In a previous post, I mentioned that my husband and I have a shared family calendar we use to keep track of our family schedule.  I received a few questions on this, so I decided to write a post solely on this topic.  

Ok, to restate the concept, my husband and I use Google calendar to list any family-related appointments (e.g., kids’ doctors’ appointments, service visits, camp schedules, vacation dates, family visits, etc.) as well as any business appointments we have after business hours.  While the family-related appointments are mainly to keep everyone aware of these events, scheduling the business appointments on the family calendar gives the other person the heads up that they need to manage the kids while the person is focused on their meeting.  

As I mentioned before, calendaring, in general, is a vital tool for me as a Boss Mom.  So, this family calendar is a bonus layer of scheduling and clarity because I’m able to make my non-work schedule transparent to my husband so that we can both be on the same page.  It also allows us to create a conversation about who can do what relative to the upcoming tasks. For instance, if we have the plumber scheduled to do work, we can review the schedule to see who can be home to manage that task while the other person does something else.  

There have been times where my husband will see what’s on the agenda for the weekend and volunteer to take the kids out of the house so that I can manage whatever needs to be done.  Yes, please!  However, had I not shared the appointments on the family calendar, he would not have known what I was managing to offer help.  So, sharing the load has become an unexpected, pleasant byproduct of this transparent system.  

This system works well for us – although it was not without its glitches.  Our biggest issue is user error. We sometimes forget to invite the calendar to the appointment.  So, while we would think we made the person aware of the appointment, it wasn’t showing up on their calendar because we forgot to invite them. We’ve gotten better with that at this point, but we still run into our forgetfulness from time to time.  

In the end, a family calendar is extremely useful in our household. Whether you post a hard copy calendar somewhere in the house or use an electronic version like Google calendar, making appointments transparent will help everyone in the house know what is going on and where support will be needed.  This will take a huge burden off of you in the long run.

Don’t forget to share this series with the Boss Moms in your life!