Planning a Calendar

Have I mentioned before that I love Google?! Well I do. I know Google is taking over the world and I LOVE it!

My most used Google product is my Google Calendar. Google has plenty of tutorials for their products but I just wanted to show you how I use my Google Calendar. I must warn you now, this is a photo heavy tutorial!

There are several ways
to get to your calendar. If you are on your iGoogle page the "more" drop down menu at the top left of your page has a quick link to your calendar. If you are in your Gmail account or Google reader they both have a quick link to your calendar on the top left of your screen. Or you can go to the More Google Products page.

Here is my Google Calendar all naked and sad.

Now lets make this gadget all beautiful again.

First lets go to settings. Click the drop down arrow and select calendar settings.

Now select Calendars.

Here you can view all of the calendars you have created or subscribe. This is where you can also create a new calendar. When you click the "Create new calendar" button. You will be taken to another screen. You can fill out all the information including keeping the calendar or making it public. This screen will also allow you to share your calendar with other people. Our menu calendar is shared between Brad and I but our Homeschool Co-op calendar is shared with everyone in our group.


Clicking on "Notifications" next to any calendar will allow you to set a default notification for all events created on that calendar.

By checking "Daily agenda" I receive an email every morning with every event for the day on any calendar I have set for this option. In my Gmail settings I have the option set so that my emails are forwarded to my cell phone's email which is sent as a text message.


One feature that I love is texting appointments to my calendar. We do not have an internet service with our cell phone but we do text and I now my Google Calendar would not be as useful if I was not able to use the assistance of texting.

Select Mobile Setup

Follow the steps for adding your cell phone to your account. Then click save before you go to another tab.

Don't forget to save Google Calendar in your contacts. Once you have done this you can send appointments to your calendar from your phone. When I leave a doctor appointment I send my next appointment to my calendar before I leave the parking lot. When I borrow books from the library I send my due date to my calendar. The text looks something like this,

Jan 3 library 3 items due

I then get a follow up text message from my Google Calendar that reads,

Created event: library 3 items due @ Mon Jan 3, 2011 (Andi)

My doctor appointment text would look like this,

Jan 3 10a dr smith for little bo peep

And Google Calendar would respond,

Created event: dr smith for little bo peep @ Mon Jan 3, 3011 10am (Andi)

Now I know Little Bo Peeps doctor appointment won't be forgotten on my main calendar and I won't end up with any pesky library fines.

The next tab under settings is Labs. Google has labs all over the place and they are just that labs. Some of them disappear some of them become permanent. Read through the labs that are listed enable the ones you like but don't get too attached just in case Google decides to end that lab. And don't forget to click save before moving on to another screen.

These are the two labs that I have enabled on my Google Calendar. I like being able to jump to a specific date especially when I am lesson planning for school. And I adore seeing my little squishers any time I can so why not on my calendar background?!

The last settings tab is the General settings and this is where you can upload your background image.

Go through and select the settings you want for your calendar. This is where you will add your background image. I chose "scaled to fit" for this image. Any time you see "learn more" links click them and learn how to make your life a little easier. And don't for get to save before you navigate away from this page.

Now this is a little better! Lets look at "Other Calendars."

As you can see I like to know the weather and the moon phases. Those moon phases help keep me sane some days. If  the children are out of control and I don't know why, I just take a quick peek at my calendar and see that tomorrow is a full moon and then I breath a little easier! Under all those calendars listed see the "Add" drop down button? One of the options is "Browse Interesting Calendars."

There are Holidays, Sports and More. If you see something that strikes your fancy click Subscribe and it will now show up on your calendar.

Now lets look at the "My Calendars," the ones I have created.

I like to have my calendar items separate so I can see them individually or as a group. In the above photo you don't see any of my calendars highlighted on the left which means the events are not displayed. When I want to look at our menu for the month I can just look at that calendar, but if I need to make sure we don't have a complicated meal the same night we are going out I can look at the menu calendar AND my main calendar (Andi).

Lets create an event.

I left clicked my arrow on January 3 and this event window popped up. If it is a quick event like going out to dinner with friends I can enter it in this window, "7p Dinner with Smiths" then click "Create event." This will now show on my calendar. I can also change the calendar in this pop up window. "8p Charlie Brown Christmas Special" and change the calendar to "tv show reminders."

If I need to add more information or make this a recurring event I need to click on "Edit event details."

I can enter the event in that last pop up window or on this screen. In my example I am making an event "Pay Bills" on my "School" calendar, I think Brad would start doing cartwheels if I really did start paying the bills!

If this event is all day I leave that checked, if the event has a designated time I un-check "All day" and can then choose the time. The time can also over lap several days like a vacation that starts at 5:00PM on a Thursday until the following Wednesday at 2:00PM. If I need to set up a different reminder for this event or multiple reminders I do that on this screen.

If the event repeats,

I check the Repeat box and set up the details for the repeating event.

Lets take a look at my "tv show reminders" calendar.

Sometimes your event title is too long to display on the day. If you have forgotten what the whole event is or just need to see more details click on the event and a pop up window will come with all of those details including who created the event. Now I never miss an episode of 30 Rock or The Office. I know it is shocking to think I could ever forget such a great show is on, but it happens from time to time, thank goodness for the internet!

You will notice at the bottom of that pop up window you have the option to "copy to my calendar." You also have this option if you "Edit event details." If you "Edit event details" you can also copy the event to other calendars. Maybe there is a special program we should watch for school I can just copy that to my "School" calendar and won't forget if I am looking at the "tv show reminders" OR the "School" calendar.


Here is what my calendar looks like all dolled up!

I don't forget birthdays or anniversaries because I set them as recurring events.
I don't forget pesky house chores like watering my indoor plants.
I schedule my rest time. Maybe that should be on there more often....
I don't forget lunch appointments or doctor appointments.
I have all of our lesson plans on the calendar so we never forget to play with the Light Bright or finish our Math lesson.

This is an easy way for me to keep track of everything going on in our life and it is FREE!

One last tip is to print your calendar. My "Andi" calendar changes so frequently that I don't print it I just sign on and view when I need to see everything at a glance. We do print our menu and I also print our "School" calendar.

Choose which calendar or calendars you want to print and then click "print."

To the right of the "Print" button there are other view options. You can look at one day, week or month at a time or you can look at four days at once. The "Agenda" option lists several days of events sorted by date.

If you are still reading, thanks for sticking with me! If you have any questions just let me know. I wouldn't consider myself an expert but I do use the Google Calendar a lot and have found it invaluable.