that’s probably my most-used room in the house
We don’t have kids yet but it helps us to see at a glance if we’re too busy or if we have space to do things.
We each keep our personal planners too but this helps us to see what’s going on as a family (yes, I consider us a family too :))
I have been using a Mom’s Plan It Calendar that I buy at a Local book store every August. It has lines for 5 different family members, my husband, myself, and our 2 daughters. I then use the bottom space for any reminders about the cats. I also love that it is a 17 month calendar. this way I can put information on the calendar before I buy a new calendar. I always write in pencil as things can be changed, dates get changed, events get cancelled etc. I keep the calendar in the Kitchen, next to the phone. This way if someone calls about a date, I can easily write it on the calendar. I have also taken to carrying a small pocket calendar in my purse. This way I always have the information at my fingertips.
I also keep a family calendar on our fridge. I used the thinkbin but just saw that they’re not making a calendar for 2008-09 which is a bummer b/c it had lots of space to write & a time of day grid. Timetoo’s family organizer looks like a similar option.
I keep a separate calendar that I carry to appointments, meetings (on the lookout for a new one this school year). I like to look at the monthly view vs. weekly. I do color code on the family calendar with highlighters. With 3 kids, it helps me to see who is doing what, when especially during our busy soccer season.
I manage the schedules for two kids. I keep track of all appointments digitally – in Outlook. That allows me to email the appointments to my husband, and he can keep his Treo updated. However, I too, need to be able to see a month at a time, so I print out my calendar about once a week, and hang it on the fridge. This works for us!
Hi
I am a digi-mom – everything goes in my work calendar (Outlook). Family birthdays are recorded and set to recur each year — added bonus that I have the reminder set up for 1 week — this means one week before someone’s birthday I get a little bing bong message about it.
When the school calendar of inservice days, etc. comes home I input everything (again, 1 week reminder so I have the unexpected days off covered). I send Hubby reminders this way too — I block time on his calendar for back to school night and other events. I have a treo so I enter appoints and phone numbers when we are out, then sync up with my calendar when I get home.
As convenient as that is… I like a visual in the kitchen. Many events and activities are on that calendar which is nice, but we all know that is not the “master” version.
Christine — thanks for the “print it out” idea!
New for this school year — my girls each have a student planner. My older daughter has used one for school the last 2 years to keep track of her assignments. will be interesting to see how this impacts family activities.
good discussion!
Jen
another idea — a friend of mine has 3 kids (15, 14, 10) – 2 have special needs and life is pretty crazy with appointments, sports, and activities, etc. She is not a techie person at all but I think she has a good system…
1. she has a paper calendar in her purse (large purse, good sized week at a glance type calendar) and she makes her notes in that for everyone.
2. On her frig is a large dry erase calendar that has 5 rows of weeks. She uses this as a “rolling” 4 week visual of what is happening. Each week she erases the row that has just passed and transfers information to the remaining weeks so they are up to date. the 5th week is always blank so it is easy to to find the cuurent week at a glance. She uses initials instead of color coding also.
this is what I mean by rolling calendar:
week 1
week 2
week 3
week 4
blank row
the next week it looks like this:
blank row
week 2
week 3
week 4
week 5
the next week:
week 6
blank row
week 3
week 4
week 5
the next:
week 6
week 7
blank
week 4
week 5
hope that makes sense.
I agree Aby, we also keep one central calendar in our kitchen which is essential to us to know whether we are coming or going. I think often many families over complicate their system with too many calendars and not one MAIN one which is detrimental to staying organized.
I’ve got a paper calendar on the wall by the phone with color coding (pens in a jar also by the phone) for the 5 of us, plus a shelf with pegs where I hang clips (on ribbons) that hold sports schedules, lunch menus, etc. Works for us!
KellyM in MN
I use a paper fridge calendar from http://www.motherword.com and LOVE it!
