Ready for a list of 27 things to add to Google Calendar for an organized year?
I love a good Google Calendar! Mine is the primary source of truth for my family and helps keep me sane.
I use Google Calendar only for events with a firm date, so that’s what you’ll find in the list below. I do not recommend cluttering your calendar with “events” that are actually “reminders”. Otherwise, you risk ignoring the items that are actually events. Items that you need to remember to do, but do not have a firm time or date – for example, changing your air filter or calling to schedule your next dentist appointment – should instead be tracked in the Reminders app.
One more tip before we jump into the list: if you’d like to add all of these at once, check out this post about how to bulk add events to Google Calendar.
Family & Personal Dates
These should be on your calendar already as recurring events, but in case they aren’t:
- Birthdays of family & friends. Consider widening your list and adding more friends’ birthdays to your calendar whether from Facebook or by asking them now. Even if you don’t get a gift or card, everyone appreciates a happy birthday text on their special day!
- Wedding and dating anniversaries – whether your own or those of family and friends – anyone you would wish a special day to.
- Death anniversaries – if you are personally mourning someone close to you, it can help to keep this in mind as anniversaries approach so you don’t schedule anything important on that date, or perhaps, so that you do schedule something in remembrance of your loved one or something else to do to keep your mind off things. In the case of friends who have lost someone, this is another area where a nice text can go a long way on the anniversary of the day that a friend lost someone, to let them know you’re thinking about them.
- Travel-related dates for the upcoming year such as travel, weddings, and dates you’ll have out-of-town guests.
- Concerts or local events you want to attend. For more inspiration and resources, check out my post with 99 family outing ideas.
Civic Dates
- Primary election dates – an important one, as these are often in the spring and not November when Americans typically have voting on the mind. In presidential election years, there may be multiple dates to keep in mind for presidential, state, and runoff primaries.
- Any special election dates in your locale that have been announced.
- General election dates in November.
- Income tax due date – April 15 or shortly thereafter depending on weekends and holidays .
- Property tax due dates – usually semiannual or quarterly, and set by your locality.
Extracurricular Dates
- Summer camp registration openings – tips on how to create your perfect summer camp schedule, plus a template to map the camps you’re considering.
- Fall extracurricular opening dates – see also: how to create the best extracurricular schedule for your family.
- Spring extracurricular opening dates.
- Library summer reading program registration – an important one in my household!
School Dates
- School registration/enrollment windows – typically only applies for kindergarten, preschool, or anyone else changing schools.
- Orientation dates for next school year. (Can you tell I have a rising kindergartener in my house so this is hot on the brain while I write this??)
- School holidays, including the obvious ones like breaks, and the less obvious ones like teacher workdays and one-day holidays. My school district releases yearly calendars for multiple years in a row in one batch, so you may be able to look well ahead to plan work and vacation schedules.
- Days that school releases early, if you are unfortunate enough to live in a school district where this is commonplace as I am.
- Any special events you already know about, such as back-to-school night, field trips, field day, in-school concerts, science fairs, standardized test dates, picture day, etc. Of course, most of these will be announced as-it-happens throughout the year.
Neighborhood Dates
- Pool registration deadline – another one top-of-mind as I write this in April!
- Pool opening and closing dates.
- Spring or fall trash days – around here, this is when you can get rid of large items like old furniture just by bringing it to the curb for a special collection, without making a special trip to the dump.
- HOA meetings – important to participate in. If you live in a small neighborhood, know that just by being one of the few to show up to a meeting, you may come home as the HOA Secretary…not that this has happened to anyone in my household or anything…
Work Dates
- Company holidays, particularly any that are not public holidays and may not be on your radar.
- Work travel and conferences that you know about, especially so the rest of your family can plan.
Healthcare Dates
- Insurance open enrollment dates – include both the open and close dates.
- FSA/HSA claim deadlines for reimbursement.
Cheers to a Google Calendar that keeps your whole family sane and organized!
What dates do you like to add to Google Calendar?
