Physical Calendar vs. Shared Family Calendar App: Pros and Cons

In today’s digital age, there’s no lack of tools out there for organizing and creating a smooth family schedule.

While physical calendars are the old-school staple that countless households have relied on throughout the years, shared family calendar apps have exploded in popularity, recently. If you’re having a hard time deciding which one is best for your family, we’re here to help!

Let’s explore both the pros and cons of using a physical calendar versus a shared family calendar app to make sure your household has everything running smoothly!

Physical Calendar: Pros

It’s true, there are plenty of pros to a physical calendar! I mean, if there weren’t, it wouldn’t have been relevant for centuries, right? 

Tangibility and Visibility

A physical calendar is a tangible item in your home, that you can place on the wall, refrigerator, etc. to ensure it’s easily visible to any and all family members. As you’re walking by and see it, it serves as a reminder of upcoming events and to-dos. 

No Tech Skills Needed

Physical calendars are as straightforward as can be, with no need for technical proficiency or device compatibility. As long as the user can read, it doesn’t matter the age of the user. All you need is a pen in order to update and manage the calendar.

Offline Accessibility

As you probably already know, physical calendars don’t require an internet connection in order to operate. This means that you can use them pretty much anywhere and don’t have to wonder if the update has been actualized during a power outage or internet connectivity disruption. 

Privacy and Security

Digital platforms always hold some level of risk of data breach or unauthorized access. While it’s not likely, a physical calendar still doesn’t have any kind of risk of this happening. 

Shared Family Calendar App: Pros

So, why have shared family calendar apps come in hot and seemingly taken over? There are quite a few reasons why, so let’s dive in deeper! 

Real-Time Updates

With a physical calendar, every time you make an update, you’re either going to have to communicate that to the others in your household or wait until they walk by the calendar and see it, themselves. This ensures that every single family member has the most up-to-date info which practically eliminates the risk of scheduling conflicts or missed events. 

Synchronization and Integration

One of the things I love most about shared family calendar apps is that everything is just seamlessly synced to everyone’s digital tool of choice.

For example, if you do really well with reminders by email, you can sync them with email clients, or task management apps, or even digital assistants. The possibilities with this integration are practically endless and ensures coordination on each platform. 

Accessibility and Convenience

Believe it or not, it’s not all that convenient to carry a physical calendar around. Aside from that, it’s not like everyone can have access to a physical calendar at the same time. With a shared family calendar app, your household’s agenda can be viewed and updated from anywhere, at any time. You could be at work and your child could be at school, and both of you have access to the same calendar. There’s no longer a need for constant communication in order to stay informed! 

Collaborative Features

Shared family calendar apps are so much more than just a digital calendar app on a phone. We have those already, in the form of iPhone’s Calendar and Google Calendar, among others. A shared family calendar encourages families to work together in order to make sure everyone is on the same page.

You can assign tasks, share notes and attached documents, edit and remove events, and much more. This promotes coordination, improves communication, and strengthens the sense of shared responsibility within the household. 

Physical Calendar: Cons

There are some downsides to using a physical calendar to keep your family life on track. Let’s explore them.

Limited Flexibility and Customization

Even if you’re someone who loves different colors of pens and types of stickers, you only have so much room when it comes to physical calendars. You’re allocated a small square to write in, and the restriction of this available space may not suit the need of your family. 

No Reminders or Notifications 

Physical calendars are also pretty limited when it comes to reminders and notifications, as in there aren’t any. If you just so happen to not look at the calendar that day, you could easily miss an appointment or forget a deadline if no one else reminds you. 

Disorganization

Physical calendars can become seriously disorganized or cluttered, especially if someone in your family has less-than-tidy handwriting (me, in this case). Illegible handwriting isn’t just reserved for doctors and can make it challenging to manage a schedule accurately. Oh, and if you need to make a change or remove an entry, there isn’t much room to replace it with new information. It’s just a mess. 

Shared Family Calendar App: Cons

There’s really only one “con” I can think of when it comes to using a shared family calendar app like Family Daily. One, is dependence on tech, which may be an issue with children having a hard time looking away from their screens.

Another is that some older family members or those who aren’t that well-versed in digital tools could find the learning curve a bit challenging. However, I can personally attest to how simple and straightforward these apps are to use. If there’s someone in your household who is having a hard time, you or another member of your family can help show them how to use it.