Free planning tool
Weekly Capacity Planner
Balance ordered tasks against the time you actually have, with exact overflow when the week is too full.
This week
Balanced plan
- Usable capacity
- 17h
- Planned work
- 0h
- Hours to move
- 0h
0% planned
Capacity is spread evenly across the working days you select.
Plan inputs
Monday
3h 24m capacity
Tuesday
3h 24m capacity
Wednesday
3h 24m capacity
Thursday
3h 24m capacity
Friday
3h 24m capacity
Saturday
Not selected
Sunday
Not selected
No deadline conflicts or work to move.
Deadline warnings
Work to move
Your plan stays in this browser. Task names, dates, and estimates are never uploaded.
What is a weekly capacity planner?
A weekly capacity planner compares task estimates with the hours you can realistically use. It shows what fits, what does not fit, and which deadline may be at risk before you commit to the workload.
Weekly capacity formula
Usable weekly capacity = weekly work hours - fixed commitments - admin and routines - safety buffer.
The planner spreads that time evenly across the working days you select, then fills it with tasks in the priority order shown.
A worked example
Start with 40h work, 15h fixed commitments, 5h admin and routines, and a 3h safety buffer. With Monday to Friday selected, 40h - 15h - 5h - 3h = 17h of usable capacity.
Add these tasks in this order:
- Prepare launch report, 8h, due Wednesday: 3h 24m Monday, 3h 24m Tuesday, and 1h 12m Wednesday.
- Finish client proposal, 6h, due Friday: 2h 12m Wednesday, 3h 24m Thursday, and 24m Friday.
- Weekly administration, 4h: 3h Friday, with 1h overflow.
The first two tasks fit by their deadlines. The last hour of Weekly administration does not fit, so the planner leaves it in overflow instead of assigning it to a day with no capacity.
Choose a realistic safety buffer
Base the buffer on similar weeks. Reserve more when meetings often run long, interruptions are common, or estimates are uncertain. If capacity stays unused for several weeks, reduce the buffer gradually. In this example, the 3h buffer stays deliberately unscheduled.
What to do when the week is overloaded
Move the lowest-priority task first, reduce its scope, renegotiate its deadline, or free time from another commitment. In the example, move Weekly administration, shorten it by 1h, or reclaim one hour. Keep the overflow visible until you have made a real tradeoff.
When and Deadline are different dates
When is the day you plan to work on a task. Deadline is the last acceptable day to finish it. The planner keeps them separate and warns when the weekly allocation conflicts with a deadline. An optional Pinwork handoff uses the first allocated day as When and preserves the supplied Deadline. Read more in Deadline vs. due date or the When and Deadline guide.