If you search for a calendar, you quickly find yourself in the productivity category. Here are some words that tend to pop up in this space: reminder, to-do, task, schedule, organize, habit, focus. Can you feel your body tensing at this list of words, or is it just us?

Some of our favorite apps have taken parts of life that have always been associated with productivity and flipped the script. By giving people permission to goof around, take a break, unplug, dream or just add stickers and color-code, you’re suddenly reorganizing these same experiences. Instead of becoming yet another obligation, they tap into our childhood sense of play, exploration, self-expression and learning. Enjoyment and intrinsic motivation tend to follow.

We felt it was high-time that a calendar ventured into this space, especially one aimed at the whole family. So often, moms become the “gatekeeper” of the family, which translates into worrying about offending classroom parents with your kids’ party invites, and wondering if the 30 minutes you set aside to exercise is “self-indulgent.”

By creating a shared family calendar that inspires you to rethink how we calendar, we hope to liberate modern families from the enormous mental load they carry. The name Idly is inspired by the desire to set you free, carve out more idle time in your life, and help you dream about the future instead of dread it.

Here are a few features that make Idly different:

  • Our Daily Forecast emails allow you to see your day at a glance, so you can spend less time checking your smart watch for what’s happening in the next 12 minutes.
  • Everyone gets their own private space on Idly, so you no longer feel like everyone in your home and work life can see how you organize and spend your time.
  • We allow for handwritten and voice notes, so you can more easily enter information.
  • Idly works across all your devices, so you can live your active life and not feel tethered to a giant planner, screen or eraserboard at home.
  • We reduce notifications wherever possible, so Idly doesn’t take over your life.

So here’s to leaving “productivity” in the dust, and aiming for something better. Dream, envision, hey, maniacally plot even. But it’s your life, so make sure it doesn’t feel like another checkbox or chore. Here’s to you!