How to Choose the Right Planning and Scheduling System for Your Family

We get a lot of questions from customers and visitors about how to choose the right style of planner or calendar for their family.  Gone are the days of one style fits all and parents today have a lot of choices when it comes to choosing a planning and calendar system for their family.   But unfortunately, with the many choices also comes the potential for a lot of confusion.  So to better help parents make the right choice for their family here is a quick guide to choosing the right planning and calendar system for your busy family life.

Stationary or Portable Planner?

The first choice parents need to make when considering a planning system for their family is whether they need a stationary or portable planner. 

Stationary planners are primarily family wall calendars or desk pad planners.  These types of planners are stationary in that they tend not to lend themselves to being carried in either a briefcase or purse.  Parents should choose this type of planner if they do most of their planning and scheduling from one central location such as their home or office.

Portable paper planners are typically the note book style planners and are often referred to as day planners or mom planners.  They are designed so they can easily be transported or carried.  Parents should choose this type of planner if they are frequently on the go and do most of their planning and scheduling at a variety of places such as the office, home, meetings, or school.

Note Taking or Not?

The second choice parents need to make when considering a planning system, is whether or not they need or like to take a lot of notes throughout their day. 

Parents who like to write and keep detailed notes of their plans, conversations, and tasks, are best suited for a paper note book planner style because they typically provide more open spaces for writing.

For parents who tend not to take a lot of notes, or like to use files or paperwork folders to keep track of their notes, then a family wall calendar is probably more of what they need.  Wall calendars keep track primarily of schedules and offer only limited space for note taking.

The Best of Both Worlds

For many families, combining the two styles can be helpful.  For example, some parents find having a family wall calendar hanging in a central location helpful for communicating events and schedules with the entire family while also using a portable style planner for keeping track of schedules, notes, and shopping lists while away from home.  The drawback though when combining systems, is that both will require updating to avoid confusion and missed appointments.

So to summarize, choose a wall calendar if you do most of your planning from one central location and you don’t typically take a lot of notes or have an alternative system for note taking.  Choose a planner, if you do a lot of scheduling away from home or the office and you like to take a lot of notes.