If It Doesn’t Fit on My iPhone Calendar, It Doesn’t Fit in My Life

0

When I was a working woman, I organized my life in a fancy Franklin Calendar System. One of those weighty, leather bound numbers. It was color coded with different inks, organized by month and by day, with to-do lists I could check off. Everything was easily at my finger tips from the comfort of my ergonomic office chair. But when I stopped working, that system just didn’t work. My home base was not an office desk and that planner would not fit into a purse like it did my brief case on wheels.

That was at the same time that Apple was taking its iCloud mainstream and I embraced it. I took my personal iCloud account and shared it with my husband to form our new family calendar system. This will give you some ideas of how to make the most of your iPhone calendar to keep you and your family organized.

Set up Family Share

Family Share lets multiple Apple IDs share information through the cloud. The most important features we use are contacts and calendars. This allows us to make sure we each have the most up-to-date contact information for our friends and family. It also lets us see each other’s calendars. Not sure how to set up Family Share? Check out Apple Support’s article . Still having trouble? Call Apple. I like to think I’m tech smart, but I had some issues. They were great at walking me through everything.

Create Separate Calendars and Color Code Them

We have separate calendars for my husband, myself, one called Family for things we all do together, birthdays, and of course Packer Schedule. (Because we all know life revolves around the Packers during football season!)

Each calendar has it’s own distinct color. If you have a Mac computer, you can create endless color options to ensure they don’t look too similar. Just right click on the calendar in the left hand column and choose “Custom Color”

 

Everything Goes on the Calendar

If it is happening in our life, it goes on our calendar. Every doctor appointment, grocery shopping trip, music class, archery shoot, Pheasant’s Forever banquet, tee ball game, play date and coffee meet up. The key to remembering what needs to happen is consistent input on the calendar.

Use Alerts

A calendar only works if you actually look at it. But let’s be honest, when you’re being pulled in 10 directions, you don’t always remember to check your calendar in the morning. When you set up an event, below the start and end time, you can choose an alert. It can be at the time of the event, a certain time before the event, or even 2 days before.

You can also choose multiple alerts. For instance, you have a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday. Not something you might remember. You can set an alert 2 days prior, so you can remember to set up child care. Then set an alert for first thing in the morning so you don’t forget the day of the appointment. (Even a 3rd for an hour before if you’re really worried you might forget!)

All Day Events

There is a check box to choose “All Day” vs. choosing a certain time. I use this option for birthdays, vacations that last multiple days, show and tell day at school, errands, or any other event that does not have a specific time.

Recurring Events

Have a class that happens every week at the same time? You can set up a recurring event by choosing “Every Week” from the repeat drop down box. You can even create an end to that event on a certain date. So for instance, Soccer will be Thursdays from 5:30-6:15 from April 20 – August 10. This feature also works great for birthdays to show up yearly.

 

Use Notes

Use notes to add important information to the event that you can see at a glance. Perhaps directions to the event, the room number of a meeting, the phone number of the person you’re meeting, or the check in time. Especially helpful when you’re meeting your husband somewhere and you have the info, but he doesn’t. Abracadabra! He now knows what you know!

 

I’ve often said, “If it doesn’t fit on my iPhone Calendar, it doesn’t fit in my life.” My phone is with me at all times, so this handy app keeps me organized and on track. Do you love your iPhone Calendar? Or do you have another system to keep your family organized? Leave me a comment on what works best for your family!

In-Article Ad
Previous articleTeaching Patience
Next articleThis time of year stinks.
Kristin
Kristin graduated from the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities in 2003 with a degree in advertising and did product marketing in the beauty industry for seven years. She left the working world to start her family and now stays at home with her two spirited little girls, Nora 4 and Evelyn 2. She is wife to a true “Wisconsin Man” and together they love everything outdoors. When not spending time with her family, Kristin enjoys sewing, gardening, traveling, cooking (because she loves eating good food!), reading, the Packers and party planning. Her love for researching everything kid related has given her go-to status among her friends and family.