Thabo Mokoena

Plan Tomorrow Around Your Energy, Not Just Your Calendar

Match tomorrow's tasks to when you're sharp, flat or recovering, leave a real buffer, and see plainly which task doesn't fit instead of overbooking.

At a glance

Best for: Knowledge workers with a mix of deep and shallow work who plan by free slots and keep putting the hardest task in the afternoon slump.
Tested on: Claude · Opus 5.5
You fill in: energy_patternfixed_commitmentstasks
You get: Schedule 8:30-11:30 Deep: Q4 budget proposal (3h, unsplit) 11:30-12:00 Fixed: team standup 12:00-12:45 Medium: Friday slides, part 1 (split, since… (full result below)

productivity

personal-growth

meetings

Prompt

Build tomorrow's schedule around my energy, not just my free slots.

My energy pattern on a typical day: {{energy_pattern}}
Working hours and fixed commitments: {{fixed_commitments}}
Tasks, each with a time estimate and type (deep, medium, shallow): {{tasks}}

Rules:

• Put deep work in my peak window, shallow work in my slump, and medium work wherever energy is middling.

• Keep at least 10% of open time as buffer, in 2-3 small pieces, not one block at the end.

• Don't split a deep task unless there's no way around it. If you split one, say so.

• If everything doesn't fit, list what was left out, and don't shrink my estimates to squeeze it in.

• No task directly before a meeting that needs prep, unless it is the prep.

Output:

1. Schedule: a time-blocked list from start to finish, marking each block Deep, Medium, Shallow, Fixed or Buffer.

1. Math: open hours, buffer, hours scheduled.

1. Left out: what didn't fit, and when it should go instead.

1. One rule for when the day slips: which task gets cut first.

Fill in

{{energy_pattern}}: When you're sharp, flat and recovering.e.g. Sharp 8:30-11:30, slump 2-3:30, second wind 4-6
{{fixed_commitments}}: Work hours plus meetings and breaks that can't move.e.g. 8:30-18:00; standup 11:30-12:00; lunch 13:00-13:45
{{tasks}}: Tasks with estimates and deep/medium/shallow type.e.g. Q4 budget proposal, 3h, deep; emails, 1h, shallow...

Example input

energy_pattern: Sharpest 8:30-11:30. Hit a slump around 14:00-15:30. Second wind 16:00-18:00.

fixed_commitments: Work 8:30-18:00. Team standup 11:30-12:00. Lunch 13:00-13:45. Vendor call 15:00-15:30 (no prep needed).

tasks:
- Write Q4 budget proposal, 3h, deep
- Review 2 contractor invoices, 30m, medium (need care: money)
- Build slides for Friday's review, 1.5h, medium
- Reply to about 20 emails, 1h, shallow
- Prep for tomorrow's 1:1 with a report, 20m, medium
- Fix typos in onboarding doc, 20m, shallow
- Read industry report, 1h, medium
- Submit expense report, 15m, shallow

1.3k0

Generated Outputs (1)

3 hours ago

Claude

Opus 5.5

3 hours ago

Generated Output

1. Schedule

• 8:30-11:30 Deep: Q4 budget proposal (3h, unsplit)

• 11:30-12:00 Fixed: team standup

• 12:00-12:45 Medium: Friday slides, part 1 (split, since 1.5h won't fit before lunch)

• 12:45-13:00 Buffer

• 13:00-13:45 Fixed: lunch

• 13:45-14:45 Shallow: emails

• 14:45-15:00 Shallow: expense report

• 15:00-15:30 Fixed: vendor call

• 15:30-16:00 Buffer (slump tail, and room for anything the vendor call throws up)

• 16:00-16:45 Medium: Friday slides, part 2

• 16:45-17:15 Medium: contractor invoices, in the second wind because money needs attention

• 17:15-17:35 Medium: 1:1 prep

• 17:35-17:55 Shallow: onboarding doc typos

• 17:55-18:00 Buffer: write down tomorrow's first task

2. Math

• Working day: 9.5h. Fixed: standup 0.5 + lunch 0.75 + vendor 0.5 = 1.75h.

• Open time: 7.75h. Buffer: 15 + 30 + 5 minutes = 50 min (11%).

• Scheduled tasks: 6.9h. Budget 3 + slides 1.5 + emails 1 + invoices 0.5 + 1:1 prep 0.33 + typos 0.33 + expenses 0.25.

3. Left out

• Industry report (1h, medium). It needs attention, but it has no deadline. Put it in tomorrow's second-wind window, or read it Friday afternoon after the review, when it can inform next quarter rather than compete with this week.

4. When the day slips
Cut in this order: typos first, then emails (reply only to anything from your manager or with a deadline). Protect the budget proposal and the invoices; they're the only tasks with real consequences if they slip.

Why it works

Calendar apps schedule by availability, so the hardest task often lands wherever a gap appears, which is usually the 2pm slump. This prompt makes energy the primary constraint and maps deep, medium and shallow work to your stated windows.

The buffer rule (10%, spread in small pieces) is what stops one overrun from breaking the whole day. "Don't shrink my estimates" and the explicit left out list remove the planner's favorite lie, that everything fits. The "when the day slips" rule decides the cut in advance, while you're calm, rather than at 4pm when everything feels urgent.

When not to use it

If your day is driven by other people (support queues, retail, clinical shifts, childcare), a tightly blocked plan will break by 10am; use a short priority list instead. Energy patterns also shift with sleep, illness and caffeine, so treat the schedule as a default, not a contract. For multi-day planning, use a weekly review instead.

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