Time blocking means giving each thing in your day its own slot on a timeline: work from 9:00 to 11:00, the school run at 15:00, dinner at 18:30. A to-do list says what you want to do. A time block also says when, and for how long. It won't add hours to the day, but you can see where everything sits. This guide covers how to lay out a day as blocks, repeat them, move and stretch them, set reminders and check the week, with Planner Cat, our day planner for iPhone and iPad.
Lay out the day first
Before you add anything, jot down the day in rough order:
- What has a fixed time. Work, school, appointments, the train.
- What needs time but not a set hour. The report, the shopping, a walk.
- How long each one takes. A guess is fine. You can stretch it later.
Put the fixed things in first, then fit the rest around them. Two things at the same time are fine: Planner Cat puts them side by side.
Add your first block
- Open Planner Cat. The day page has an hour rail down the side, and on today a line at the time now.
- Tap any time on the rail. A block starts there, on the hour or the half hour you tapped. You can also tap + at the top right, or Add a block on an empty plan.
- In New block, type a name under What's the block?.
- Check Starts, then pick a Length, from 15 minutes to 4 hours. Ends shows when it finishes.
- Add a Note if you like. It's optional.
- Tap Add.
Every block is drawn to scale. Under the day's title you see the date and how many blocks are done, like "2 of 5 done". Tap the circle on a block to tick it. The arrows step through the days, and Today at the top left brings you back.
Repeat the blocks that come back
Most days have the same parts: the commute, lunch, the school run. Open a block and pick a Repeat:
- Every day
- Weekdays, Monday to Friday
- On days of the week, then tap the day letters you want
- Every few days, from every 2 days to every 30
Repeats are free, with no limit on how many. Each day of a repeat is ticked done on its own, so ticking today leaves tomorrow as it was.
Move and stretch blocks
To move a block, hold it for a moment and drag it up or down. To make it longer or shorter, hold the small handle in its bottom corner and drag. Both snap to 5 minutes.
To change anything else, tap the block. It opens in Edit block, where you can rename it, change the time or the repeat, then tap Save. To remove it, tap Delete block.
If the block repeats, Planner Cat asks before it moves or renames it: This one only or All repeats. Deleting asks the same, with Delete this one only or Delete all repeats. So a late start on Tuesday doesn't move every other day. A new repeat, reminder or note always applies to all repeats.
Set reminders
In the block sheet, pick Remind me: At the start, or 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes before, or 1 hour before. It starts on No reminder.
A reminder is a plain notification with the block's title and time, like "Reading at 9:00 AM", and it comes on every repeat. iOS asks for permission the first time there's a reminder to set, not when you first open the app. If you say no, you get no reminders, and the sheet tells you where to turn them on in Settings. Everything else still works.
Your iPhone keeps up to 64 of Planner Cat's reminders waiting at a time. If they're all in use, the block's sheet says so when you open it. Planner Cat plans the next reminders again when it starts, when the date changes and after every change you make. A block that repeats every few days gets its next few reminders set ahead, and more each time they're planned again.
Check the week
Tap Week in the switch at the top. The week shows as seven columns, starting on the first day of the week set on your iPhone, with every block to scale. The title names the week, such as This week, Next week or "Week of" and its first day, with the dates and how many blocks are done.
The arrows step a week at a time. Tap a day at the top to open it, or tap a block to edit it. Moving and stretching happen on the day page. On iPad, the day page has This week beside it.
To put the day or the week on paper, see how to make a printable daily schedule.
What Planner Cat doesn't do
- It doesn't plan the day for you. You place every block, and you choose the times.
- It doesn't sync. Your plan is kept on the iPhone or iPad you made it on.
- It doesn't add anything to your calendar. With Pro it can show your calendar's events beside your blocks, read-only, and it never copies or saves them.
What it costs
Planner Cat is free for as many blocks and repeats as you like, every repeat rule, reminders, the day and week views, and the day and week pages to print or share. There's no account and no ads. Your plan is kept on your iPhone or iPad and in your own backups, and leaves only when you print, share or export it.
Planner Cat Pro is an optional one-time purchase that adds your calendar's events beside your blocks (read-only), day templates, colours and icons for blocks, two more pages to print (the week as a list and the month), and export to CSV for a spreadsheet. If you ever lose Pro, every block, colour, icon and saved template stays. More on the Planner Cat page.
Quick answers
Can I change one day of a repeating block?
Yes. Move it or rename it and pick This one only, or delete it and pick Delete this one only. The other days stay as they were.
Can I save a typical day and reuse it?
With Pro. Open the ••• menu, tap Save this day as a template, then lay it onto any other day with Use a template.
Can I see my calendar in it?
With Pro, turn on Show calendar events in the ••• menu. Events show beside your blocks, read-only. You can't move or edit them in Planner Cat.
Does it work on iPad?
Yes. On iPad the week sits beside the day.
Try Planner Cat
Try Planner Cat: free, no ads, no sign-up → iyio.com/apps/planner-cat