Family calendars: The best types to organise family life
Keeping track of everyone’s schedules can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re juggling school events, appointments, activities, and family plans, which is where family calendars help.
A family calendar acts as a central hub for your family, helping everyone stay on the same page, as well as helping to organise busy family life.
In this post we’ll explore how family calendars organise family life. You’ll learn what makes a good calendar, as well as the different types of calendars you can use, including printable family calendars and digital ones.
We’ll also talk about how a family command centre can make family organisation even easier, and simple tips for making your calendar work for you.
By the end of this post you’ll have a clearer idea of which family calendar will work best for your family, so you can create a simple system to help you better manage family life.
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How family calendars help organise family life
Here are some of the ways family calendars help with family organisation:
- They reduce mental load by providing a place to list appointments, school events, deadlines, and anything else you need to remember
- They enable everyone in your family to know what’s coming up
- They help kids become more independent by allowing them to find out when school trips, activities, homework deadlines, and family plans are happening
- They help you plan ahead
What makes a good family calendar?
A good calendar should be:
- Easy to update
- Kept somewhere the whole family can see it
- Simple to use
- Adaptable to changing family needs
Different types of calendars
There are many different types of calendars that you can use.
Here are some of the most popular types of calendars to help you decide which one to choose.
Wall calendars
Wall calendars are one of many printable family calendars that you can hang in a central location in your home, like your kitchen or entryway.
They allow you to plan a week at a time, with some also having a monthly page view, so you can plan out upcoming events, activities and deadlines over a longer time frame.
Some even have sections on the weekly view where you can write a grocery list, list priorities, or track habits.
Wall calendar benefits:
- The whole family can view it easily
- It can be located anywhere in your home
- There’s space for items that aren’t date specific, e.g. grocery lists
- Can be updated easily and quickly
- Undated wall calendars can be used at any time, and you can skip weeks without wasting paper
Best for families who:
- Prefer writing things down
- Want a calendar that’s visible
- Want quick, convenient planning
- Don’t want a digital calendar
Magnetic calendars
Magnetic calendars are perfect if you want your calendar to be located on your fridge, and you want the same benefits of a wall calendar.
Magnetic calendar benefits:
- The whole family can view it easily
- There’s space for items that aren’t date specific, e.g. grocery lists
- Can be updated easily and quickly
Best for families who:
- Prefer writing things down
- Want a calendar that’s visible
- Want quick, convenient planning
- Don’t want a digital calendar
- Spend a lot of time in the kitchen
- Prefer a reusable wipe-clean calendar
Digital family calendars
Digital calendars have become increasingly popular for families who manage multiple family schedules.
Shared calendar apps like Google Calendar, allow family members to add their own entries, and allocating different colours to family members is super simple.
Digital family calendar benefits:
- The whole family can view it easily
- Allows you to view a year, month, week, or day
- Can be updated instantly
- Can set automatic reminders
- Can be accessed from anywhere
- Easy sharing between family members
Best for families who:
- Want quick, convenient planning
- Often plan on the go
- Use smartphones or other devices regularly
- Need reminders for appointments
- Want shared access across multiple devices
Family planners
Family planners are notebooks that can include yearly, monthly, weekly, and even daily pages.
Many family planners are customisable so you can also have meal planning, budgeting, habit trackers, important dates, or any other section added to it, so you can organise the many different aspects of family life.
Family planner benefits:
- It can be located anywhere in your home
- Allows you to view a year, month, week, or day at a glance
- Can also include sections like grocery lists, priorities, habit trackers
- Can be updated easily and quickly
- Easy to manage multiple schedules in one place
Best for families who:
- Prefer writing things down
- Want quick, convenient planning
- Don’t want a digital calendar
- Like to see everyone’s plans side by side
- Need to manage multiple kid’s activities
READ MORE: How to use a planner to stay organised
Whiteboard calendars
Whiteboard calendars allow you to write and erase entries easily, they can be located anywhere in your home, and some have added space for grocery lists, and extra to do list items.
As they typically show one week at a time, they’re ideal for listing and viewing short term plans.
Whiteboard calendar benefits:
- The whole family can view it easily
- There’s space for items that aren’t date specific, e.g. grocery lists
- Can be updated easily and quickly
- It can be located easily anywhere within your home
- Perfect for weekly resets
Best for families who:
- Prefer writing things down
- Want a calendar that’s visible
- Want quick, convenient planning
- Don’t want a digital calendar
- Prefer a reusable wipe-clean calendar
Where to place your calendar
The best place for your calendar is somewhere the whole family can see it, like on your kitchen countertop, on your fridge, on a wall, or in a family command centre.
A family command centre is an area of your home that contains anything that helps you stay organised.
It’s usually located in a high traffic area, such as the kitchen, living room, mudroom, or entry way, and is one of the best ways to keep your family organised.
Here are some of the things that you can include in your family’s command centre:
- Your family calendar or family schedule
- Family goals
- Chore charts
- Paperwork holder
- Charging stations for multiple devices
- Hooks for keys
Family command centre benefits:
- It communicates important details
- It makes family routines run smoother, because everyone knows what’s expected of them
- It makes kids more independent because they can find information out for themselves, or see what’s involved in their morning routine or after school routine
- It reduces your mental load because other family members can take responsibility for their own tasks
Best for families who:
- Have lots of paperwork and schedules
- Want a dedicated organisation area
- Prefer a structured system
READ MORE: How to simplify family life with a family command centre
How to choose from the different types of calendars
Choosing the right calendar depends on your family’s needs.
Here are some questions to ask yourself when deciding what calendar to choose:
- Where will the calendar be located?
- Does the whole family need to see it?
- Does the whole family need to be able to add their own activities to it?
- Do I need to be able to add items on the go?
If your family needs to be able to view the calendar and add their own entries into it, then any family calendar will work well.
However, if you need a calendar that allows you to add items on the go, then a digital calendar is a practical choice.
Tips for making your calendar work
A family calendar will only work if you use it, and the best way to ensure you use it is to:
- Add or remove items as soon as you become aware of any changes
- Spend time each week reviewing upcoming entries and prepare for them
- Assign different colours to each family member so everyone can see what’s relevant to them
- Encourage everyone to check the calendar regularly
RELATED POST: How to start a weekly planning routine
Family calendars – a recap
When everything is written down in one place, you no longer have to carry everything in your head. Instead of relying on memory, second-guessing plans, or dealing with last-minute surprises, your whole family can see what’s coming up and prepare for it.
Whether you prefer a wall calendar, magnetic calendar, digital calendar, family planner, or whiteboard, the most important thing when choosing a family calendar is that it’s one that your family will use.
Keeping your calendar visible, updating it regularly, and encouraging everyone to check it, will help it become a natural part of your routines, and combining it with a family command centre will create a central hub that keeps important reminders in one place.
Which family calendar would work best for keeping your family organised?
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