Getting Organized for School: Part 2

I laid the ground work for this series Monday with Part 1.  Go take a look at that if you haven't, yet.

Today is all about the calendar!

It's taken a few years to figure out a good system for me, but here are a couple of things that have consistently helped me the most.

Wall Calendar

I'm such a visual person that I have to have a wall calendar in a very obvious, in your face spot.  And, since I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, that's become the calendar's home.

It has morphed a bit over the years that we've been here, though.

 These white board calendars were purchased from Walmart a few years ago.  I'm sure I didn't spend more than $12 per board. {I'm pretty cheap when it comes to things like this.}  I have LOVED having two boards!  My original intent was to switch the boards back and forth as the months changed.  I even put them up on the wall with the Velcro Command Strips so it would be very easy to rotate them.  And it was.  But, I got tired of doing that and now every other month the months are backward.  No big deal to me.

Why two months?  Well, I was constantly not prepared for the start of the next month.  It really bugged me!  I would make overlapping plans or I would procrastinate on getting the next month written up and miss an appointment.  Having two calendars allows me to start planning for the next month and keep it visual.

Ok.  So, having two months up has worked well.  The clutter at the bottom was starting to really get on all our nerves.  I thought the Rust-Oleum Magnetic Paint would be the help I was looking for.  Sadly, it wasn't.

While technically the paint works, it's not worth the money or the time.  Yes, it will hold magnets on the wall, but even the stronger magnets won't hold an appointment post card to it.  I also had to put several more layers of paint up than what were recommended.  Now I have a ridge where the black paint is.  Lesson learned, though.

When I figure out my alternative method, I'll be sure to share.

This is what I now have on my wall.

It's not a complete Command Center, but what I have is working nicely.

I also added this little dry erase board in between the larger boards.

It has really helped to have a place to quickly glance at and see the highlights for the current week.

Now that we have the wall calendar covered, let's move on to electronic.

Electronic Calendar

Having an IPhone, I was using the calendar app that came with it.  It was fine.  Had all the features I needed - calendar, location, multiple alarms, and so forth.

What it lacked was being able to connect with my husband and others.  Maybe I didn't know how to use it to it's fullest potential, though.

Now we use Google Calendar.

The set up definitely works for me.  Our local church group is able to post different activities on the calendar and it automatically goes to my phone.  Whenever Kevin adds an event or appointment to his phone it automatically goes on mine and vise a versa.  I get to color code the events so I can glance and quickly know if an event pertains to family, church, school or work.  (Visual, remember)  It has made things so much easier for me to keep and stay on top of my life and my family's.  It also keeps Kevin and I from double scheduling our life.  

These are all very simple, inexpensive fixes to such a big part of life!  While the family Command Center is still a bit of a work in progress, what I have is working.  Working so well I rarely miss an appointment or special event.  The older kids are able to add school activities as they come up and help keep our life a little less stressful with fewer last minute surprises, too.

Now that you see what I do, I'm curious what everyone else has come up with to keep your events organized.  Do you keep a calendar or two (or three!) on your wall?  Which app do you use on your phone?  Or are you one of those people who can keep it all tucked away in your mind and never miss a beat?  Share and let us all know what you do!  Hop on over to My Life on Facebook and comment or post a picture.

Look for the next on Friday!