Time blocking planner (+ 9 free time block templates)

Maintaining a perfectly planned day can take a while — despite how much you try to make the most of your time at work, a lot of issues may arise that throw off your schedule.

You may:

• neglect your priorities
• work too much on unimportant tasks
• be indecisive about what task to do next

As a result, you may even miss various deadlines, as well as suffer a drop in confidence and motivation.

Luckily, this is where time blocking and the right time blocking planner come in handy.

In gist, time blocking is an effective time management technique that involves:

• drawing up a to-do list
• deciding on the exact time you’ll spend on the tasks from your to-do list
• adding these tasks to your calendar, i.e. blocking time for your tasks

By carrying out your time block schedule with a planner or time blocking app, you’ll be able to identify and pursue your goals. It will also teach you how to leave enough time for your priorities and stop wasting time on trivial tasks.

So, here are 9 time blocking planner templates you can download in PDF and print out, or easily fill out in Excel + tips on how to time block with some useful apps.

Daily Block Schedule Templates

Daily schedule templates are the most common type of time blocking sheets — you have each of your workdays divided into specific time blocks you can then fill out with your tasks.

As deciding what your priorities are is crucial for helping you decide what to block time for first, each of the listed templates also comes with a to-do list and a section for adding notes and comments.

15-Minute Daily Time Blocking Planner

What’s it about?

This daily planner template is broken down into 15-minute intervals.

Simply, define the month and day, and add the tasks you will work on in the 15-minute intervals.

You can use your to-do list to help decide what to block time for first.

Best for what and who?

Best for people with hectic schedules, who are busy from the moment they arrive at work to the moment they take off home — this is a perfect time blocking sheet for those with a large number of smaller tasks throughout the day.

→ Download PDF of 15-Minute Daily Planner

→ Download Printer-Friendly PDF of 15-Minute Daily Planner

→ Download 15-Minute Daily Planner XLSX

30-Minute Daily Time Blocking Planner

What’s it about?

This daily planner template is broken down into 30-minute intervals.

Simply, define the month and day, and add the tasks you will work on in the 30-minute intervals.

You can use your to-do list to help decide what to block time for first.

Best for what and who?

Best for people who find the 15-minute daily planner to be too detailed for the time blocks they usually implement — it’s also great if you like to focus more attention on a larger number of smaller tasks.

→ Download 30-Minute Daily Planner PDF

→ Download Printer-Friendly 30-Minute Daily Planner PDF

→ Download 30-Minute Daily Planner XLSX

24-Hour Daily Time Blocking Planner

What’s it about?

This daily planner template is broken down into 1-hour intervals, spanned across 24 hours of the day.

Simply, define the month and day, and add the tasks you will work on within each hour.

You can use your to-do list to help decide what to block time for first.

Best for what and who?

The first half of the day usually belongs to standard work hours — but, including the second half of the 24-hour day, i.e. night time, makes this time management sheet also suitable for freelance night owls.

This daily time tracking spreadsheet is also great when you need to work late in order to beat a deadline, or when you’re working with a team that operates in a different time zone than yours.

→ Download 24-Hour Daily Planner PDF

→ Download Printer-Friendly 24-Hour Daily Planner PDF

→ Download 24-Hour Daily Planner XLSX

Weekly Block Schedule Templates

Weekly schedule templates are great when you want to look at the bigger picture when planning your time blocks.

You have the time broken down into days of the week — some weekly schedule templates include weekends in addition to weekdays.

Considering that deciding what your priorities are is vital for helping you decide what to block time for first, the listed sheets also come with a to-do list and a section for adding notes and comments.

5-Day Weekly Time Blocking Planner (1-hour intervals)

What’s it about?

This weekly planner template is broken down into a 5-day work week, with each day divided into 1-hour intervals, spanning across 24 hours of the day.

Simply, define the week date range, and add the tasks you will work on within each 1-hour interval.

You can use your to-do list to help decide what to block time for first.

Best for what and who?

This time block schedule template is perfect if you have a standard 5-day work week, with weekends off. Its 24-hour span makes it adaptable to anyone — from early-to-late night shift workers to flexible freelancers.

→ Download 5-Day Weekly Planner (1-hour intervals) PDF

→ Download Printer-Friendly 5-Day Weekly Planner (1-hour intervals) PDF

→ Download 5-Day Weekly Planner (1-hour intervals) XLSX

7-Day Weekly Time Blocking Planner (1-hour intervals)

What’s it about?

This weekly planner template is broken down into a 7-day work week, with each day divided into 1-hour intervals, spanning over 24 hours of the day.

Simply define the week date range, and add the tasks you will work on within each 1-hour interval.

You can use your to-do list to help decide what to block time for first.

Best for what and who?

This time management sheet is perfect for freelancers or regular employees who often need to block time for work and other errands over the weekends, as well as over the weekdays.

→ Download 7-Day Weekly Planner (1-hour intervals) PDF

→ Download Printer-Friendly 7-Day Weekly Planner (1-hour intervals) PDF

→ Download 7-Day Weekly Planner (1-hour intervals) XLSX

Biweekly Time Blocking Planner (1-day intervals)

What’s it about?

This weekly planner template is broken down into a two-week time period, divided across 14 separate days.

Simply define the 2-week date range, and add the tasks you will work on within each 1-day interval.

You can use your to-do list to help decide what to block time for first.

Best for what and who?

This time management sheet is ideal if you have a small project to work on, and you need to block time over a longer time period to make sure you make time for all the tasks you have to perform.

