Calendars

Anytime you get a new calendar item or schedule for sports or appointments to attend, write them down in one place. Do not have multiple calendars. If you like to write things out, have a paper calendar. If you want to take your calendar with you, get an electronic calendar that you like and use only that. Having different calendar items in different places will be more harmful because you won't be able to see the whole picture of what you have committed to and you will end up double-booking yourself. Once you have that sports schedule in or all the days off school that your children have for a school year, you will better be able to see where there are conflicts or what days might be good for doing something fun or out-of-the-ordinary. 

Last winter my son was on a basketball team and all the games were played on the same day of the week except one. That game was particularly crazy for us because it was late at night, it was a school night, my husband was out of town and my child that was playing is usually my babysitter for nights like that. Because I had it in on my calendar I was able to figure out a plan before the day of and things went smoothly. For me. For the team, it was a disaster. Because it was the one game played on a different day and most of the parents had not bothered to check the schedule, there were only just enough kids to play and no one to give relief time to the players and they lost from exhaustion the second half of the game. It was really disappointing. Later we learned that the other parents really just had not read the schedule.

Some points for at least trying to remember what you have committed to:
1) Have only one calendar. 
2) When you have a new schedule, appointment or any type of calendar item, write it down as soon as you can. Taking the time - even if it is a whole 60 minutes - to enter in the games, practices, appointments, commitments, scouts, date nights, family visiting, registering, try-outs, open houses, anything you have tickets for, etc. is always worth it. 
3) If you use paper, use a pencil to be able to move things when they inevitably change.
4) Consider using an electronic calendar that is portable and print it out if you need to see the big picture. 
5) Look for a calendar that you can color-code and/or one that you can actually see what is written out in a month view as opposed to only seeing a dot that tells you there is something scheduled, but you don't know what.

Several years ago I was talking with my sister about calendars and we both admitted that getting a new schedule is really fun for us. Taking the time to merge the new commitments with our already existing plans is calming and allows us to have all the information we need in one place. Having several schedules and different calendar systems on your fridge is setting yourself up for disaster. 

Even with a calendar perfectly used and put together, we can forget or have emergencies come up and our plans are out the window. But on those days I completely space what is happening, I can usually just check my calendar and remember if I truly can just lounge in pjs or if I need to be somewhere before I hit that point of my day. Discover the peace and calm that having everything you are committed to written down in one place. 
Happy Calendaring! 

I started using the electronic calendar I use currently in October 2010.