plan

/plan: Temporal Agency

A forcing function that moves planning from list-mode to calendar-mode. Reads from your to-do files, Google Calendar, and (optionally) journal/state signals. Writes calendar events with explicit human-in-the-loop approval, enforcing biological anchors first, maker blocks second, manager clusters third.

Mode routing

Parse the first argument after /plan:

Arg	Mode	When to run
week	Weekly planning ritual	Sunday afternoon, or any time you want to reset the week
morning	Daily forward briefing + gratitude	Start of your workday
review	Friday scorecard + closure	End of the workweek
touch	Reactive, a new meeting request landed	Anytime the user asks "should I take this meeting?"
(no arg)	Ask which mode	Default

If no arg, ask: "Which mode, week, morning, review, or touch?" Do not guess.

First-run config

On first invocation, look for [CWD]/.plan-prefs.md. If it doesn't exist, walk the user through a one-time setup:

1. Calendar account(s) to read: Comma-separated list of Google Calendar accounts (e.g., [email protected], [email protected]). Read events from all; the union gives full availability.
2. Calendar account to write: Single account where new events get created. Defaults to the first account in (1).
3. Timezone: IANA name (e.g., America/New_York, Europe/London, Asia/Tokyo). Used for every cal_create_event call's start/end offset.
4. Working hours: Start and end of your default workday (e.g., 09:00 to 22:00). Maker and manager blocks fit inside this window.
5. Biological anchors: Sleep window (e.g., 00:00-09:00), exercise slot (e.g., 17:00-18:00 weekdays), meal windows (e.g., breakfast 09:30-10:30, lunch 13:00-14:00, dinner 18:30-19:30). These are non-negotiables, booked first, every week.
6. To-do source (optional): Where do your tasks live? Common patterns: a single TODO.md, a folder of markdown files, or none ("I'll paste tasks each session"). If a path, the skill reads it on every /plan week.
7. Bilingual support (optional): Some calendars need event titles in different languages depending on attendee. List partner names + their preferred language (e.g., Alex: es, Jordan: en). When an event includes a listed partner, write the title + description in their language.

Save preferences to [CWD]/.plan-prefs.md as YAML frontmatter + a single markdown body. Don't ask again on future runs unless the user types /plan reset.

Global rules (apply across all modes)

1. Human-in-the-loop before every write. Never call cal_create_event, cal_update_event, or cal_delete_event without showing the proposed change and getting explicit approval first. Hard rule.
2. Timezone offsets on every event. Every start and end field MUST end in an explicit offset (-05:00, -04:00, Z, etc.). Naive ISO strings get interpreted as UTC and land hours off. Use the configured timezone.
3. No em dashes in calendar event titles. They render badly across mobile and desktop calendar UIs. Use commas, colons, or periods.
4. State-adaptive capacity (optional). If the user has a self-reported energy or state signal (e.g., a journal frontmatter field like energy: 1-5, or a state tracker), scale bookable hours:
   • Energy 4-5 (high): 70% of working hours bookable
   • Energy 3 (mid): 65%
   • Energy 2 (low): 50%, prefer recovery + light tasks
   • Energy 1 (depleted): emergency mode, only sleep, exercise, one short maker block, meals Without an energy signal, default to 65%.
5. Biological anchors first. Sleep, exercise, meals get booked before any work block. If a work block conflicts with an anchor, the anchor wins by default, surface the conflict and ask before overriding.
6. Maker vs manager separation. Maker blocks (deep work) get contiguous 90-180 minute slots. Manager blocks (meetings, email, syncs) cluster into a single block per day. Don't interleave, context switches kill maker output.
7. Implementation-intention event titles. Format: If [time] [day], then [action] at [location]. Research-backed: implementation intentions roughly double follow-through vs. vague titles. Example: If 11am Mon, then draft Q3 OKRs at desk instead of Draft OKRs.
8. Memory durability. Anything you want to remember across sessions (scorecards, weekly plans, adherence data) MUST be written to a vault file. In-memory is not durable across new sessions.
9. Zero hallucination on dates and events. Never invent a calendar event from memory. Always call cal_list_events and quote what's actually on the calendar. If unsure about a date, ask.

Default schedule template

A generic night-owl-friendly template. Adjust at first-run config to fit your chronotype.

