This super technologically advanced day and age of the iPhone, the iPad, and the iCal offers a slew of electronic calendar options for tech-savvy and busy families. This is not the point at which I urge you to go download the latest, must-have scheduling app. No, this, in fact, is when I offer you a solution from the sleepy days of yesteryear. Brace yourselves: there is still nothing quite like having a real live calendar.

A giant calendar that’s mounted on a wall near the hub of your household can serve as an invaluable life management tool. Whether you live alone or in a fully packed house, an XL calendar allows you to keep track of appointments, important dates, and other reminders and notes. Hanging up in full view, a wall calendar can keep track of several different family members’ schedules, and can be referenced by all at anytime.

If that’s not enough to convince you, then try this: there’s strong evidence that the act of physically writing something down helps our brain remember it more effectively. So if you write down “Lucy’s soccer game @ 7,” there’s a far greater chance you’ll be there standing on the sidelines to cheer her on.

Rather than a standard and totally dully-designed wall calendar from Office Max, I suggest going with one that has a little more pizzaz. These calendars will keep your life on track and are easy on the eyes: 

If you’re attached to your iAnything and you love it and it works for you then hooray! I’m certainly not saying you should abandon those methods. We’ve developed them for a reason. But having a wall calendar, even if its as a supplement to your electronic one, will just be like four times the reminding power. I mean, who couldn’t use a little more reminding?

Image credits: Martha Stewart, blog.stylizimo.com, Missvu.com, unknown, Martha Stewart