Ever feel like you have an organizational nightmare on your hands…I do! This is my May calendar. This type of busy makes me SO thankful we have friends and teammates that are willing to help carpool when we need it!
The key for me is to get everything scheduled and organized AND make sure that everyone knows when and where they are supposed to be.
There are a few options to help keep your family organized: Apple iCalendar, Cozi and Google Calendar.
Apple iCal – A Top Option for Mobile Apple Devices
By far my favorite is the Apple iCalendar. The iCal (on my iPhone) Application is my key to life organization! This option works best for our family because we are an “Apple” Family! Everyone has either an iPhone or iPad and we also use Apple computers. As long as you have an Apple Mobile device, this can be a great option for you too!
Let me show you how you can quickly organize your family’s calendar using the iCal Application on your mobile device.
1.Start by setting up color coded calendars for each family member: Click the “calendar” option at the bottom of the screen. The original “HOME” calendar should already be enabled..this is for the original user of the mobile device. You can change the name “home” to your name and pick a color (you’ll learn how below)
2. Click “EDIT” at the top of the screen.
3.Click “ADD CALENDAR” and choose a name for the person you are adding and a color. Click “DONE.”
4.You will want to share this calendar with all the other family members who use the iCal App. Click the “ADD PERSON”. Enter the person’s email address you want to share with. You can add multiple email addresses if you want to share with multiple people.
5. Have more people in your family to add? Repeat steps 1-5.
Now you will want to start adding events to the calendar. It’s SO easy once you have set up every one in your calendar. In the iCal App click the “+” sign at the top of the screen. Enter the Event name, location and time and scroll down to the item titled “calendar”. This is where you will pick the person who the event is for. It’s. that. easy! The events will now show up on every person’s device who subscribe to the calendar.
A few extra things I love that I want to share with you:
*I don’t have to see everyone’s calendar if I don’t want to. In the Calendar App, click on “CALENDARS” and uncheck the name of the person or people you don’t want to see. Don’t worry, you won’t lose their events, it just hides them on the calendar view. You can always turn them back on.
*When you invite others to view, you set up the option as to whether or not they can “view only” or “view & edit” the events. For my younger kids, I only have them view the events, so they don’t mess things up! My husband and older kiddo have the “view & edit” options.
*Because we are an Apple Family–I have the calendar available everywhere I go. It’s not just on my iPhone, but on my computer and iPad. I love how everything syncs seamlessly and I can modify on any device!
If your family has iPhones, I would suggest using the iCal Application instead of either of the other options below.
Cozi Family Sharing Calendar
If I didn’t have iPhones for my family, I absolutely would use the FREE Cozi Calendar! It’s absolutely a fantastic App! I love the summary of all the options from the Cozi Website:
There’s nothing stationary about your life, so why depend on a family calendar that hangs on a fridge or wall? Cozi is the leading calendar for the modern family, accessible from any computer or mobile device. With Cozi, you can:
- View individual schedules, or the whole family at once in a color-coded calendar.
- Import your Google Calendar for an extra quick start.
- Get reminders so no one misses soccer practice or an important appointment.
- Send an agenda email for the upcoming week to any family member you choose.
- Quickly enter appointments using your own words, “Lunch noon tomorrow”.
- Add Internet calendars, including personal or public iCals to your family calendar.
- Use Cozi’s schedule feature to enter recurring activities like sports practices and childcare.
- Get your appointments right on your desktop with the Cozi family calendar gadget.
The ease and accessibility of the Cozi Calendar is an option for any family. You can access it from any computer and the Cozi App is available on iOS or Android. It too, color codes each person’s events.
Here are a few simple steps to get you set up on the Cozi Calendar:
- Sign up for the Free Cozi Calendar here.
- Once you are signed in, click on CALENDER>SET UP. Add all family members to the list.
- To assign colors to each person, go to SHOW>SET UP SCHEDULES> COLORS. Pick a color for each person.
- You can now start to being to enter all events.
Google Calendar
This is not my favorite option, but still a good one.
Seven reasons to use Google Calendar
Organizing your schedule shouldn’t be a burden. With Google’s free online calendar, it’s easy to keep track of life’s important events all in one place.
- Share your schedule
- Get your calendar on the go: access on a desktop or a mobile device.
- Never forget another event by using reminders either through email or text message
- Send invitations and track RSVPs to your event.
- Sync with your desktop applications with iCal or Mozilla Sunbird
- Work offline
- It’s s free
Let me show you how you can set up your family’s calendar using the Google Calendar:
- Log into your Google account.
- In the top right corner of your screen find the 9 small squares, click on the image and then click on the “CALENDAR”
- On the left side of the calendar you will find “MY CALENDAR”. Click on the down arrow next to it to add a new person.
- Once you have added everyone and need to adjust the color to represent each person, click on the down-arrow next to each person’s name and a pop up box will appear color and setting options.
With the online calendar sharing option, everyone in your family has access to know what is scheduled for each family member and they can access it at all times. It’s the easiest way to stay organized and to keep things running smoothly!
