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How do YOU calendar? Paper planner, digital calendar, color-coded dry erase board, or all of the above? In Episode 83 Meagan and Sarah share our strategies for keeping appointments, deadlines, and family schedules organized. We talk about the pros and cons of both paper and digital systems, offer suggestions for managing large families’ many commitments, and give you a peek into our own quirky way of thinking about a week at a glance. We also discuss to-do lists and we make them work for us. Join us!
Note: We mentioned a TON of tips and ideas in this episode and we’ve tried to include as many links as possible in the show notes. If you don’t see something you’re looking for, leave us a comment and we’ll dig it up!
Links we mentioned (or should have!) in Episode 83
Amazon links are affiliates and have been updated for 2018. Thanks for helping support the show in this small way at no additional cost to you!
- Sarah’s digital-to-paper calendaring system (as explained on the podcast, but in a blog post for The Happiest Home)
- Meagan’s thoughts on To-Do Lists and To-Dream Lists
- Our listeners had great ideas on Facebook and Instagram – click through to read their comments (and give us a “Like” while you’re there if you haven’t already!)
- Wunderlist – Sarah uses this for on-the-go list making and shared to-do lists (but completely forgot to mention it on the show – oops!)
- Sarah’s wall calendar (new link for 2019!)
- Sarah’s Moleskine notebook (new link for 2019!)
- Meagan’s favorite notebook
Sponsor Spotlight
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We worked with Eversnap to take some professional photos last month, and we love how they turned out! (Scroll down to the bottom of the post for more from our shoot!)
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Take a peek inside…
Here are some photos of the systems we talked about in the show. (Meagan’s calendar isn’t pictured because, in her words, she just “looks at Google Calendar on my laptop at least 15 times a day” 🙂 )
More photos from our Eversnap shoot!
All photos are property of The Mom Hour and Life, Listened. Please don’t use without our permission (but if you need something for promotional purposes, feel free to ask!). Thanks!
Great pics and great podcast! Would you both mind showing pics of your ACTUAL calendars and books? I wanted to see your layouts that you described in the moleskines/notebooks. Just an idea! Thanks!
Carrie, yes! We meant to do this and it took me a couple days to get the photos put together. They’re here in the show notes now. 🙂
The calendar that we use for the whole family to see is Google calendar – it takes a little time to set it up so that everyone is shared on all the calendars, but with older kids it’s the perfect solution because they can see and add to it from their phones. We have one calendar per person, all color coded, and have it set up so the parents can edit all of the calendars. The kids can each edit their own, but can see everyone’s. It also took some training and reminding: “Did you put it on the Google calendar?” “Did you check the Google calendar?” But now it is so smooth and the system works way better than trying to keep up with digital calendars plus a paper calendar for four teenagers, especially since I travel about half of the month (sometimes more) and so wouldn’t be able to access a non-digital family calendar much of the time.
September, that sounds like a GREAT system for a busy family with older kids. Thanks for sharing!
Hi, just listened for the 1st time. I liked the podcast. I love the Erin Condren notebooks for lists of things not in my google calendar.
Looking forward to listening to more episodes
Hi Kellie! Thanks so much for listening and commenting – will have to check out those notebooks for sure!
I love the show, ladies. I’ve been listening for months but this is my first comment! I really enjoyed hearing about your calendar systems and notebook preferences.
Our family uses the Cozi app (Gold version) because it allows us to indicate how many people are attending. It also provides multiplex reminders which we need. Lol. I’ve also love the to-do list, journal (which allows us to automatically share our photos/stories once a month), and the recipe planning is great!
My favorite notebook is the Staples Eco Notebook – 5×8, spiral bound, recycled paper, pockets in the front, hard cover (great for notes on the go), and only $4!
Anyway, thanks for all your hard work with the podcast. It’s great to hear your advice each week!
Amy, thanks so much for listening – and for commenting! 🙂 We hear great things about Cozi, too. And you clearly have opinions about the perfect notebook just like we do! 😉