Printable daily planner PDF, US Letter

A blank one-page daily planner to fill in by hand: the goal the day serves, top 3 priorities, an hourly schedule from 6 AM to 9 PM, 8 to-dos and two lines for the end of the day. Nothing to sign up for.

Fill it in online

Download the PDF (US Letter)

One page, 8.5 × 11 in (215.9 × 279.4 mm). Need the other size? Daily planner PDF, A4.

Preview of the blank daily planner template PDF on US Letter paper

What is on the sheet

A line for the date and a line for “The goal today moves forward”.
“Top 3 priorities”, with three numbered lines.
A schedule of 16 lines, one per hour from 6 AM to 9 PM.
A to-do list of 8 lines, each with a tick box.
“End of day”, with a line for “Win of the day” and a line for “Tomorrow’s first task”.
A small credit line at the bottom. The sheet is undated, so one file works for any day.

On Letter the schedule and the to-do list sit side by side, each about 3.5 in wide, and the hour lines are a little under 0.4 in apart.

How to print it on US Letter paper

US Letter is 8.5 × 11 in (215.9 × 279.4 mm), the standard paper size in the United States and Canada, and common in Mexico and the Philippines. The file is one portrait page with 14 mm margins, which leaves a printable area 7.4 in wide.

Open the PDF and choose Print.
Set the paper size to Letter and the scale to 100% (some print dialogs call it “Actual size”). “Fit to page” also works, but shrinks the sheet slightly.
Print in portrait. The sheet is black and white, so a mono printer or the grayscale setting is enough.

For a half-letter planner (5.5 × 8.5 in), print it at 64%. Half letter is a little taller in proportion than Letter, so the sheet fits the width and leaves a blank strip at the bottom.

If your printer holds A4 paper, use the A4 file instead. A Letter page printed on A4 paper is either scaled down or loses a strip at the side, because A4 is 6 mm narrower. Get the A4 version.

How to fill it in

Fill it in the evening before or first thing in the morning, before you open email.
Write the goal the day moves forward. If a task does not connect to it, it probably belongs on the to-do list, not in the top 3.
Write your 3 priorities. Number 1 is the task you would most like to put off.
Put priority 1 on the first free hour of the schedule, then fixed appointments, then the other two priorities. Leave some hours empty: a day planned to the minute breaks the first time something runs over.
Use the to-do list for everything else, and tick the boxes as you go.
Before you stop for the day, write one win and tomorrow’s first task, so the next sheet already has a start.

Paper or screen

The online daily planner template has the same sections, prints or downloads as Markdown when it is filled in, and can download a file the tracker imports, with your priorities as subgoals due today. Open the online daily planner template. It runs in your browser and nothing you type is sent anywhere.

To check steps off day by day and keep a streak, use the free goal tracker: no account, and your goals stay on your device.

Questions

What hours does the schedule cover?

6 AM to 9 PM, one line per hour, 16 lines. If your day runs later, cross out the early hours you do not use and renumber them by hand.

Is the planner dated?

No. There is a blank date line at the top, so the same file works for any day of any year. Print a week’s worth at once if you like.

Can I type into the PDF?

No. The file is a flat page for printing and writing on, not a fillable form. To type instead, use the online daily planner template, which can be printed or downloaded when it is filled in.

Reuse

Free to copy, share and adapt, including in a classroom, a workshop or a newsletter, as long as you credit goaltracker.online. The licence is CC BY 4.0, and the credit line is already printed at the foot of the sheet.