I had a 2mth dry erase one for a long time, but my new house doesn’t have the same type of wall space the old one did so I had to switch.
I always had a paper calendar for planning in advance, but it was tucked away in a corner.
I must use colors, five kids, dh and myself at a glance I want to know who has what…
I keep everything on a monthly calendar at my desk, the kids put stuff on post it notes if they want to add something, then I write it on the actual calendar (I don’t want anything I can’t read on the calendar). I keep a small weekly calendar on the back door so the kids can be reminded of tests (the ones they tell me about). As for the pens, they are attached to the calendar and EVERYBODY knows to not remove mom’s pens.
Additionally I make notes about the day when there has been an unusual picture worthy day so I can scrap events and know the date later.
I have a big magnetic whiteboard that I use to hang invitations, school announcements, etc. What I do is print out my calendar so that one whole month is on the piece of paper, and yes, I do color code! Blue is for daily school stuff, Green is for social plans, and Red is for important stuff that can. not. be forgotten! Needless to say, it gets pretty colorful during the school year!
I’ve always been a palm person, and I keep EVERYTHING updated in there. All my work appointments as well as color coded family stuff (3 kids). In addition, there is a week at a glance calendar on the fridge. I like the week at a glance because 1 – I’m used to the palm format, and 2 – it gives you bigger spaces to write. I’m also able to plan out the year ahead of time. The fridge calendar only has family stuff, birthday parties, sports practices, etc. Stuff my husband needs to know about. My in-laws and family (who watch my children on occasion) can write things on the fridge calendar when they get notices from the preschool at pickup also. ie. Abby to wear green on Wednesday the 17th. It doesn’t feel like too much work and I’m quite sure I’d be lost with out both systems.
I use a traditional paper claendar on the side of the fridge. Ihave never thought of color coding, but would like that. I could keep the different pens on top of the fridge, where I keep my single pen now. I have 2 kids and they are going into grade 2 and kindergarten and are on piano lessons that are the same time/day every week. I don’t enroll them in any other schenduled activites, but just take them out to do stuff, whenever. So this does not need to be recorded. I can see tough as the get higher up in school there will be more things to keep track of the due dates for and the color coding sounds good to me.
I too like the paper calendar for putting all the school dates in as soon as I know them or a upcoming wedding/function in a few months, I can pencil it in today.
I was actually given a fly-lady calendar by a friend who decided she didn’t like it… The thing I like about this calendar is that the spaces are huge! So I could write a novel practiically – on each day.
The other thing I really like is that it covers 17 months rather than 12 – and it begins in August, right before school starts.
I don’t think i’ll purchase another one (shipping is almost $10 for the calendar… not including the cost of the actual calendar) but I am on the lookout for a calendar with spaces as big as the FL calendar has – I really fell in love with that.
There are only 3 of us – my husband, daughter, and myself – so I don’t bother with anything more than a name next to the appointment, a time if applicable, and a description of the activity.
Ex. Grace 4:30 soccer
Super simple, very effective, and with the big squares I can see what I’ve written on the calendar from all the way across the room!
Christall
I use Microsoft publisher and print out a six to eight month calendar. I usually type in the important dates like birthdays, holidays, and school info. I will also put in a small clip-art for those special days. I use bull-dog magnets and hang it on my fridge. I don’t color code appointments, just use initials like you to specify who is doing what. My husband will also write in events like work dinners, etc. so we know when he will be gone. My favorite part of my calendar is that I also write on it like a journal, say when my baby gets a tooth, says a new word, and/or any other milestone or funny thing that is said or done by one of my three kids. When I have six months done, I staple it together and put it with my scrapbooks. My kids love looking at the current calendar and old calendars.
I also keep the original school district calendar and any other activity calendars under the calendar so I have easy access. It has worked great for us for the past 8 years.
We (husband and I) keep our calendars in Outlook Express which is updated with our pda’s/phone. I print out that same calendar (4 months at a time and update as often as necessary) and it is posted on a large magnetic board that lives in our back hallway, low enough that our 2 kiddos can see it as well.
