How to plan your week in 20 minutes, without overfilling it

Plan your week in six steps

1. 1Pick a fixed moment, such as Friday afternoon or Sunday evening.
2. 2Put in what is fixed first: appointments, meetings, travel, family.
3. 3Write down how many hours you really have for tasks on each day. A day full of meetings may leave only two.
4. 4Choose one to three priorities for the week: the things that would make it a good week.
5. 5Give each task a rough duration and spread them over the days. Big tasks go on days with the most room.
6. 6Leave about 20 percent of each day free for the unexpected.

Common mistakes

• Planning hours you do not have. Eight hours at work rarely means eight hours for tasks.
• Putting every big task on Monday. Spread them, and the whole week feels lighter.
• Planning the week, then never looking at it again. Glance at it each morning and move what no longer fits.
• Treating unfinished tasks as failures. Move them, give them a new day, or let them go.

Week planning and the weekly review

Planning works best right after a short look back. A weekly review clears last week's leftovers, so you plan next week with a clean slate. When your list is long, the Eisenhower matrix helps you choose what matters.

How to plan your week in Plenzu

• Set your hours per weekday once, for example 6 hours on Monday and 3 on Friday.
• The weekly planner shows every day with a time bar: planned time against your hours.
• Drag tasks from the drawer onto a day. A day turns amber when it gets too full, so you move something in time.
• Want fixed times? Open a day and drag tasks into blocks.

Questions