A daily planner for software developers
Programming needs long, unbroken stretches, and a day chopped into 30-minute meetings is a lost day. A developer's plan has to defend big blocks of focus and fit communication into the gaps between them.
What makes planning hard for software developers
Meetings fragment the day
Two meetings with 45 minutes between them leave no time for real work.
Estimates are optimistic
Tasks take longer than planned, and the whole day shifts with them.
Notifications break flow
Chat and email cost far more than the seconds they take to read.
A sample developer day
An illustration of how a plan can be shaped. Change the times and blocks to fit your own day.
- 09:00Stand-up, then check the review queue
- 09:30 to 12:00Deep work: the main feature (notifications off)
- 12:00Lunch away from the screen
- 13:00Meetings and pair sessions, batched
- 14:30 to 16:30Second focus block: tests and bug fixes
- 16:30Code reviews, docs, plan tomorrow
What to tell PlanBot
Describe your goal in plain words. For example:
I have stand-up at 9:30, a planning meeting at 2 pm and a bug to fix by end of day. Plan two 2-hour focus blocks and put code reviews in the gaps.
PlanBot turns that into a time-blocked plan for the day, and you can rebuild it when something changes.
Three tips
- Batch meetings so that at least two focus blocks of 2 hours or more remain.
- Add 30 to 50 percent to your gut estimate when you plan the day.
- Check chat at set times, not continuously.
Free tool
Pomodoro Focus Calculator
Pick a sprint length and see your whole focus schedule.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good focus block length for coding?
Many developers find 90 to 120 minutes works well, since it takes time to load a problem into your head. The Pomodoro Focus Calculator on this site lets you try 25, 50 and 90 minute sprints.
Does PlanBot integrate with Jira or GitHub?
No. PlanBot plans your personal time and does not connect to issue trackers. You enter your tasks and deadlines yourself.
How do I handle interruptions?
Keep a buffer in the day for them, and when one happens rebuild the remaining plan instead of treating the whole day as lost.
Try PlanBot free on Android
3 AI plans every day, no credit card. Tell it your goal and get a plan in about 30 seconds.