→ Download Biweekly Planner (1-day intervals) PDF

→ Download Printer-Friendly Biweekly Planner (1-day intervals) PDF

→ Download Biweekly Planner (1-day intervals) XLSX

Monthly Block Schedule templates

Monthly schedule templates are great for larger projects you want to schedule and keep track of — the time blocks span across one or several months, to help you get a wider perspective of what you need to schedule time for.

These time management worksheets are also great when you want to manage a larger workload, as well as make and implement plans for your career and professional development.

They also include a to-do list you can use to define your priorities, i.e. the tasks you’ll want to allocate time to first. In addition, considering that monthly templates cover larger time periods, you can also add a list of your goals, to help you feel inspired and motivated for your time blocks in the long run.

In addition, you can add some useful notes and comments in a separate section of the monthly planner templates.

Monthly Time Blocking Planner (1-day intervals)

What’s it about?

This monthly planner template is broken down into a 31-day time period.

Simply, define the month, and add the tasks you will work on within the 1-day intervals.

You can use your to-do list to help decide what to block time for first, and your goal list to help keep you motivated.

Best for what and who?

This monthly schedule template is great if you have a deadline for a project by the end of the month, and need a clear overview of the work you still have to finish.

→ Download Monthly Planner (1-day intervals) PDF

→ Download Printer-Friendly Monthly Planner (1-day intervals) PDF

→ Download Monthly Planner (1-day intervals) XLSX

3-Month Time Blocking Planner (1-day intervals)

What’s it about?

This 3-Month Planner template is broken down into three separate 31-day time periods.

Simply, define the month range, and add the tasks you will work on within the 1-day intervals.

You can use your to-do list to help decide what to block time for first, and your goal list to help keep you motivated.

Best for what and who?

This planner sheet is perfect if you’re working on a large project, or if you’re working on perfecting your professional skills.

→ Download 3-Month Planner (1-day intervals) PDF

→ Download Printer-Friendly 3-Month Planner (1-day intervals) PDF

→ Download 3-Month Planner (1-day intervals) XLSX

Year-round Monthly Block Schedule (1-day intervals)

What’s it about?

This year-round monthly planner template is broken down into a 12-month time period, divided into 29, 30, and 31 days.

Simply define the year, and add the tasks you will work on within the 1-day intervals.

You can use your to-do list to help decide what to block time for first, and your goal list to help keep you motivated.

Best for what and who?

This time blocking planner works as an efficient “don’t break the chain calendar” — so, it’s perfect for anyone who wants to start implementing the Seinfeld method, one of the best time management techniques for people looking to work on their professional skills on a regular basis.

You can block time on your year-round planner gradually, week by week, or month by month.

Each day you fulfill your time block, mark that day with the color red — your goal is to keep on fulfilling your time blocks day after day, and keeping your chain of red days unbroken, as proof of the progress you’re making with your skills, tasks, and goals.

→ Download Year-round monthly planner template PDF

→ Download Printer-Friendly Year-round monthly planner template PDF

→ Download Year-round monthly planner template XLSX

How to time block with a time blocking planner app

It’s one thing to write out a to-do list and plan out your day. But it’s something completely different to actually get a planner and give every task a proper time estimate. One of the most important things to remember is how to stay disciplined:

If you set 30 minutes on a task, you’ll also need to make sure you don’t spend 35, 45, or 90 minutes on said task. The best way to do this is to track the time you spend on all the time blocks with Clockify.

Why do we advise using our app?

Because we’ve spent years carefully tailoring Clockify to seamlessly fit into your work habits. You can download the tool on your preferred device, or use it in the browser. The latter also gives you the freedom to start and stop the timer in a snap while working with any browser-based tool.

Clockify can serve as your free daily productivity planner or a week plan app, one meant to help you assess your time results and make decisions about your future time blocking workflow. Here’s how your time tracking should look:

Step 1: Each time you start working on a time block from your planner, Start the timer.

Step 2: The timer will start ticking and you’ll be able to see it in your browser tab — you can take a glance at the ticking timer occasionally, to see how well you’re doing, and how much time you have left before the time block is up.

Step 3: Once you’re done with the task, click Stop — this action will add your time entry to the list of time entries below, where you can analyze your efficiency at a glance. If you’re using the 30-Minute Daily Planner and you’ve really spent 30 minutes on said task, that’s great!

Step 4: But, if you find that you’ve spent more than that, it’s time to revise the amount of time you block for your tasks — and maybe switch over to the 24-Hour Daily Planner, or try one of the weekly planner sheets.

Time blocking in a calendar view

Clockify also features a calendar view where you can input, edit and delete all of your time blocks for the day or the week. It’s as easy as using a regular digital calendar, but with the perk of having a timer right there in the corner, without the need to integrate any additional app.

As seen in the image above, you can organize your time blocks right away in Clockify’s calendar. After creating an entry, the app also allows you to drag the edges so you can extend or shorten the time for that one block. As you modify your time block, in the bottom right you see Clockify shift your entries in 15-minute increments. It makes time edits that much quicker, without having to enter time manually.

Creating the time blocks directly from the calendar is just as easy and quick. Simply drag the cursor across the calendar in the time range you want, and an entry will pop right up.Done in a blink of an eye.

Conclusion: Choose a time blocking planner that fits your habits

Your schedule and workflow will always dictate how you should organize your time blocks. If your day is packed with small tasks throughout that require a lot of switching, you will probably go for 15/30 minute intervals. But for those tasked with more deep work, something that ranges up to an hour would be perfect. Time blocking planners are most effective when they cover a set period — like a week or even a month. This allows you to take a look at your time blocks across a wider range and help you improve on your scheduling.