What if your wall calendar transformed the way you run your business? I know a wall calendar might not sound thrilling, but hear me out. In this episode, I’m walking you through how I made the big wall calendar in my office become one of the most helpful tools I’ve used all year in my business. As a mom of three navigating maternity leave, shifting seasons, and ambitious business goals, this simple, low-tech solution gave me clarity and traction in a chaotic year.
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Creating a Low-Tech System That Works for Moms
Each year of my business and motherhood journey feels like a whole new life. This year, I started out pregnant with two kids and ended it postpartum with three. That kind of shift changes everything, including how I plan and track progress in my business.
I found myself craving something tangible that I could glance at without turning on a screen, that would help me reconnect with my goals after the inevitable detours life brings. Enter: my framed wall calendar with plexiglass, repurposed for visibility and documentation.
I love a good planner or calendar. The blank space and endless possibilities of looking at the year or month ahead just make me excited. The problem is…
- I often bite off more than I can chew and plan very ambitiously
- I’m a mom to 3, and I feel like I have a literal different life by the end of a year because of how quickly my kids and season are shifting and growing.
- I found that I was feeling out of touch with some of my business metrics
With these unique challenges in mind, I made a change. For all of 2025, I started using my big wall calendar for less planning ahead and more to keep record for numbers and bring things to visibility in my business.
I decided that I wanted to be able to walk into my office and see some high-level metrics without turning on my computer. I tend to feel overwhelmed by the data and easily distracted so this was something I wanted to test to see if it brought about any clarity.
I also took maternity leave this year, and I knew that I would need to hack how I focused while in my office this year.
8 Ways I Use My Wall Calendar to Track My Business
1. Goals at the Bottom: I write my business goals along the bottom of the calendar with little checkboxes to track progress.
2. Wins at the Top: A “wins” section celebrates things like “12 weeks paid maternity leave,” reminding me of what I’ve accomplished.
3. Content Documentation: Instead of planning content on it, I record what actually gets published—like podcast episodes—with checkmarks for whether a newsletter went out.
4. Monthly Podcast Downloads: At the end of each month, I write down total podcast downloads next to the month name.
5. Revenue Tracking: I jot down our monthly revenue for a quick snapshot of business health. I had my highest-paying month in 6 months in October. The only reason I knew that right away was because I was keeping up with my wall calendar with a quick note of monthly revenue.
6. Maternity Leave Dates: These were pre-marked for clarity—no sessions or launches during this time.
7. Payday Motivation: Every other Friday, I marked my business paydays—a powerful reminder that this work supports my family.
8. Vacations + Launch Dates: I note vacations and big launches, like the Affiliate Boss program, to see how they fit into the bigger picture.
Essentially, I wanted to be able to look at this at the end if the year, and see what I was up to, when I got paid, the wins I achieved, and even the vacations I took.
I talk a lot about how I like Notion for things in my business, and I still use it daily, but I want to remind you that low-tech check-ins can be really helpful.
That’s how I’m personally using my yearly calendar and I have found this to be a great way to remind myself of what I’m working towards.
This isn’t about abandoning digital tools, but having a physical, glanceable way to track my work made a huge difference in a year of massive transition.
Find It Quickly:
02:23 – Challenges of Planning as a Business Owner and Mom
05:13 – The New Wall Calendar System for 2025
07:38 – Specific Uses of the Wall Calendar
11:16 – Tracking Metrics and Celebrating Wins
16:49 – Planning Ahead with Notion and Low-Tech Tools
Mentioned in this Episode:
Episode 136: Planning For a Maternity Leave as a Self-Employed Business Owner
Episode 99: How to Prepare as a Small Business Owner for Maternity Leave or Time Off
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