Put down your smartphone. I know you’re rushing to your favorite App Store, trying to figure out what a whiteboard calendar app is. You won’t find this on your phone or tablet. But it’s the greatest shared calendar solution that Sarah and I have tried. It is open enough that we can customize it endlessly, but also has great privacy settings depending upon the use environment. It also never needs a software update, reboot, or recharge. Yes, it is a simple, wall-mounted whiteboard. But it has done more to keep us organized than any Google Calendar or variant smartphone app!
The truth is, there is no great shared calendar solution. We have access to each others calendars in Google, but those aren’t terribly centralized. Either we end up with duped entries, because both of us list the same event, or we just plain miss things because we don’t look closely enough at our smartphones. But a whiteboard in the middle of our kitchen is hard to miss. And we consciously choose to only note important items (birthdays of note, visitors, shared plans), making it easier to plan our schedules and know at a glance how busy life is.
Admittedly, it is a bit of a pain manually updating the months, and my handwriting is awful so sometimes that it’s a guessing game WHAT we have scheduled that day, but the trade-offs are worth it. Life is getting busier and busier, and both Sarah and I feel less overwhelmed with a good visual of our plans. It is amazing that with two iPhones, an iPad, a Kindle Fire, and a few laptop computers between us, the simple, super low-tech solution is the best!
MSRP: Varies, ours was $9.99 on sale at Michael’s, you can find similar ones on Amazon.
What I Like: Simple way to keep our schedule organized
What Needs Improvement: No Google Calendar sync 🙁
Good idea. Sometimes old school is better.