Organizing Synching Your Home Calendar

This is a similar repost from last year but since I sat down and just organized my new wall calendar, here you go...

ORGANIZING YOUR DAYS

One of my strengths is organization.  Anyone who knows me could probably tell you that.   I am constantly working in our family to help them learn organization since I know it helps so much in work and school.  A calendar is one small part of this.  Learning to schedule events and manage your time well is a life-long asset.  It also gives a good impression to others that you are a responsible person.   I'm not opposed to spontaneity but scheduling is certainly my preference.  

I used to have pretty calendars hanging in my kitchen.  You know the kind I mean--half of the calendar is a pretty scene or photograph and half has the blocks for the the days of the month.  Several years ago, even with only four people in our family, I switched to a plain, no frills, BIG block calendar from At-A-Glance to keep up with our family activities.  This calendar is large, measuring about 15" x 22" with blocks that are 2" x 3".   I keep everything posted here also on  the calendar on our office computer as well (which is synched to my iPod Touch). It is on the opposite side of the house.    The only place I could find this calendar, #PM328, is at Office Max or Staples for about $10.00 but I see that Amazon also sells them for the same price. [This year they were $16.99, but I love this calendar so I paid that much for it.]   I buy one each December and start getting ready for the new year.

This is my new 2011 calendar.  At-A-Glance PM3-28 from Staples.  January is already looking fairly busy.  

The blocks on this calendar are lined which is great for me since I have a hard time writing in a straight line.  It's perfect  and fits in the exact spot where I have always hung a vertical wall calendar.    The top part of the calendar is for one month; the lower part has the entire year so you can look ahead without flipping the page.  I also can tape appointment cards, invitations, date sensitive coupons, etc.  to the lower part.

Attached to the calendar are five (5)  Sharpie pens-- red, black, green and blue plus one wide black one, to distinguish events for each family member.

You'll also notice that I have lots of colored Post-It flags  all over the calendar. These are for regularly recurring activities and are shifted from one week to the next as needed. This saves a lot of unnecessary writing.  I love adding color to simple tasks when I can such as filing and organizing and colored post-its, pens and stickers make it fun.  My husband often gets freebies from vendors who visit his company and I get so excited to receive new supplies.  I know, simple minds, simple things...  

A good-sized calendar placed in a central location is so helpful to stay on top of the events in our family.  Everyone who lives in our home knows to "write it on the calendar" if they have something coming up so we know where they need to be.  It aids me with my meal planning and carpooling  and helps avoid needless confusion which can happen when activities conflict with each other.  These days everyone has computers and handheld data devices to keep their own activities, but living in a family we like to know what each other is doing.   If you don't already have one, try this.  If you do have one, opt for the one with the biggest blocks.  :)

I also keep a calendar on our home office computer which is sync-ed to my iPod Touch.  As one calendar has changes, I make sure the others are updated right away so there are no date conflicts.  Sync-ing them together really was handy when I got ready to sit down on the floor and write in events that were coming up the other night.  I just scrolled through my iPod Touch and found everything I needed--school events, classes, dentist appointments, birthdays...  A new event came up this morning for next week and after writing in on the calendar I typed it on the computer and then plugged a cable into it to connect to my Touch. [Sounds complicated but it took about 30 seconds.]   Everything matches again.  Technology is amazing if you know how to use it.  :)