And yes, we do color code. A color for each of us, plus another color that represents family events. I also have colored magnets that correspond with those for hanging up invites, etc. that need to live on the magnetic boards and colored folders that are in the hanging wall pockets. It sounds more complicated than it really is but it WORKS for us and that’s what counts.
It lives in the back hallway/mudroom because it works well for how we live. The kids know what they need to grab based on what day it is and what is on the calendar. They are both able to read, but it’s nice to glance at the calendar and to know if there isn’t ‘their’ color, then it’s a non-activity day for them.
I love the Boyton’s Mom Calendar. It is great to have a column for up to 5 people. If you have more than that in the family you can combine a few. Here is a link on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/0761148922/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_0?ie=UTF8&index=0
Fun discussion everyone! I love hearing what works for people. One of things that’s jumping out at me is that there are so many approaches that are working for people; there isn’t just one system or one way to do things. This is a key to organizing, in general. The trick is to figure out what works for you and your family (in this case) and then do it! Thanks everyone for sharing…keep the ideas coming!
Aby
One thing I HATE is how long they wait before making the next calander available. Ugg! Seriously shouldn’t they be printing them up way in advance. I’ve tried to find a way to make my own but it never seems to work. I like a specific calander and finding the next year is taxing.
I love my calander, I do carry it with me. It’s a month at a glance and I have two small boys and their Daddy who are really good about telling me what needs to be on the calander for them. Since I’m the social manager of our family it works better for me to have the calander with me rather than hanging on a wall at home. However, during the school year last year I started something else very valuable to our family. I got a week at a glance dry erase board. I hung it by our front door. On Sunday I review my paper calander and write things on the wipe board. This started so I wouldn’t forget to take important things with me. Like if I was meeting a friend for lunch I’d write that I needed to take that thing I borrowed from a mutal friend that she will see and return for me. The bonus to this is that my husband can see what the plans are for an evening and knows who will be home or what my potential expecations are. It’s been wonderful.
I love paper calendars. Just never could do the digital thing. I use Microsoft Outlook for a mainstay, and carry a purse size month at a glance to have with me. I sync the two calendars whenever I need to, and print the office versions a couple of months at a time. They go up on the fridge, but I use magnetic clips from the Container Store to hang the sheets. I have 4 more clips that stay on the fridge, each with a kid’s initial…if something comes home pertaining to that kid (band info, teacher info, trip details, etc) it goes in their clip until I don’t need it anymore. the only color coding I do is for: DH travelling, me out of town, birthdays and anniversaries. If it’s an appointment, the family member’s first initial starts the name of the appt (ex: k haircut 10am, a ortho 9am). it works for me pretty well! I also tend to write onto each day the dinner I plan for that night, so the kids will check their first instead of asking me every.single.day.
i’ve been using a 5X7’ish monthly calendar that i carry everywhere and started using the iCalendar on my laptop. It’s been great SO far – i love when people send me an email witha date to do something and when i hover over the date with the mouse, it adds it right to the calendar, love that! But I just can’t give up the paper.
I am a digital scrapbooker. In the beginning of each month I get together with my husband to make a family calendar using the Creating Keepsake Scrapbook Designer software. The software allows me to include photos on the calendar page and all the embellishments I want to add digitally, very much like a scrapbook page. I print one for me and one for my husband. We post the family calendar in the office where we spend most of the day. I also keep a personal calendar (Dayrunner planner) with me at all time. I transfer the events and activities each week on to my personal planner as time goes. I am in the process of making a year-in-review album for 2007, I gathered all the monthly family calendars and all the information I need is there.
Yes, we have a family calendar. I keep it localized so everyone can see it, right next to the telephone. I’m not so much a color coder. I just make sure it all gets on there because I don’t like a lot of questions of what is going on.
