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Weekly Planning Routine with Laura Vanderkam
If you’ve ever sat down to plan your week and had absolutely no idea where to start — or worse, never sat down to plan at all — this episode is for you.
In this conversation, I’m joined by time management author and researcher Laura Vanderkam to talk about one of my favorite topics: the weekly planning routine. Laura has spent decades studying how real people actually spend their time, and her research proves that most of us have more time than we think. We just need a simple system to help us use it well.
Whether you’re brand new to weekly planning or looking to refine the routine you already have, Laura’s practical, no-pressure approach will leave you feeling more in control of your week — and your life.
Key Takeaways
- Time tracking reveals the truth. Most of us tell ourselves catastrophic stories about our schedules. Tracking your time — even for just a few days — can shift your perspective and increase your sense of time satisfaction significantly.
- Start with three buckets. Laura’s weekly planning routine centers on three priority areas: career, relationships, and self. Focusing on just these three makes the process feel manageable instead of overwhelming.
- Plan later in the week. Planning on Thursday or Friday — rather than Sunday evening — allows you to plan your upcoming weekend twice and go into the weekend without work still churning in the back of your mind.
- Bridge the gap between big goals and this week. Working in quarterly or seasonal chunks helps connect your annual goals to what actually lands on your calendar each week.
- Done beats perfect. Even a bare-bones weekly planning session — just a quick look at your calendar — is better than no plan at all.
How to Build a Weekly Planning Routine That Actually Works
One of the biggest reasons people skip weekly planning is that they don’t have a plan for the plan. They sit down, stare at a blank page, and give up before they’ve started.
Laura’s approach removes that friction entirely. Here’s the framework she shares in this episode:
Step 1: Choose your time — and protect it. Pick a time later in the week, Thursday or Friday, when things tend to slow down. Block it on your calendar. If that time is vulnerable to interruptions, have a backup slot ready. The goal is to build the habit first, then refine the process.
Step 2: Start with your three buckets. Open your planner and divide the page into two sides: professional on the left, personal on the right. Under personal, think in two categories — relationships and self. Ask yourself: what is most important this week in each of these areas? This priority-setting exercise takes the guesswork out of the week ahead.
Step 3: Move into the logistics. Once your priorities are clear, work through the details. What’s on the calendar? What needs to be figured out? Who is driving where? What could go wrong, and what’s your backup plan? This is where the weekly planning routine earns its keep.
Step 4: Look at both weekends. When you plan on Thursday or Friday, you can tighten up the plans for the weekend that’s coming up immediately — and sketch a loose plan for the following weekend. Planning your weekends twice, Laura says, makes for better weekends.
Step 5: Check in the following week. Did the week follow the plan? If not, what happened? This brief reflection keeps the routine honest and helps you improve your planning over time.
The Case for Time Tracking
Laura has tracked her time in 30-minute increments for 11 years. She’s not suggesting you do the same — but she is making a compelling case for trying it for at least a week.
As part of the research for her book Big Time: A Simple Path to Time Abundance, Laura had 250 people track their time for a week. The results were striking. The proportion of people who agreed with the statement “I generally have time for the things I want to do” rose by 25% over the course of just one week of tracking.
Why? Because most of us are telling ourselves stories about our schedules that simply aren’t true. Time tracking replaces those stories with data — and the data almost always shows that there is more discretionary time available than we imagined.
About Laura Vanderkam
Laura Vanderkam is the author of several time management and productivity books, including Big Time: A Simple Path to Time Abundance, Tranquility by Tuesday, 168 Hours, Off the Clock, and more. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and Fortune. She is the host of the podcast Before Breakfast and the co-host, with Sarah Hart-Unger, of Best of Both Worlds. She lives outside Philadelphia with her husband and five children.
Episode Links + Resources
- Big Time: A Simple Path to Time Abundance by Laura Vanderkam
- Laura’s website: LauraVanderkam.com
- Laura’s podcast: Before Breakfast
- Laura’s podcast: Best of Both Worlds with Sarah Hart-Unger
- Follow Laura on Instagram: @lvanderkam
Related Episodes
- Ep. 113 – 3 Reasons Why You Need a Weekly Planning Session
- Ep. 4 – How to Set Yourself Up for Success with a Weekly Planning Session
- Ep. 82 – Sunday Prep, Step by Step: How I Plan for the Week Ahead Every Sunday
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a weekly planning routine? A weekly planning routine is a dedicated time you set aside each week to review your priorities, look ahead at your calendar, and decide what matters most in the days ahead. It doesn’t have to be long or complicated — even 20 to 30 minutes can make a significant difference in how intentional and in control you feel throughout the week.
When is the best time to do weekly planning? There’s no single right answer, but time management researcher Laura Vanderkam recommends planning later in the work week — Thursday or Friday — rather than Sunday evening. Planning on Thursday or Friday allows you to close out the current week with clarity, plan your upcoming weekend twice, and go into the weekend without work still running in the background of your mind.
How long should a weekly planning session take? A thorough weekly planning session can take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, depending on how detailed you want to get. Laura Vanderkam suggests starting with a big-picture priority review — just 20 to 30 minutes — before moving into logistics. Even a bare-minimum session, like a quick calendar scan, is better than skipping it entirely.
What should I include in my weekly planning routine? Start with three priority buckets: career, relationships, and self. Ask yourself what matters most in each area for the coming week. Then move into logistics — what’s on the calendar, what needs to be figured out, and what could go wrong. Finish by looking ahead at the upcoming weekend so you can make the most of your time off.
What is time tracking and why does it help? Time tracking means recording how you spend your hours throughout the day, typically in 30-minute increments. Laura Vanderkam has tracked her own time for over 11 years and her research shows that even one week of time tracking can increase your sense of time satisfaction by 25%. It works because it replaces the stories we tell ourselves about never having enough time with the truth about how our hours are actually being spent.
How do I connect my annual goals to my weekly planning routine? Laura recommends working in quarterly or seasonal chunks as a bridge between your big annual goals and your weekly plan. Ask yourself what needs to happen this quarter to move your larger goals forward, then pull one or two of those priorities into your weekly planning session each week. This keeps your long-term vision connected to your day-to-day decisions.
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