Time (local)	Block	Type	Notes
(sleep window)	Sleep	Non-negotiable	Hard cutoff at the end of the day.
Wake + 30min	/plan morning	Ritual	Gratitude + today's calendar + capacity math + top 3 priorities.
Wake + 30min to + 2hr	Slow start	Flex	Breakfast, coffee, light admin. Not maker time, nervous system still booting.
Mid-morning, 2hr block	MAKER #1	Deep work	Contiguous, no meetings. Auto-reject meeting invites.
13:00-14:00 (or local lunch)	Lunch	Non-negotiable	Step away from work.
Afternoon, 2-3hr	MANAGER cluster	Shallow + social	Meetings, email, syncs. Book external meetings here.
Pre-evening	Exercise + recovery	Non-negotiable	5x/week target.
Dinner window	Dinner	Non-negotiable	No work.
Evening, 2hr block	MAKER #2	Deep work	Optional second maker block, often creative work.
Pre-sleep	/plan review lite + journal	Ritual	10-min reflection.
Wind-down	Wind down	Flex	Reading, social. No screens / scroll.

The user can override any of this at /plan week approval. The template is a starting point, not the law.

WEEK FLOW: /plan week

Purpose

Produce a time-boxed weekly plan. Output: markdown proposal → user approval → calendar events written.

Step-by-step

1. Gather context (parallel reads):

• Read the configured to-do source (file or folder). Pull P1/P2 items; note any with explicit due dates.
• cal_list_events for the upcoming Mon-Sun across all configured read accounts. Union results, dedupe by event ID.
• cal_list_events for the prior 7 days across all read accounts (completion data for the scorecard).
• If a state signal exists (journal frontmatter, mood tracker), read the latest entry.
• Read last week's scorecard at [CWD]/Plans/YYYY-WW.md if it exists.

2. Capacity math:

• Working hours = (working hours end - start) × 5 weekdays, minus meals, minus exercise, minus rituals.
• Apply capacity cap from Global Rule #4. Default 65% without a state signal.
• Subtract existing calendar commitments from capped capacity.
• Remainder = available for new blocks this week.

3. Propose the week: Write a markdown block (do NOT write to calendar yet) with this structure:

# Week of YYYY-MM-DD

**State:** [if a signal exists, summarize], capacity cap [%]
**Context:** [any anchor events the user mentioned: travel, deadline, deliverable]
**Exercise target:** [N] sessions. Last week: [X] sessions.

## Non-negotiables (booked first)
- Sleep: 7 nights × [N] hours
- Exercise: [N] sessions × [duration]
- Meals: 21 × [duration]
- Rituals: morning + evening blocks

## Maker blocks
- **MON 11:00-13:00**: If 11am Mon, then [project] [project tag]
- **MON 19:30-22:00**: If 7:30pm Mon, then [project] [project tag]
- [... ~10 across the week]

## Manager clusters
- **TUE 14:00-17:00**: Meetings cluster: [name] 2pm, [name] 3pm, slot 4pm
- **THU 14:00-17:00**: Team sync 2pm, email triage 3pm, slot 4pm
- [...]

## To-do blocks (from this week's P1s)
- **WED 11:00-13:00**: [task] (Source: [path]:[line])
  - Estimate: [hrs]. Padding (planning-fallacy coefficient × estimate): [adjusted hrs]

## Aged tasks (7+ days)
- "[task]", [N] days old. **Schedule [slot] or drop?**

## Capacity check
- Bookable: [N] hrs
- Proposed: [N] hrs
- Buffer: [N] hrs

## Conflicts flagged
- Tue 10am: existing event "[X]" conflicts with proposed [Y]
- Recommend: [resolution]
- Confirm before write? [y/n]

## Unscheduled important (this week's "can't fit")
- [tasks that didn't make it; prompt to push to next week or drop]

4. Wait for approval. The user may edit, swap, add, or reject. Do not write to calendar until they say "ship it" or equivalent.

5. Write calendar events in batch. For each approved block, call cal_create_event with:

• Title: implementation-intention format (Global Rule #7)
• Description: Source: [vault file]:[line]\nType: [maker|manager|exercise|meal|ritual|buffer]\nEstimate: [N] hrs\nPlanning-fallacy coefficient: [last week's]\nState at plan: [signal]
• Calendar: the configured write account
• Reminders: 10min before for meetings, 0min for rituals
• Color (optional): if your calendar supports it, use a consistent color per block type

6. Write the week-plan markdown to [CWD]/Plans/YYYY-WW.md for /plan review comparison later.

7. Initialize the scorecard at [CWD]/Scorecard/YYYY-WW.md with "scheduled" columns populated and "shipped" columns empty (Friday's /plan review fills them).

Edge cases

• No to-do source configured: ask the user to paste their priorities for this week, then schedule from the paste.
• Existing conflict with a non-negotiable: surface the conflict, propose alternative slot, do not silently reschedule.
• Aged task (14+ days): hard schedule-or-drop prompt. No third option. Stale tasks erode trust in the system.
• Travel week: prompt the user for trip timezone at start; adapt template; biological anchors stay anchored to the trip TZ.

MORNING FLOW: /plan morning

Purpose

Daily forward briefing + gratitude. Check today's plan, adapt to overnight changes, surface missed blocks, kill 2-minute tasks inline.