For the last 8 years my DH has been working out of town and it was a good way for him to SEE what we were up to while he was gone. Now that he is home every night I’m hoping I can still get him to look at the calendar!!
Wow! I am loving all of these ideas. With 2 kids under 3 years old, we haven’t quite made it into the school scene quite yet where there may be more activities to fill up the calendar, but we do use a paper calendar that hangs on our wall in the kitchen (a little out of sight, which I like). I use the Thinkbin Family Organizer Calendar. It’s big and there is lots of room in the individua dailyl boxes. My husband likes that I keep track of everything on one big calendar, but just the other day he encouraged me to try out the Google calendar where it has lots of opportunities to share important events with each other and even have reminders sent to you…which, these days, I’ve been needing a little bit more. I’ll probably end up doing both because it never hurts to be overly prepared.
Wow! I am loving all of these ideas. With 2 kids under 3 years old, we haven’t quite made it into the school scene quite yet where there may be more activities to fill up the calendar, but we do use a paper calendar that hangs on our wall in the kitchen (a little out of sight, which I like). I use the Thinkbin Family Calendar. It’s big and there is lots of room in the individual daily boxes. My husband likes that I keep track of everything on one big calendar, but just the other day he encouraged me to try out the Google calendar where it has lots of opportunities to share important events with each other and even have reminders sent to you…which, these days, I’ve been needing a little bit more. I’ll probably end up doing both because it never hurts to be overly prepared.
Came to your blog completely by chance – or was it? Got me into an re-organizing frenzy in my craft room and I’ve spied a few other places that could do with an overhall as well!
As for family planner – I’ve got the traditional wall calender hanging in the kitchen but I also carry a ‘week to a page’ diary with me.
Thanks for posting a great site!
Cheers! from Down Under
I keep a calendar on my fridge and I am a color coder. Each child has a color and hubby and I or family stuff is in black. it really seems to help. I usually print my calendar out on my computer and I highlight an area for each child in his color that way I can use one pen but still see at a glance who has something going on. Then I save my calendars for the scrapbook. I also have a day planner I keep in my purse to jot stuff in on the go but that is NOT color coded. No way I could be on the go and worry about color.
We have one paper calendar that hangs on a wall right next to our fridge. I tried color coding, but don’t really like it that much. I have 2 pre-schoolers, so they don’t have quite as many activities as most school-aged children do. I don’t think the color coding helps that much in terms of keeping track of things. Plus, I find there are a bunch of things we do where more than one of us is involved – date with my husband and me, dinner with whole family, party for my daughter and me, etc. – so then what do I do about color coding? Very confusing. But, I love your idea of using the colors of the month. I’m going to have to start trying that. Thanks for the ideas.
My husband and I are avid emailers and have found that our email calendar is perfect for us. I can print out a month at a time if I need it. We always “invite” each other to meetings, games, parties, anything that we have committed to. It works great for us!
Everything goes in Outlook and syncs to my PDA. Outlook Calendar contains all work appts as well as all personal appts and activities (and even Flylady zones!) Every month, or more often if I need to, I print out the month (I deselect my work stuff so I get only personal stuff) and then pin it to the bulletin board in our back mudroom. It works great for us.
I have a large calendar hanging above my desk, which is in the family room. Everyone can see it. I do color code. We have five people so we use five different colors. Then I use a separate color (red) for my work schedule so it stands out. I don’t work every day so that way I won’t forget anything. I use the calendar from FlyLady.net. It isn’t very fancy but it is big and has a lot of space to write things plus a pocket in the back to put papers. I also have a planner in a small binder that I keep in my purse. Whenever I add things to one calendar I try to remember to add it to the other one. Several times a week I glance at both of them to make sure they match up.
