Project template
Time blocking template that gives every task a place on tomorrow's clock
Plan tomorrow as blocks with a start and a length: the hard work first, a buffer in the afternoon, and fifteen minutes to block the next day.
- 3 sections
- 9 tasks
- Opens as a list
- Dated from day 1
Time-blocked day
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.
Morning
- Deep work: the one task that matters mostDay 2, 9:00High
- Email and messagesDay 2, 11:00
- Meetings and callsDay 2, 11:30
Afternoon
- Lunch away from the deskDay 2, 12:30
- Second focus blockDay 2, 13:30
- Admin: small tasks in one batchDay 2, 15:00
- Buffer for anything that ran overDay 2, 15:45
- Email and messagesDay 2, 16:30
Shut down
- Block out the next dayEvery workday 17:00High
What's in it
A to-do list says what; a time-blocked day also says when. Each block is one kind of work with a start time and a length. When the day goes off plan, you move the blocks rather than dropping the work.
- Morning
- Two hours for the one task that matters most, then email and messages, then meetings and calls.
- Afternoon
- Lunch away from the desk, a second focus block, small jobs in one batch, and a buffer for what ran over.
- Shut down
- Fifteen minutes at 5pm, every workday, to block out the next day.
- A start and a length
- Every block has both, so it sits on the timetable as a block.
Tips from the template
- Block tomorrow at the end of today.
- Put the hardest work in the first block.
- Leave a buffer block in the afternoon for what overruns.
How to use it in Palby Planner
- 1Open Tasks and choose Templates.
- 2Find Time blocking 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.
Other ways to plan the hours
Book focused hours for hard work, prepare the night before, protect the block and review what it produced.
4 sections, 13 tasksWork in 25-minute blocks with 5-minute breaks and a longer break after four, planned as tasks with durations.
4 sections, 11 tasksPick the hardest task the night before and do it first thing, before email, every working day.
3 sections, 7 tasksFifteen minutes before you log off: clear the inbox, check tomorrow and write down where you stopped.
8 tasksYour top three for today as a checklist, then the schedule, the smaller jobs, notes and a two-line look back.
5 headingsThe 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
A plan for the day where every task has a start time and a length, so the day is a row of blocks instead of a list. This one lays out a whole workday, from a two-hour focus block at 9am to a shutdown at 5pm.
As long as the work needs, and at least 30 minutes for anything that takes thinking. The focus blocks here are two hours and 90 minutes, and email gets 30 minutes, twice.
Move the blocks instead of dropping the work. The afternoon buffer is there for whatever ran over, and in the planner you drag a block to a new time.
Block the hours you control. Put meetings and fixed times in first, then the hard work, then the small jobs. Leave the buffer empty.
Close. Time blocking gives the day's work its places on the clock. Timeboxing gives one task a fixed amount of time and stops there.
Tomorrow, planned before you log off.
Book a walkthrough to see the timetable in the planner.