Calendar Tips for a Simpler Life

It is not an exaggeration to say that Google Calendar has rescued me many a time. Initially I only used it for family management. The logistics of multiple children in multiple activities with different school schedules plus a traveling spouse were plenty of variables to keep straight. Now with my own business bringing client meetings and childcare slots, the need for an easy, shareable calendar tool was even more important. 

I love google calendar because I can access it on my phone or my computer and because it talks to so many things. Yes, I know that for many, Google's omnipresence is problematic. And while I do not love the creepy side of Google's ad placements and the evidence that they can see so much of my internet activity, I have basically resigned myself to it because of the way it helps me run my life. 

Here is how I use Google Calendar: 

1) Family Management - My husband, my daughter, and I all have our own google accounts and google calendars that we can all see. All the appointments, practices, games, concerts, meetings, etc., get put in the calendar and are immediately viewable by anyone in the family with a device. 

2) Client meetings - I have a separate work calendar, which I've shared with my personal calendar, that holds all my client meetings and tasks. This separate work calendar is attached to my work email and talks to my scheduling software - Acuity Scheduling. I've set up regular recurring hours in my scheduling software so people can make an appointment with me. But since it talks to my other calendar, it automatically doesn't let clients or prospective clients book a consultation with me when I have manually set up a meeting with someone else. 

3) Extra calendars - I love the ability to create multiple calendars in Google Calendar. Our family now has a "kid activities" calendar where we copy every game/practice/concert/etc and then invite the grandparents to. I used to spend lots of time at the beginning of every year typing out the schedule in an email after inputting everything into the calendar. Not anymore! I've also created separate calendars for clients to keep track of upcoming events they may be interested in. It's a way for me to put something on someone's calendar without actually having access to their private calendar. 

Of course any system is only as good as your follow-through in using it. Thankfully, my spouse and I have trained ourselves pretty well to get things put in the calendar pretty quickly. There are inevitably things that get forgotten still, but they happen less and less frequently. I now have a routine of checking in to my weekly calendar every Sunday evening - I draft out a meal plan for the family, taking note of the long days with clients or the times we'll need to eat early because of a game or concert. It allows me to double check my childcare situation ahead of time, lessening the possibility of last minute emergencies. I've gotten out of the habit of checking in to my calendar every morning, but since I missed a meeting last week, I'm back to it! Writing things down in the calendar certainly helps lodge it in my brain, but it is certainly not failproof.