I use Google calendar on the computer and share it with my husband. I generally update it when new appointments pop up, however, I keep 3 months out on the fridge at all times. I can quickly update appts, birthday parties and the such there. On the digital calendar, I put in the kids school holidays/half days/workshop days; standing appts like trombone lessons for my son, Campfire mtgs, Our season ticket dates and times so those things are all printed out and scheduled out so that we can all see them when they come up. I will be printing my Sept/Oct/Nov calendars soon and get them up on the fridge. Once a week I will update the digital calendar if appts have been added, so that my husband can check it if he is scheduling a night out with his buddies or overtime. It works out great!
I have a big paper calender, too, that hangs on the fridge and one that hangs in the office/study. The one on the fridge is the official school calendar that already has the school schedule printed on it (well worth the money since we are on year round schools and it can be very confusing!). I keep all of the kids’ activities and the school volunteer schedule on that calendar so the kids can always see what it going on. I am a color coder in that I use highlighters to color code the kids’ activities once it’s already on the calendar. It’s actually something that the kids can help with and I don’t have to worry about having the right color pen on hand when the information is entered.
The calendar in the study has more of the adult information (husband’s work trips, our volunteering schedules, appointments, etc) and that’s also the one that I can write down bits and pieces on for scrapbooking later. That way, if the kids completely cover the school calendar with markers, I can still read what happened in any given month.
Thanks, as always, for your suggestions and advice!
I use my iCal when I’m at my computer which syncs to my Google calendar that I can access from my Treo and I color code according to family member (there are five of us). But I also have a large calendar on our fridge that replicates what I have in my iCal. Yes, sometimes it’s a pain to recopy all the info – but at least everyone can see what’s going on and it’s in a central location. I order the large calendar every year from http://www.thinkbin.com – it’s a calendar that comes in two sizes and was created by two moms – so there’s lots of space for writing. The calendar is also 18 months and starts in Sept. – so you can really plan ahead with it.
We have a dry-erase type calendar on the refrigerator. I do color-code just for the sake of categorizing things. For example, I use black for my husbands’ work schedule & any other work-related events; green is for my “mommy” events (my kids aren’t old enough for their own events quite yet); and red is for bills that are due or for very important appts. (pediatrician/dr. appts.). I used to love keeping a day-timer but since I no longer work or go to school I find that it’s just a waste of paper.
Wow! Lots from everyone about calendars! Amazing! I have tried to go digital and I cannot do it. I have an at-a-glance monthly calendar that is a planner book. This works for our family of 3 and I can tell what is going on at all times. It is easy to update, easy to plan ahead, and easy for my husband (who is organizationally challenged) to stay on top of. I am a big fan of having ONE calendar. I like that this is a planner book b/c I can stick it in my tote and carry it to clients’ homes and doctor’s appointments.
To get my daily/weekly life in order I have been using a legal pad for well over 12 years and listing the days of the week. Recently I have found a blotter type of system from the wonderful people at Post-It. http://www.mmm.com/us/office/postit/products/prod_notes_sn.html Instead of listing family members down the side I list hours in the day. This way I can have a weekly schedule hour-by-hour. It is taking a little getting used to, but is much prettier than my legal pad scratchings… plus I can put things on the weekly schedule in advance without flipping back to my family calendar. I also like that I can move the post-it notes from day to day… that is if my 3 year old doesn’t move them first!
Wow! Lots from everyone about calendars! Amazing! I have tried to go digital and I cannot do it. I have an at-a-glance monthly calendar that is a planner book. This works for our family of 3 and I can tell what is going on at all times. It is easy to update, easy to plan ahead, and easy for my husband (who is organizationally challenged) to stay on top of. I am a big fan of having ONE calendar. I like that this is a planner book b/c I can stick it in my tote and carry it to clients’ homes and doctor’s appointments.
