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What do you think of Google Calendar?


veritas
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I have used several paper planners, and have come to love my Google Calendar.  I share it with my DH and so his lecture trips, medical appts, etc are on there without me having to remember to put them on a family or personal calendar.  I can highlight certain appointments and I can look up past/future events as long as I remember a word from the event.  The only negative is that I have to have wi-fi (and my computer)as I don't have a smartphone, but that is pretty much everywhere now so I rarely have to say, "Please give me an appt, and I will check if it works with my schedule."

 

I don't use Gmail as my primary account and it would be better if I did ( I have missed a couple of things since I didn't have the calendar nor gmail open), but it isn't enough to stop me from using it....

 

HTH

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I rely on my online calendar for work (my schedule can vary daily, so I need a planner to stay sane). Because of this, I tried out numerous options, including Google's, and I settled on live.com, which is now outlook.com. It had the most visually pleasing interface combined with being the most user friendly (in my opinion). The only thing I wish was different is the ability to schedule things by the quarter hour. Its minimum is a half hour chunks. But even with that, I preferred it over Google.

 

ETA - It syncs with the calendars of other people, sends reminders (if desired), works great on a smart phone and everything like that, too.

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I love it and rely on it heavily. My DH and I share our calendars with each other. Our calendars show up different colors, but it is set up where we can add to each other's calendars so if I do something like schedule a doctor's appointment for him, I can add it directly to his calendar.

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I love it and rely on it heavily. My DH and I share our calendars with each other. Our calendars show up different colors, but it is set up where we can add to each other's calendars so if I do something like schedule a doctor's appointment for him, I can add it directly to his calendar.

We do the same. I love the text reminders, plus it syncs with my phone calendar so I can look while I'm standing in a doctor's office and add an appointment based on both my calendar and my husband's.

 

I also have calendars for house chores and meal planning that we share so we're both reminded to clean the washing machine filter or take a chicken out of the freezer.

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I have used several paper planners, and have come to love my Google Calendar.  I share it with my DH and so his lecture trips, medical appts, etc are on there without me having to remember to put them on a family or personal calendar.  I can highlight certain appointments and I can look up past/future events as long as I remember a word from the event.  The only negative is that I have to have wi-fi (and my computer)as I don't have a smartphone, but that is pretty much everywhere now so I rarely have to say, "Please give me an appt, and I will check if it works with my schedule."

 

I don't use Gmail as my primary account and it would be better if I did ( I have missed a couple of things since I didn't have the calendar nor gmail open), but it isn't enough to stop me from using it....

 

HTH

 

You can set it to send you a text. I've recently set a few things up this way.

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I use iCal for events, appointments, and chores. My husband uses it for his work schedule, birthday reminders, and to-dos. It works similarly to Google Calendar in its ability to sync between devices and update in different ways, so we share our calendars and can keep track of each other's days a little.

 

I've returned to using a paper notebook for a planner/to-do lists/activities.

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Our family uses google calendar for all our events, appointments, etc.  It makes life easy to glance at the week and see who is doing what.   We can all view each others' and I can make/edit appointments on the kids' as well as my own.  My husband is on his own but we can see his. 

 

I still use paper for to-do lists and such, which works much better for me. 

 

 

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  • I love having a separate color for each family member.
  • I love that I can access it easily from my phone (I use the Readdle Calender app) anywhere, anytime.
  • I love that I am not one spilled coffee away from a ruined notebook!
  • I love that my husband can see it at work without having to ask me constantly about what's going on.
  • I love the ease of recurring appointments, which you can't really do in a paper calendar.
  • I love that I can now go back years to see the history of appointments easily.
  • I love that I can delete appointments that don't work out or that I change my mind about vs having a strikeout in my book. I am a neat freak like that.
  • I love that I can put "watch survivor finale!" or something equally silly on my calendar, then I can delete it instead of having it be on my permanent record.  Hee.
  • I love that many other calendars I have to access can be turned "on" or "off" with a click. I can see what's happening with my church and another club I'm involved because I have them on my list of shared calendars, but I only make those appointments visible when I want to-- once a week or so.

