Tips for Using Dry Erase Calendars

Here are some suggestions for using dry erase calendars in the home and office.

Put your dry erase calendar in a convenient location, whether it's on a door, the refrigerator, or a wall. If it's in a spot where it's easy to glance at it or to write on as you come and go, it will get maximum use. Calendars without everything written on them can lead to missed appointments.

Always use dry erase markers, as permanent markers can be, well, permanent. Actually you can generally clean them off but it is work.

Use fine tip markets if you need to write a lot in a small space. Otherwise, use medium or broad tip for greater ease in reading from a distance. Get a selection of colors in your markers.

In your home, home office, or small business, create a communication center with one or more dry erase calendars as the heart of it. Of course, you will need an eraser for the calendars, plus some dry erase markers. An address book, a notepad, possibly a bulletin board, and a tray for the bills and papers that inevitably accumulate would also be useful. A way to note phone messages could be the notepad or you could have a something else for the purpose. Organizing a corner like this will make things go more smoothly.

In a family situation, you can easily teach children good planning habits with dry erase calendars. Without your having to lecture them, they will see you writing things in, changing them, and consulting the calendar. For pre-school children you could do little drawings rather than written words. Keep the calendar low enough that the shool-age children can write on it themselves, but not so low that any toddlers could erase things.

Especially for children, but really for all of us (and the environment), it's a great idea to use non-toxic dry erase markers. You may or may not be able to find these locally, but here is a list at Amazon.com of non-toxic dry erase markers. If you notice yourself or anyone in your office or home getting headaches from the chemicals in the markers, or being bothered by the smell, definitely switch to the non-toxic ones.

Clean the calendar with board cleaner before you start using it. This is a tip we have come across several places on the internet. People say that if you do that, the white board cleans more easily, with previous writings completely disappearing. We haven't purchased a calendar since reading this tip, but we do plan to try it ourselves.

Think about your own ways of doing things and come up with more ideas for how dry erase calendars can help you.