Life Hack: How to set up and use an online calendar for 2026

Keep on top of your hectic schedule with an online calendar — here's how to set one up that will actually work for you

A shared digital calendar can help everything run smoothly.

Is it just me or does life seem to be busier than ever? Between work
demands, organising family events, and personal plans, many of us are juggling more than ever before. How can you possibly keep track?

A calendar is the obvious solution, and there is merit to a big physical
calendar on the wall for everyone to write their plans. 

However, when you are wrangling routines for multiple people this can quickly fall by the wayside or only be filled in by one, overloaded person. It will work until it doesn’t... that awful moment when someone misses the memo and doesn’t appear where they are expected.

In this case, a shared digital calendar can help everything run smoothly, with notifications to alert everyone to upcoming events as well as timely reminders. 

Here are some of the top ways to help add some stress-free structure to your days.

Which calendar is right for me?

You may feel overwhelmed when you first start looking for the right calendar to share with your family or friends. Rather than trying to learn a whole new system, instead look at tools you are already using that may have a calendar offshoot.

For example, I use a shared Apple calendar with my boyfriend so we’re both aware of upcoming appointments, important dates, and so on. 

It suits us as we both use iPhones every day and it is already a feature installed in our devices so it doesn’t feel like an extra chore to use. It also ties in with other apps on the phone, including Maps, so I get a gentle nudge to leave early if traffic is expected to be heavier.

If you’re a group of multi-brand phone users, you may have another daily essential in common: your email provider. Options include Google
Calendar, which works with Gmail accounts, or Microsoft Outlook Calendar, which is part of Microsoft 365 and widely used in workplaces.

Other apps you may use can also sync with this, helping to organise your work, family and personal plans.

Ultimately, looking at where you are already spending time online and adding to that rather than setting up a new system will be a sustainable way to adopt this new habit.

How should I set up my calendar(s)?

Now that you’ve decided on a platform, it’s time to review its settings and set up your personal planner smartly.

First, who are you sharing the calendar with? You can typically add multiple members, so it’s worth giving them a bit of warning to expect an invitation. You may want to sit with them and help them understand it, particularly if they are not very digitally literate.

Next, work out if you need more than one calendar. 

You can have one you share with your partner and children, another you share with your close friends, or your extended family, or your parents, or just one for you and your partner.

If you go down the route of creating multiple calendars, colour-code each one for easy recognition to avoid mixing up your groups.

Keep it simple or ‘bells and whistles’?

This depends on how comfortable your calendar’s members are with extra features. In the early days, keep it simple. When adding events, use obvious wording so there’s no confusion (‘dinner at Nana’s house’, ‘Chloe’s rugby match’, ‘Aoife’s parent-teacher meeting’). You can also add a location, so try to use exact addresses for this.

One everyone gets more comfortable using the calendar, you can start
introducing smart features that may be available.

How can I make sure everyone actually uses the calendar?

Again, keeping it simple will help here: just check in with the other people in your group. 

In the early days, a morning or evening reminder in person at the kitchen table can start a daily habit of checking the calendar.

Once you’re call comfortable at this level, you can drop back to weekly check-ins and reviews, using some time to see what’s working and what isn’t for you all.

Think of the calendar as an ever-changing tool and make sure it’s working for everyone.