How to plan your day in Dayplan

Plan today is a short morning routine that turns a long list into a day you can actually do. It walks you through deciding what matters to you today, making sure it realistically fits in the time you have, and giving the important work a place on the calendar.

Before you startCopy Anchor Link

Plan today is on by default. If it's missing from the sidebar, open Settings → My day and turn on Daily Plan ritual under Rituals.

A connected calendar helps, because your meetings then count against the day, but you don't need one. Calendar sync is part of Dayplan Pro.

Start planningCopy Anchor Link

Select Plan today in the sidebar. The flow has five steps, and you move between them with Next and the back arrow. You'll notice that your very first plan skips the first step. That's because there's no yesterday to review yet.

1. Review yesterdayCopy Anchor Link

The first step, Yesterday in review, shows yesterday in two columns: Worked on and Didn't get to.

• Tick a task's checkbox if you finished it but forgot to mark it done.
• Select Today under an unfinished task to bring it into today's plan.
• Select + Backlog to postpone it to the Backlog, Dayplan's shelf for later work.
• Leave a task alone if you're not ready to decide.

Tasks you marked Continue tomorrow at last night's shutdown show a From yesterday badge. If you wrote a note during that shutdown, it appears above the columns. See What happens to unfinished tasks.

2. Pull in what's in playCopy Anchor Link

On What's in play for today?, build a broad first version of the day. You'll narrow it next.

• Switch between the Inbox and Backlog tabs to find existing tasks.
• Hover a task and select Plan today to add it to today.
• Type in Add task to capture work that isn't written down yet.
• Check Workday ends under the list, and change it if today ends earlier or later than usual.

Tasks you postponed a while ago come back to the top of the Backlog tab with a "back from" label, so you can decide on them again.

The meter in the corner, for example "Planned 5h 30m of 7h", compares the planned length of today's tasks with the time left until your workday ends. A task without a length counts as 30 minutes until you set one. See Plan a realistic day.

3. Decide what mattersCopy Anchor Link

Without which task does today not count? turns the broad list into a commitment.

1. Select a task's star to make it a Must do.
2. Drag work that can wait into Can be done tomorrow.
3. Drag less urgent work into Can wait a week or two. It goes to the Backlog.
4. Keep going until the meter fits the day you actually have. If you're over, a warning such as "45min overtime!" appears beside Today.

By default, Dayplan keeps you to three must-dos a day. You can turn off Limit Must do tasks to 3 / day in Settings → My day, but a short list is easier to protect. See Priorities and Must do.

4. Shape the dayCopy Anchor Link

On Shape the day, give the remaining work enough structure to be believable.

• Set or correct each task's length.
• Drag a task onto the calendar to reserve a time for it.
• Drag a calendar block back onto the task list to remove its time while keeping the task in the day.
• Add breaks. Open the Break menu to pick from your saved breaks (Dayplan offers a time that fits around your calendar), choose one of the greyed-out suggestions, or type your own in Add a break. Then drag a break onto the calendar to give it a time.

For more about calendar blocks, read Timeboxing 101 and Use the calendar and timebox tasks.

5. Write the planCopy Anchor Link

The last step, Daily plan, shows your day as a timeline beside two editable cards:

• Planned for today is a short draft of what the day is for. Rewrite it in your own words.
• Setting myself up for success holds practical notes, such as closing a distracting tab, preparing a file, or protecting lunch.

Select Get going to save the plan. You can read it again later in the Journal.

Best practicesCopy Anchor Link

• Plan from a complete list, then subtract.
• When the day is over capacity, move work out instead of shrinking estimates you don't believe. See Plan a realistic day.
• Keep must-dos scarce so the star means something.
• Run Plan today again if the day changes a lot.

Frequently asked questionsCopy Anchor Link

Plan today is missing from the sidebar. How do I get it back?Copy Anchor Link

Open Settings → My day and turn on Daily Plan ritual under Rituals.

My meetings show on the calendar but not in the task list. Why?Copy Anchor Link

Open Settings → Calendars and turn on Show events as tasks. Synced events then appear as read-only cards next to your tasks and count toward the workload. Calendar sync is part of Dayplan Pro.

Does "Can be done tomorrow" schedule the task?Copy Anchor Link

Yes. Tasks in Can be done tomorrow move to tomorrow. Tasks in Can wait a week or two go to the Backlog and come back for a fresh decision later.