Your Life in Weeks: From Tim Urban's Viral Post to Your iPhone

The Post That Went Viral

In May 2014, blogger Tim Urban published a post on Wait But Why that would go on to be read by tens of millions of people. It wasn't about technology or politics or celebrity gossip. It was about a simple grid of dots.

The post, titled "Your Life in Weeks," presented an elegantly brutal visualization: every week of a 90-year human life, laid out as tiny squares on a single page. Some filled in, representing weeks already lived. The rest empty, representing weeks remaining.

The image was jarring. Suddenly, an abstract concept—"my whole life"—became concrete and countable. You could see exactly how much time had passed and, more pointedly, how much remained.

Why It Resonated

The post didn't just present data—it made people feel something. Within days, it had been shared millions of times. People bought life calendar posters, created apps, and started tracking their weeks.

But why did a simple grid of dots hit so hard? Three psychological principles explain its power:

Tim Urban tapped into something ancient that Stoic philosophers knew millennia ago: memento mori—remember that you will die—isn't morbid. It's clarifying.

From Poster to Wallpaper

After Tim's post went viral, life calendar posters became a cottage industry. You could buy beautiful prints to hang on your wall, with spaces to fill in each week as it passed.

The problem? Posters become wallpaper—literally. You hang them up, fill in a few weeks, and then stop noticing them. They fade into the background of your home like any other decoration.

Digital apps tried to solve this, but most suffered the same fate. They lived in your phone's app drawer, opened once a week (if you remembered), then forgotten.

This is why we built WeeklyDots. Instead of an app you open or a poster you glance at, your life calendar becomes your iPhone lock screen—the thing you look at 100+ times per day.

How WeeklyDots Works

WeeklyDots takes Tim Urban's concept and makes it impossible to ignore. Here's how:

1. Enter your birthday — This is the only data we need to calculate your weeks lived
2. Choose your style — Pick from six minimal themes designed for lock screens
3. Get your wallpaper URL — A permanent link that always returns your current life calendar
4. Set up auto-updates — Use iOS Shortcuts to refresh your wallpaper every morning

The result: every morning when you wake up, your lock screen shows one more dot filled in. No app to open. No ritual to maintain. Just a gentle daily reminder that time is passing and this week counts.

Making It Personal

Tim Urban's original visualization was universal—a template showing a generic 90-year life. But the real power comes when the dots are yours.

When you create your WeeklyDots wallpaper, the filled and empty dots represent your actual life based on your real birthday. The current week is highlighted, showing exactly where you are in your journey.

This personalization transforms the experience from interesting thought experiment to daily personal ritual. It's no longer "a human life in weeks." It's your life in weeks.

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