This paper calendar has been instrumental to my productivity for over a decade
How a nearly 5' x 3' wall calendar helps keep my high-level schedule and commitments organized throughout the year
People who have worked closely with me know my obsession with personal productivity and knowledge management tools, but it often surprises people that my most essential productivity tool is analog & made of paper — a massive wall calendar.
For over a decade, the NeuYear Calendar has been the cornerstone of maintaining my work-life balance.
The NeuYear Gladwell Calendar is a large-format wall calendar with these key features:
Each sheet is 25" x 36", so together they make one large calendar, 50" x 36" = 4'2" x 3' – with a bit of a gap, I round that up to 4’ 6” wide
Week layout starts on Monday, providing a logical flow for week planning
Large format makes it ideal for visual planning and management
Surface is compatible with sticky notes, allowing for flexible and dynamic planning without writing directly on the calendar
Benefits include:
Excellent for collaborative planning - allows groups to gather and plan together
Helps maintain work-life balance through visual organization
Particularly useful for managing complex schedules involving travel, family events, and work commitments
The biggest (pun intended?) feature here is its commanding size — 4.5’ x 3’ of paper surface area when fully displayed, which transforms an ordinary wall into a command center for planning the year.
Rather than writing directly on the calendar, I use a system of colored sticky notes, adding a visual element to the calendar that can easily be changed as needed.
The Week Starts on MONDAY
One of my favorite features of this calendar is that the weeks start on Monday — a design choice I'm passionate about: Saturday & Sunday are the weekEND; therefore Monday MUST be the first day of the week.
I often host what I jokingly call "calendar parties" where family members and (separately) colleagues gather to discuss and coordinate the flow of the year. These sessions transform routine scheduling into collaborative planning sessions that keep everyone aligned and engaged – and help contribute to my efforts to stay sane.
The other key feature of the design and layout of this calendar is that months flow directly into each other. This year February ends on a Friday, and rather than having a row break like a traditional calendar, March 1 is the next grid square. This makes it easy to count days for things like project planning and hotel nights.
As someone who juggles various commitments — from work travel to family vacations and high school travel rugby team matches — this calendar has proven invaluable in keeping my life organized. It helps me spot potential conflicts and opportunities at a glance, helping me maintain some balance between professional and personal commitments.
NeuYear Calendar + Sticky Notes
My color-coded sticky note system transforms the NeuYear calendar into an intuitive visual management tool:
Greenish-yellow sticky notes mark work-related commitments and events, making professional obligations instantly recognizable
Pink notes are reserved for family events and personal commitments, creating a clear distinction between work and personal life
Blue sticky notes serve as informational markers, highlighting holidays, birthdays, and important shared deadlines, or for sketching out “trip ideas”
Orange sticky notes serve a dual purpose: one with a star marks the current day for easy reference and flag dates requiring immediate attention, such as upcoming trips that need booking arrangements
This color-coding system lets me assess my commitments and priorities at a glance. Most importantly, as future plans come into focus, or existing plans change, it is easy to move things around.
After over a decade of use, I can confidently say this simple yet effective tool has been instrumental in maintaining my productivity and work-life harmony.
Sometimes the best solutions aren't the most high-tech—they're the ones that work consistently, day after day, year after year.
