A realistic week from a brain dump
Sorts everything on your mind into do, schedule, delegate or drop, then fits it to your actual hours.
Here is everything on my mind for the coming week, unsorted:
<brain_dump>
[PASTE TASKS, WORRIES, IDEAS, DEADLINES]
</brain_dump>
Fixed commitments, and the hours I realistically have for focused work: [CALENDAR CONSTRAINTS AND AVAILABLE HOURS]
The one or two outcomes that would make this week a success: [TOP OUTCOMES]
Do the following:
1. Sort every item into: Do this week / Schedule later (suggest when) / Delegate or ask (to whom, if I said) / Drop. Give a reason of a few words for each "Drop" — I need permission to let things go.
2. For "Do this week", estimate effort in half-hour blocks. If the total exceeds my available hours, say by how much and propose what moves. Do not quietly overfill the week.
3. Lay out Monday to Friday. Put work tied to my top outcomes in the first focus block of each day. Batch small admin tasks together. Leave 20% of each day unplanned.
4. Rewrite any vague item ("sort out the website") as a concrete next action that starts with a verb and can be done in one sitting.
Output a table for the week with the columns Day | Focus block | Other tasks | Buffer, followed by the Later, Delegate and Drop lists. Finish with the one item I'm most likely to avoid and a suggestion for making it easier to start. If anything in my list is too ambiguous to sort, ask me about those items before planning.