The thing I miss most from a paper planner is having to-dos in the same place. But the advantages outweigh that by far, for me.

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We have been using Google calendar for everything for years.  We have it on all our PC's, phones, iPads, my husband uses it at work.  We have way too much stuff on our calendars to track well on paper, and we can tell on the fly remotely if dates are available.  I especially appreciate that when my husband is at work trying to figure out which nights are good for work related dinners or late nights in the office.  But even when my kid's music teachers are trying to schedule a recital, I just bring my calendar right up on my iPad. 

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I love my Google Calendar! I love that I can have emails sent to me with reminders. I even had it send me an email last year about DS2's birthday -- we found something a few months before his birthday that we knew he would love, so we got it, but I wanted to make sure I would remember it and where I stashed it, so I put that info into Google Calendar and set it to send me an email two days before. Worked like a charm! I also love that Google Calendaar can be color-coded -- one color for each member of our family, plus one for the whole family and another for non-immediate-family birthdays and anniversaries.

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I am happy with my Google calendar.  I like that I can access it both on my computer SO easily and my phone.

 

I interviewed for a job last summer.  One of the questions that came up was if I used a calendar and what kind.  Among other things, they were hoping for someone who was used to using **and relying** on a calendar for scheduling purposes, as the online office calendars are shared and seen by co-workers. I was rather amused.  Oh, and I got the job.  ;)

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  • 3 weeks later...

This thread is a few weeks old but it came up when I searched for something else. We started using Google calendar about a month ago and already love it. I gave up paper calendars some time ago and have tried several electronic versions. Most were just okay, but Google is great! The one issue we have is with dh's iPhone. He is trying to find the best way to use Google calendar on his phone. If he syncs it with his iPhone calendar he gets multiple notifications. If he doesn't sync it, he has to go access it through the web (Safari) and it's cumbersome. If anyone has a suggestion, I'd love to hear it so I can pass it along to him. He'll be getting an android phone in the fall when he can upgrade, so he only has to deal with this for a few more months.

Dh, ds, and I all use Gmail, so it's pretty easy to use Google calendar. We share our calendars, but we can each choose not to share something. For example if dh wants to put a work related deadline on his calendar he doesn't have to clog my calendar with that information.


 

I also have calendars for house chores and meal planning that we share so we're both reminded to clean the washing machine filter or take a chicken out of the freezer.


I was actually searching for threads on meal planning when this one came up. Would you share what you use for meal planning and chores? Did you just add another Google calendar specifically for those things? Meal planning is the one thing I still do on paper, but would love to move that to electronic too. I use Google Tasks for my shopping lists so it would make sense for me to do my planning on a device as well.

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I use a paper planner for school stuff. But, we use Cozi for sharing a family calendar. It is an app. My girls and dh all have it on their phones. Any of us can check the calendar, add to the calendar, make changes to the calendar, etc from our phones. It is the easiest digital calendar I have found for use with teens.

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This thread is a few weeks old but it came up when I searched for something else. We started using Google calendar about a month ago and already love it. I gave up paper calendars some time ago and have tried several electronic versions. Most were just okay, but Google is great! The one issue we have is with dh's iPhone. He is trying to find the best way to use Google calendar on his phone. If he syncs it with his iPhone calendar he gets multiple notifications. If he doesn't sync it, he has to go access it through the web (Safari) and it's cumbersome. If anyone has a suggestion, I'd love to hear it so I can pass it along to him. He'll be getting an android phone in the fall when he can upgrade, so he only has to deal with this for a few more months.

 

Dh, ds, and I all use Gmail, so it's pretty easy to use Google calendar. We share our calendars, but we can each choose not to share something. For example if dh wants to put a work related deadline on his calendar he doesn't have to clog my calendar with that information.

