Top 5 ways to better organize your kids sports with Microsoft Outlook

1. Sync with your phone

For busy, on-the-go parents, an effective digital family calendar has to work on and off the computer. Luckily, Outlook easily syncs with your mobile phone to let you check or change your calendar throughout the day wherever you are. Whether you have an iPhone or an Android, you can sync your Outlook calendar to your phone’s default mail app in just a few minutes.

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To add your Outlook calendar to the iOS Mail app on your iPhone, follow these instructions.

1. Scroll down your iPhone or iPad’s Settings and select Accounts & Passwords > Add Account.
2. Select Exchange.
3. Enter your Outlook email address and a description of your account. Select Next and then Sign in.
4. Enter the password associated with your Outlook account. Tap Sign in or Next.
5. The Mail app may request certain permissions. Select Accept.
6. Toggle the Calendar switch to sync your Outlook Calendar with your iOS device. You can also sync other services, like email, contacts, and reminders.

If you have an Android phone, add your Outlook calendar to your Android calendar app using these simple steps.

1. Open the Calendar app.
2. In the top left corner of the screen, tap the Menu icon > Settings > Add new account.
3. Select Microsoft Exchange.
4. Enter your Outlook email address and password and select Sign in.

2. Create a group schedule

Even if you’re the primary calendar-maker in your family, creating shared schedules keeps everyone on the same page. Microsoft Outlook lets you send calendars directly through email to your spouse, babysitters, grandparents, or even older children or teens who have started managing their own schedule. When you share your Outlook family calendar, you’ll be able to choose the access level for each recipient. That way, you can give your spouse or kids’ parent editing access so they can also add events, while grandparents might only need viewing access. To share an Outlook calendar, follow these simple steps.

1. Select Calendar > Share Calendar.
2. Choose which calendar you’d like to share.
3. Select Add and choose who you’d like to share your calendar with.
4. Select OK and the recipients will be added with a default permission access
5. To change permission access, select a name, update the access level, and press OK.

3. Color-code your calendar

Whether you have several children or one multi-sport superstar, color-coding your digital calendar helps you understand your calendar with even a quick glance. Outlook calendar lets you “Categorize” every meeting or event you add to your schedule. Try using a different color for each child or each sport you’d like to keep track of. You can even add a specific color for your personal schedule, like appointments or errands.

Changing the color of an event in your Outlook calendar only takes a few minutes. First, navigate to your main calendar view.

1. Right-click the event you’d like to color-code.
2. Scroll down and select Categorize.
3. Select a color category.
4. To change the name of a color category, select All Categories and press Rename.

When creating new events, click the Categories icon in the ribbon of the event window and select a color category.

4. Create multiple calendars

Multiple calendars make organizing your week easier if you have older children or teenagers with their own devices. By creating a new calendar for each of your children, you’ll be able to share the calendar with them and help them schedule their own practices and games. It also makes it easier for you to organize your own schedule, as you can easily toggle between each calendar individually based on what schedule you want to view.

5. Set up custom reminders

Even with a thorough, detailed sports calendar for your kids, it can be challenging to remember every event during the week. Outlook reminders pop up on your computer or phone to let you know when an event starts. Customize your reminders to make them work more efficiently for you by setting when you’d like to receive a notification. For example, if you have to drive twenty minutes to drop off your kid at track practice, set an Outlook reminder for thirty minutes before the practice starts so you’ll have plenty of time to get there.

If you’d like to set default reminders for existing and future calendar events in Outlook, select File > Options > Calendar. Under Calendar options, check the box next to Default reminders and set the default amount of time you’d like to receive reminders.

If you’d prefer to set reminders each time you update your schedule, you can manually set reminders by navigating to the ribbon of the event window. Next to Reminder select when you’d like to be reminded of that specific event.

Using a digital family calendar simplifies your scheduling and lets you focus on the game. Microsoft Outlook helps you tackle your to-do list and maximize your online organization skills, from sharing your calendar to setting personalized reminders for all of your kids’ practices.