Despite all of the benefits of online calendars — improved efficiency, time management, and convenience, to name a few — not everyone uses one. This might even include your spouse.
Unlocking the full potential of a digital calendar means embracing it as a household. Maintaining a family calendar keeps everyone on the same page and simplifies scheduling, especially for families with kids. The question is, how can you get your spouse to see that?
Proving Your Calendar’s Potential
You can make your significant other a believer by putting your online calendar to work. When they see how it simplifies your life, they’ll want to take it for a spin themselves. Here are eight easy ways to do it:
1. Show Them the Ropes
People are often hesitant to try things they’re unfamiliar with. If your spouse has only ever used a paper calendar, that might be the holdup.
Hold a little training session with him or her to outline its useful features. Teaching them the ins and outs of an online calendar will make them more comfortable trying it themselves.
Realize, though, that you need to be actively using your online calendar for your orientation to have any weight. A well-used calendar makes the perfect lesson plan.
2. Share Your Calendar
Speaking of, share your calendar. Happy, healthy couples are transparent with each other.
Shared calendars are great tools for coordinating schedules and planning events, but they can also act as loving gestures. After all, you vowed to share your lives with each other.
When you share your online calendar with your significant other, be sure to keep it current. Old appointments that were rescheduled can quickly create confusion. Keeping yours updated will encourage them to do the same.
3. Plan a Date Night
What better way to prove your online calendar’s worth than by using it to put together a memorable date night? You’ll win the heart of your significant other and simultaneously convince them of the utility of an online calendar.
For this, consider an online calendar that’s built specifically for couples. Whether you go out to dinner or watch a movie at home, you can make sure every step of the night is planned well. You’ll have your spouse swooning over you and your online calendar.
4. Organize Your Next Trip
Family vacations are wonderful ways to unwind, but they take a good amount of planning. Take charge of your next family trip by using your online calendar to plan the specifics.
With your online calendar, you can schedule and book excursions without worrying about finding time to fit everything in. After a flawless, stress-free trip, your spouse will be sold on the power of an online calendar.
5. Remember Important Events
Have you ever forgotten your anniversary or your spouse’s birthday? A good way to ensure it never happens again is to mark key dates in your online calendar. Set reminders to make sure you have ample time to find a great gift.
Impress your spouse with your improved memory. When they ask, be humble: Admit that you had some help from your online calendar.
After the special day, make notes for next year’s birthday or anniversary. Look back when each annual reminder pops up to ensure you cover your bases.
6. Show Off Your Time Analytics
Online calendars can do so much more than help you plan events. Some include time analytics, which gives you a top-down view of how you spend your time.
Your time analytics page can show your spouse how you’re working to improve yourself. For example, you can track your social media time to try and cut down on your scrolling. Don’t brag, but do pull up the data when your spouse asks how your resolution is going.
7. Build Better Habits
Do you have an unhealthy habit that annoys your spouse? It could be smoking, spending too much time playing video games, or sleeping in. Whatever it is you need to kick, an online calendar can be a great ally.
Start by setting a goal. Place milestones on your calendar to ensure you’re making progress. Maybe you decide you want to cut down from smoking a pack of cigarettes a day to half a pack in two weeks. Two weeks after that, maybe you place a quarter-pack milestone. Use your calendar to hold yourself accountable.
8. Make a Promise
If your spouse still isn’t fully convinced, you might have to make a trade. Ask them what they would like you to try in exchange for them trying out an online calendar. It’s only fair to honor their request, too.
The good news is, many requests fit well with your own interest in them using an online calendar. If they want to eat dinner as a family every night, for instance, then go ahead and block off that time on your calendar.
You can’t force your spouse to do something, ultimately, but you can make it appealing to them. Be positive and patient, and you’ll be scheduling things together sooner than you think.
Angela Ruth
My name is Angela Ruth. I aim to help you learn how Calendar can help you manage your time, boost your productivity, and spend your days working on things that matter, both personally and professionally. Here's to improving all your calendars and becoming the person you are destined to become!