To get my daily/weekly life in order I have been using a legal pad for well over 12 years and listing the days of the week. Recently I have found a blotter type of system from the wonderful people at Post-It. http://www.mmm.com/us/office/postit/products/prod_notes_sn.html Instead of listing family members down the side I list hours in the day. This way I can have a weekly schedule hour-by-hour. It is taking a little getting used to, but is much prettier than my legal pad scratchings… plus I can put things on the weekly schedule in advance without flipping back to my family calendar. I also like that I can move the post-it notes from day to day… that is if my 3 year old doesn’t move them first!
Wow! Lots from everyone about calendars! Amazing! I have tried to go digital and I cannot do it. I have an at-a-glance monthly calendar that is a planner book. This works for our family of 3 and I can tell what is going on at all times. It is easy to update, easy to plan ahead, and easy for my husband (who is organizationally challenged) to stay on top of. I am a big fan of having ONE calendar. I like that this is a planner book b/c I can stick it in my tote and carry it to clients’ homes and doctor’s appointments.
To get my daily/weekly life in order I have been using a legal pad for well over 12 years and listing the days of the week. Recently I have found a blotter type of system from the wonderful people at Post-It. http://www.mmm.com/us/office/postit/products/prod_notes_sn.html Instead of listing family members down the side I list hours in the day. This way I can have a weekly schedule hour-by-hour. It is taking a little getting used to, but is much prettier than my legal pad scratchings… plus I can put things on the weekly schedule in advance without flipping back to my family calendar. I also like that I can move the post-it notes from day to day… that is if my 3 year old doesn’t move them first!
I TOTALLY agree with the “Mom’s Calendar.” We use it a little differently though. One column is Hubbies work schedule, one is the school calendar, one for Ballet schedule (Classes and rehearsals), one for mom, and one for family events/birthdays/anniversaries/etc.
I love my paper calendar!! I use a monthly calendar by DayRunner that I get at Staples. It has a metal spiral at the top and a place for it to hook onto a magnetic hook (that I got at the Container Store). I have tried color coding for our family of 5, but like many others it caused more problems for me than it solved. I have learned to put everything on the calendar in pencil. That way if somethign changes I don’t have scratched out places or white-out all over my calendar.
I wish there were better digital options – but really, I think I am a tried and true paper calendar girl!
We have a wonderful 12month family calendar we send out to all family every year with photos of the kids each month. We also put everything on this paper calender from appointments to sporting events to birthdays. Not only do we stay on top of everything but it is also a reminder of the year previous from all the pictures. In the end it a great keepsake for scrapbooking. I am also not a fan of the color coding, it to much work for a family of five, but I do enjoy color to make the calendar exciting.
I loved all the comments. I love calendars (as you know Aby). I like the Thinkbin wall calendar one too….sad to hear that someone said they are not making one next year. I like that you can see it from the other side of the room.
I like ical on my computer because it syncs with my iphone…but i will always love paper planners. I have tried them all, but I think I like the simpliest ones the best. The Container Store has a really nice weekly calendar. It fits in my purse just right. For now it is working for me!
Sue
I used to use a daily Franklin Covey planner, that got to be too much. I couldn’t really get the hang of it. Then I switched to a weekly planner and that has helped tremendously! I use the one Target has by Franklin Covey to take with me on the go and then I also use the Post It note one like Julie mentioned above. Except I use the space provided for each family member. So far it has worked great! We also keep it on the fridge, which has now morphed into our command center with our calendar full of daily appointments/activities and our daily chores & shopping lists on wipe erase boards with everyone having their own board.
I have just found your blog (via Lara Gallagher’s) and as I love anything to do with organizing, I have RSSed it! (How’s that for a new verb?)
I have a Mac – sorry PC people, and I love my ical. If I need to make sure that my husband has something on his calendar, I can send him an invitation that will automatically show up on his calendar as long as he accepts! I can show a month or a week or a day. And if i need to I can print a page (month, day or week) and tuck it into my purse. I can also download the calendar to my ipod. Only downside to that is that I cannot add things on the ipod – but I can check it!
I must qualify this by saying that – because I homeschool – my computer is up and running 99% of the time!