Manage your family’s schedule better by adding Arrange to your Google calendar

When it comes to family, we know how busy schedules can get, and paper calendars on the fridge can become overwhelming. From kid's sports practices, lessons, and parent-teacher meetings, not to mention trying to figure out date nights, calendars can become a mess. Unfortunately, it’s only going to get more hectic as your kids get older and the calendar is going to be filled with more extracurricular activities, weekend obligations, and field trips. If your family isn’t using a digital calendar, we highly suggest doing so.

With Google calendar, events can easily be updated and repeated, plus everyone in the family, including child care help and grandparents, can see what’s on the schedule. On top of that, adding Arrange plans to your digital calendar eases the stress of staying organized.

In this blog, we are going to share some of the best tips and tricks for optimizing your Google Calendar.

#1 Color-Coding is a Must

If you are used to using a paper calendar, then you know how important it is to color-code certain events. Well, the same thing applies to Google Calendars. Using a color-coding system on Google Cal will help you keep track of everyone’s activities and all the tasks that go along with those activities. You can also color-code certain events to help you remember which is which.

Similarly, each Arrange plan title is shown with a corresponding emoji, for example “🛒 In Person grocery shopping weekly reminder”.

This way when Arrange plans are seamlessly added to your calendar, the plan’s tasks and the plan emoji will show up on your calendar for ultimate organization.

#2 Share and Share Alike

It is a must to share the calendars with each family member, whether they are able to read them or not. Sharing the calendars with the rest of the family allows for everyone to know exactly what is going on and when it is happening. To do this, go to your calendar on a computer and click the “...” button, then go to “Settings and Sharing.” From there, you can add whoever to the calendar and make sure that everyone is on the same page.

#3 If Your Kids Are Old Enough, Set Them Up

Although Google requires users to be at least 13 years old, you can still set them up and manage their calendars. You can even create a calendar for each child, making sure that all their activities and commitments are in one spot. If you plan on making a calendar for your kids, make sure you share them with important family members so that everyone knows what’s going on.

#4 Get the school’s calendar onto your family’s

As the summer comes to a close, you’re probably receiving the upcoming school year calendar for your kids. And let’s be honest, it’s probably just a list of events and important dates on paper that need to be manually typed into a digital calendar.

Well, Arrange is here to help! Whether it's the full academic year, a list of school events, or the PTA meeting schedule, we can create a custom school calendar for you that's useful, shareable, and of course, digital.

Wish you could automagically add your PDF school calendar to your Google calendar? Now you can. Digitize your kid’s school calendar with Arrange. Click here to submit your calendar and we’ll be in touch!

#5 Turn Off Calendars When Needed

Google Calendar has a feature where you can turn off specific calendars so that you can only see certain ones at a time. If your family calendar and work calendar are combined, it’s going to look very overwhelming and other family members may be confused when they see a board meeting scheduled at 10 a.m. Don’t let personal calendars get mixed up with the family craziness!

#6 Recurring Events Are Your Friend

On Google calendars, you can choose how often an event occurs or repeats. Soccer practice every Thursday at 6 p.m? Family brunch every Sunday at noon? Well, don’t worry about setting it up each week. Instead, when you create an event, click the dropdown and choose how often you want that event to be repeated. Click save and there you have it! Another feature that both Google Calendars and Arrange have is that you turn on reminders so the calendar will notify you when you have an event coming up.

Arrange has several weekly and monthly reminder plans you can subscribe to, so remembering those recurring events takes no effort at all.

🚮 Weekly trash day reminders

🛒 In Person grocery shopping weekly reminder

✉️ Monthly bill pay reminders

#7 Don’t Just Trust Your Kids
It takes a lot of work and responsibility to manage a calendar, so you should have some visibility into your kid’s calendar. If your child has their own Google Calendar, make sure that it is shared with you and that you have the right to make any necessary changes. Kids can be sneaky sometimes, especially if they’re good with technology.  Follow the steps above under #2 to gain visibility to your kid’s calendar.

When it comes to managing your family’s schedules, Google Calendar combined with Arrange is a match made in organized heaven.