to ask how you keep track of appointments etc?

[cjt110]

I store them in my phone and make a note on our calendar at home. But then I freak out and worry I've missed it, or have forgotten to put it in.

DS starts school soon and I also change my hours so I need to keep on top of things.

So... what do you do?

This sounds like it is more to do with you experiencing anxiety than it does about a fool-proof calendar method of organisation. You can set your laptop or phone to display reminders on your home screen. Equally Google calendar is pretty faultless as is a good old paper diary. It's as easy or complicated as you make it.

Snap Polkerris

I'd love a little something, yknow, on the homescreen with a view of whats coming up. I always worry I've fogotten something.

Have a look at the smooth calendar app, it shows the upcoming events from your Google calendar on your home screen. I find it a life saver. We have a shared calendar and look at the week ahead together quickly on a Sunday so we know what is coming up and who is taking care of what. It has stopped me worrying about dropping the ball.

My DD has a lot of medical appointments (multiple per week) and my DS is in Reception with various do-this, bring-that, wear-xxx days plus he does 4 different clubs that all need different kit/finish at different times etc. I’m always being praised for being ‘so organised’ and ‘i don’t know how you remember it all’ but in truth I just have a simple small, cheap paper diary that goes EVERYWHERE with me. I am strict about recording appointments or school stuff as soon as a letter arrives and I check the diary every evening for what’s happening next day and review every week for anything upcoming that needs planning for. I don’t know what the alternative would be tbh, these things just have to be done!

Very much so Vlad

I had a paper diary in the desk at work somewhere. Have just pulled apart the drawers and cant find the bloody thing now :(

I put everything on a calendar. It's on the wall by the door so I see it each day so no chance of forgetting to check it and missing something.

I struggled with appts on my iphone so I've gone back to an 80s style Filofax .... much to my colleagues amusement .

Paper diary for me too. I have one week view over the two pages. That way l can see the whole week at once.

I did try a one page per day but l started to get muddled with it.

I have a wall planner on my desk at work which I have work and home stuff on to make sure nothing clashes.

I have a calender on my phone with stuff on and I take a photo of news letters from school so I can check it at any time.

If Google calendar doesn't work for you then you aren't using properly or haven't taken the time to learn what it can do. I use it extensively and have multiple calendars to accommodate different categories of events and to share with different groups of people. Major benefits are:

• the sharing element;
• it's accessible from just about any device with internet access;
• I can filter or change views to give me whatever I need (e.g. a couple of clicks and I can have a view of all family birthdays for the rest of the year);
• configurable reminders;
• recurring events/appointments;
• Can view on my tablet/phone home screen (on Android anyway).

Try doing any of those with an old-fashioned diary or wall calendar.

TooTrueToBeGood How do I display it on the homescreen on my phone? Like a widget?

Old fashioned diary (Filofax ) suits me fine.

Family month to view calendar in hall.

If it isn't on the calendar it isn't happening, or at least other events and meal planning etc won't be planned around it.

Calendar and google home

Shared calendar on phones, diary and wall calendar. Still forget if I don’t enter it immediately!

Shared google calendar, reminders for the really important stuff and checking it regularly.

cjt110 yes, there's a widget. There may be several actually but I use the one that gives me a whole month view and give it a dedicated screen.

Yes it's a widget. You can adjust the size so I can see the next 10 things in my calendar. It feels like looking at a paper diary because it has the days too.

Hatd cover paper diary - week to view on one side, scribble pages on the other and a load of extra note paper at the back.

Magnetic month to view wall planner that I can put small notes on.

All appt letters on fridge.

DS is in nursery and has lots of hospital appts, I have Uni submission dates and summer volunteer work plus all social stuff.

TK Maxx does so less expensive diaries inc 18 month ones

Huge family calendar on the kitchen wall. Everything goes on there and into my phone too. Have a lot of lists on my phone too.

If there is something particularly important that I need to remember, I take a photo/screenshot a note and save it as the background wallpaper on my phone. There is no way I’ll miss that.

Phone, with two reminder alerts, one 24 hours before, and a second one 1-2 hours before.

I use a calendar app called Cozi which is free and can be shared with there members of the household so appointments display on all phones - you can mark appointments as for one family member or for all. It has a widget for the home screen that shows the next few days so you know what's on. There are also shared to do and shopping list features etc. I use the free version and find it great.

I put everything straight into my phone, but write them down in a notebook that I keep in the dressing table too just in case my phone is ever lost or stolen.

DH scribbles them on a bit of paper which he leaves dumped on the kitchen worktop and which invariably goes missing