How to use this template
Fill the sheet in the evening before, not the morning of. Deciding the next day's first action while the context is still fresh removes the slow start that eats the beginning of a working day.
- Write the date, then the three tasks that would make the day count if nothing else happened. Three is the cap, not a target to fill.
- Block the schedule column for anything already fixed: meetings, school runs, the commute. Whatever is left is the time you actually have.
- Put your hardest task in the first free block, and write it into the schedule column as well as the top-three boxes so it has a real start time.
- Use the task list column for everything smaller. Tick the box as you finish each one; leave unfinished items for tomorrow rather than rewriting them now.
- Fill one focus circle for each completed session of deep work, so the four circles become a visible cap on how much hard thinking you expect from one day.
- Before you stop, answer the three end-of-day prompts. The last one, tomorrow's first action, is the line that makes tomorrow's sheet quick to write.
A worked example: a Tuesday sheet might carry "finish the quarterly budget draft" as task one, scheduled at 9:00 because that is the first hour with no meetings. The 11:00 and 14:00 lines already say "standup" and "client call", so the task list column holds only small items that fit in the gaps: expenses, two replies, book the dentist. By 17:00 three circles are filled, the budget box is ticked, and the last prompt reads "open the budget doc and write the headcount section". Wednesday morning starts with no decisions left to make.
If you would rather keep the same layout on screen, the Daily Planner tool has the same sections and saves them in your browser.