 

 

 

 

I was actually searching for threads on meal planning when this one came up. Would you share what you use for meal planning and chores? Did you just add another Google calendar specifically for those things? Meal planning is the one thing I still do on paper, but would love to move that to electronic too. I use Google Tasks for my shopping lists so it would make sense for me to do my planning on a device as well.

He can turn off/modify alerts. In the iPhone, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > several options from there depending on how he wants to tailor his alerts.

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I love it for many reasons. 

I love it's ability to add reminders via email or text. That way, each week I have a list of to do stuff in my inbox which really helps me.

I love that it syncs to my phone. 

I love that I can share it with the rest of my family or invite people to a specific event. 

I love it's repeating event function.

 

That being said, for school I will always use a paper planner.

 

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I don't like the layout. I'd probably use Cozi if I had a phone that did that. But at this point I have a paper appointment book I like, and I custom-made our wall calendar and had it printed and bound at Fedex/Kinko's.

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I was actually searching for threads on meal planning when this one came up. Would you share what you use for meal planning and chores? Did you just add another Google calendar specifically for those things? Meal planning is the one thing I still do on paper, but would love to move that to electronic too. I use Google Tasks for my shopping lists so it would make sense for me to do my planning on a device as well.

 

I just discovered the Pepperplate website and app. I've only been using it for a week or two, but so far I love it! You can easily import recipes, add items to a shopping list, and create menus.

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We have several calendars:

* Family: all appointments and meetings. I keep everyone's schedule on here. I just make sure the title states the person. DS: well check, DD: scout meeting, etc. I tried different colors for different members and it didn't work for me.

* Birthdays & Anniversaries

* Work: conference calls, travel plans, hours worked. It helps DH and I keep track of hours for billing purposes and also prevents scheduling conflicts.

* Activities: I put all upcoming carnivals, festivals, hikes, fairs, camps, etc. on this calendar. If we opt to go, I move the appointment to the family calendar. As summer camps approach, I have all the options in one place.

* Home & Garden Maintenance: the semi-regular chores and maintenance required around the house. Clean out the garage, change air filters, mulch garden, etc.

 

The only issue I have with Google calendar is it requires human input. I find myself repeatedly asking, "Did you check the calendar before scheduling? Is this appointment on the calendar? Could you please put the meetings on the calendar?"

 

I finally had to say, "Look, I'm thinking for four and a half people here. If it's not on the calendar, it doesn't exist."

 

To which I received the reply, "Um, you're thinking for five and a half people," and the person pointed to himself.

 

Exactly. Use the calendar!

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I have made the switch to google calendar because I can share it with dh and sync to my phone.   It has come in very handy.  I no longer double book dh's doctors appointments and can see what classes we have coming up and book doctors appointments accordingly.

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This thread is a few weeks old but it came up when I searched for something else. We started using Google calendar about a month ago and already love it. I gave up paper calendars some time ago and have tried several electronic versions. Most were just okay, but Google is great! The one issue we have is with dh's iPhone. He is trying to find the best way to use Google calendar on his phone. If he syncs it with his iPhone calendar he gets multiple notifications. If he doesn't sync it, he has to go access it through the web (Safari) and it's cumbersome. If anyone has a suggestion, I'd love to hear it so I can pass it along to him. He'll be getting an android phone in the fall when he can upgrade, so he only has to deal with this for a few more months.

 

Dh, ds, and I all use Gmail, so it's pretty easy to use Google calendar. We share our calendars, but we can each choose not to share something. For example if dh wants to put a work related deadline on his calendar he doesn't have to clog my calendar with that information.

 

I have Calengoo on my Iphone 4s. (Had it on my ipod Touch before I got the iphone).  It syncs with the google calendar and is quite neat and useful.

 

In fact, I think I started using google calendar BECAUSE of Calengoo and how easy it makes it to see what is up and coming.

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