How to Create a Shareable Schedule as a couple: NEVER Double Book a Day Again!

How to create a shared Google Calendar and stay organized as a couple!

My husband and I have very busy schedules!  We were the type of people who were always busy or making ourselves busy when we were single, and then we started dating.  

2 busy schedules collided and there was a lot of texting back and forth to figure out what worked for the other.

“What are you doing Wednesday Night?”

“Are you free this weekend to have a cookout with my friends?”

And as we got more serious, these questions still continued, except the wording slightly changed. 

“What are we doing this weekend?  I just want to make sure we don’t already have things planned.”

This was even happening with our travel plans.  I would get the text “when are we going to Acadia National Park again?” 

Then we got engaged and there were so many things getting added to our schedule like cake tastings, and venue visits, and so on and so forth. 

The texts continued. 

Finally I had enough.  We needed to get organized and I decided to look into a shared calendar.

How to set up a shared Google Calendar

Step 1: each create a Gmail account.

Odds are you already have this step down, but in case you don’t, you need to create a gmail account.  

Go to google.com and you will see the page below.  Click on Gmail

Next, you will see this screen. Click on create an account!  

Then you will see this page.

Fill out your information in each text box.  The username (highlighted above) is what your email will be and what people will be emailing you at, so choose wisely!

After this, you will be prompted to enter your phone number and of course the obligatory “I am not a robot” screen will appear.  And there are the terms of agreement, but after this, you are all set up with a Gmail account.  

Then log into your email.

Step #2 – Google Calendar – Where is it and How to use it.

Once you have created a gmail account, you will be able to access your Google Calendar (this is the shareable calendar that allowed us to stay organized!)

Your Google Calendar can be found in what is known as your G-Suite and is in the top right corner when you are logged into your email.

Once you have clicked on that, you will see this pop up and these are all of your Google applications that you have access to, but today we are focusing on Calendar

After you have clicked on Calendar you have found it!  The first promise of this step haha.  

Secondly, I will show you how to add something to your calendar.

Once you are in your calendar, you can choose the view.  Week view, month view, or day view.  I prefer the month view but that’s me.  

To add an event or anything on your calendar, click on the Create button 

Once you hit Create, you will see this, and then you will be able to customize it.

You can change the Date, the time, add guests, add location, and even change the color!

I usually color code my events.  All of my events are yellow (my favorite color), my husband’s events are orange, our dog’s vet’s appointments are purple and then I use the other colors for various things.  You can be random with your colors or as organized as you want.

The important thing is that you get in the habit of putting everything in this calendar!  Remember, no double booking!

Step #3 – Sharing your calendar with your significant other

Ok, so you probably skipped step 1. 

You may have learned something with step 2.

And now onto the most important step!

Sharing your calendar – This way your significant other can see your calendar and you can see anything that they add to the calendar as well.  It allows you to collaborate and to stay organized as a couple.

AND it will help you to never double-book a day again!

Alright, so on your calendar page, hover over the calendar you want to share.  Usually this will be your name, but for me, it is Average Wild Experience.  

Once you have hovered, you can click on the 3 vertical dots at the end of the name of your calendar.  You will then see this page and you want to click on “Settings and sharing”.

When you click on this, you will be taken to a settings page.  Unless you are on a giant screen, you will need to SCROLL DOWN.

Scroll until you see this part of the settings.  

You can now click on the “+ Add People” button and add anyone that has a Gmail account.  

When my husband and I started doing this, we were able to keep track of our trips, the nights we had to work late, and most importantly, we NEVER double-booked again!

I highly recommend creating and using a shared Google Calendar – it can save so much time and as long as both parties enter their plans, days will never be double booked again.  

BONUS STEP!

Download the Google Calendar on your Smart Phone!

Brian and I have replaced using the provided Calendar app (we both have iPhones) with Google Calendar.  It allows us to stay organized and again, never double-book a day again!