How to use the daily planner and time block generator
- Enter a title, an optional date, the first and last hour of your day and whether you want 30 or 60 minute rows.
- Type your time blocks, one per line, for example 9am-10:30am Team meeting. Add up to five top priorities and your to do list.
- Check the preview. Fix any message shown above it, such as a time that is not clear.
- Press Download PDF or Print. Tick the save box if you want the browser to remember your entries.
What is on the page
The left side is a schedule with a row for every half hour or hour in the range you choose. Your time blocks are drawn as shaded boxes the right height for their length, with the label inside. The right side has a box for your top priorities, a to do list with check boxes and an optional notes area.
Everything fits on one US Letter page. Long labels are wrapped or shortened to fit their box, and a note under the preview tells you when that happens. What you typed is not changed.
Time blocking in a few lines
Time blocking means giving every important task its own slot in the day instead of working from an open to do list.
- Put the most demanding task in the time of day when you have the most energy.
- Add buffers between meetings and a break for lunch so one overrun does not wreck the day.
- Group small jobs such as email and calls into a single block.
- Keep a few empty rows for the things that come up, and carry unfinished tasks to the next day without guilt.
Privacy
The planner is built in your browser. Nothing you type is uploaded. If you tick the save box, your entries are kept in this browser's local storage on this device only, and unticking the box removes them. For a week at a time, use the printable weekly planner.
Assumptions and limits
- The page is US Letter size in portrait orientation. Print at 100 percent scale for the intended layout.
- Time blocks can be written as 9am, 9:30am or 09:00. Blocks outside the chosen hours are not drawn.
- At most 36 rows fit, so a 24 hour day needs 60 minute rows. Up to 5 priorities and 20 to do items are drawn.
- Characters the PDF font cannot show are replaced, and the page tells you when that happens.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make a time block schedule?
List what you need to do, estimate how long each task takes and give each one a start and end time. Type the blocks as time ranges with a label, and the planner draws them in the right place on the grid.
Can I print a blank daily planner?
Yes. Leave the blocks, priorities and to do boxes empty and the page prints with the grid, check boxes and writing lines ready for you to fill in by hand.
What hours can I show?
Any range from midnight to midnight, up to 36 rows. Choose 60 minute rows to cover a long day, or 30 minute rows for a shorter working day.
Are my entries saved anywhere?
Only if you tick the save box, and then only in this browser on this device. Nothing is uploaded, and unticking the box deletes the saved copy.