Project template
Action plan template, with a worked example from the goal to the finish
Pick a start date or a finish date, and every step of the plan lands on a real day.
- 5 sections
- 14 tasks
- Opens as a list
- Dated from day 1
Action plan
Days count from the day you start. In the app, pick a start or a finish date and each task lands on a real day.
Goal
- Write the goal and the date it has to be done byDay 1HighExample: the new website is live by the end of the month.
- Write how you will know it is doneDay 1
Steps
- Step 1. Example: list every page the site needsDay 2
- Step 2. Example: get quotes from three designersDay 6
- Ask two friends for names
- Send each the one-page brief
- Compare the quotes side by side
- Step 3. Example: pick the designer and agree the datesDay 9High
- Step 4. Example: write the words for each pageDay 16
- Step 5. Example: check every page on a phone, then go liveDay 29High
What you need
- Example: agree the budgetDay 4
- Example: photos for the home pageDay 13
What could go wrong
- Example: the designer is booked up. Backup: the second quote
Check-in
- Check progress: what got done, what slipped, what is nextEvery Friday 16:00
What's in it
An action plan is the list between a goal and the finished result: every step in order with a date, plus what you need and what might stop you. Write it once and you stop deciding what comes next every day.
- Goal
- What you want and the date it has to be done by, plus how you'll know it's done.
- Steps
- Five steps in order, each starting with a verb and carrying a date. A big step splits into sub-tasks.
- What you need
- The budget, the photos, the things the steps depend on.
- What could go wrong
- The risk you can see coming, with a backup.
- Friday check
- Fifteen minutes every Friday on what got done, what slipped and what's next.
Tips from the template
- Start each step with a verb: book, send, draft, ask.
- If a step takes more than a day, split it into sub-tasks.
- At the Friday check, move the dates that slipped and note why in the step.
How to use it in Palby Planner
- 1Open Tasks and choose Templates.
- 2Find Action plan and open it. You see every section and task before anything is added.
- 3Pick the day you start, or the day it has to be done by. Every date moves with it.
- 4Press Use template. Rename the project, then work down the list.
Plans that sit beside it
One goal as a dated plan: the goal with a number and a date, why it matters, three milestones, this week's steps and a Sunday check-in.
4 sections, 10 tasksA board for everything you said you would do: each one a verb and a date, with where it came from and who is waiting.
4 sections, 6 tasksAny project from kick-off to wrap-up: scope, owners, milestones, weekly status and a proper close.
4 sections, 23 tasksSet up to three objectives for the quarter, two to four measurable key results each, and score them every week.
5 sections, 15 tasksTwo half-days at the quarter's edge: what happened, three goals, the roadmap, the budget, the team told.
3 sections, 10 tasksThe week on one list: three goals at the top, a short list under each day, and a look back on Friday.
7 sections, 15 tasks
Questions
The goal and its deadline, the steps in order with a date each, what you need, what could stop you, and a regular check on progress. The worked example takes a new website from the first list to going live in four weeks.
An action plan is for one goal, with the steps in order and dates that build on each other. A to-do list holds everything, from any goal, sorted by when.
Enough that each one is a single job you could start today. Five to ten is common. Split anything bigger into sub-tasks.
Yes. In the planner, pick the date it has to be done by, and every step moves back from it.
Yes. Print prints only the template, and Copy puts it on your clipboard as a checklist. Neither needs an account.
Every step on a real day.
Book a walkthrough to see the plan in the planner.