Step-by-step

1. Check the week plan exists. Read [CWD]/Plans/YYYY-WW.md. If missing, hard block:

"No plan for this week. Run /plan week first (~15 min) or tell me to cascade a minimum-viable plan (sleep + exercise + 1 maker block/day)."

2. Context:

• cal_list_events for today 00:00-23:59 across all read accounts, dedupe by event ID
• Read yesterday's state signal if any
• Read this week's plan
• Check the rolling scorecard for adherence numbers

3. Greet + gratitude:

"Good morning. Today is [day, date]. State signal: [X if exists]. Sleep: [Y] hours.

Three-line gratitude: What are 2-3 things you're grateful for this morning?"

Wait for input. Save the lines to the daily log under ## Gratitude.

4. Show today's blocks: Render today in order, marking [PLANNED] vs [CONFIRMED] (already on calendar):

## Today's plan (YYYY-MM-DD)
[time]  Slow morning
[time]  MAKER: [task] [PLANNED]
[time]  Lunch
[time]  Call: [name] [CONFIRMED]
[time]  Manager cluster [PLANNED]
[time]  Exercise [PLANNED]
[time]  Dinner
[time]  MAKER: [task] [PLANNED]
[time]  Journal
[time]  Wind down

5. Capacity check:

• Working hours today: [N]
• Booked: [N]
• Buffer: [N]

6. Top 3 rocks today:

"Of today's blocks, which 3 must happen for today to feel like a win?"

Save the rocks to the scorecard for this week.

7. 2-minute triage: Scan the to-do source for items tagged [2min] or similar. If any, propose handling them in the next 10 minutes inline (no calendar event needed).

8. Weekly anchor reminder. If today is Mon/Wed/Fri, remind of the next anchor event (deadline, presentation, travel) within 14 days.

REVIEW FLOW: /plan review

Purpose

Friday scorecard + closure. Close open loops mentally before the weekend (the Zeigarnik effect, unfinished tasks intrude on rest).

Step-by-step

1. Read the week plan and cal_list_events for the past Mon-Fri across read accounts.

2. For each block in the week plan, mark shipped or missed: For maker blocks, ask: "Did the block happen as planned, partial, or skipped?" Record. Compute:

• Maker adherence: shipped / planned
• Manager adherence: same
• Anchor adherence (sleep, exercise, meals): same
• Overall: weighted average

3. Update the scorecard at [CWD]/Scorecard/YYYY-WW.md:

# Scorecard YYYY-WW (Mon DD - Sun DD)

| Category | Planned | Shipped | Adherence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maker blocks | 10 | 7 | 70% |
| Manager clusters | 5 | 5 | 100% |
| Exercise | 5 | 4 | 80% |
| Sleep (avg hours) | 8 | 7.2 | 90% |
| Meals (skipped) | 0 | 1 | 95% |
| **Overall** |, |, | **84%** |

## Wins
- [shipped block 1]
- [shipped block 2]

## Misses + reason
- [missed block 1]: [reason, meeting ran over, energy crash, etc.]

## Drift detected
- [pattern, e.g., "Maker #2 missed 3x; evening blocks need shorter duration"]

## Adjustments for next week
- [change to template, capacity cap, or ritual]

4. Zeigarnik closure. Surface any P1 items still open from this week. For each:

"[task] is still open. Push to next week, drop, or close in the next 30 min?"

5. Friday wind-down ritual:

"Three things you're proud of from this week:

1. ?
2. ?
3. ?

Anything you want to hand off to your next-week self?"

Save to a "Friday close" log at [CWD]/Logs/YYYY-MM-DD-friday-close.md.

TOUCH FLOW: /plan touch

Purpose

A new meeting request landed. Decide whether to accept, propose an alternative, or decline.

Step-by-step

1. Get the meeting details from the user:

• Who's asking
• Proposed times
• Duration
• Topic (1 sentence)
• How important the relationship is (1-5)

2. Check current week plan and calendar:

• Read this week's Plans/YYYY-WW.md
• cal_list_events for the proposed window across read accounts

3. Three-question gate:

• Will this meeting move a P1 forward? If no and the relationship is <3, lean decline.
• Does it fit a manager cluster? If yes, propose that slot. If it would land in maker time, propose moving to manager time.
• Is the asker someone whose time is more constrained than yours? If yes (e.g., a senior advisor offering 30 minutes), bias toward accepting their slot.

4. Propose a response: Three flavors:

• Accept (preferred slot): Draft a one-line confirmation with the implementation-intention title.
• Counter (manager-cluster slot): Draft a polite counter-offer pointing at your manager-cluster window.
• Decline (politely): Draft a no-thanks that opens a door for asynchronous follow-up.

Show all three. Wait for user choice.

5. On accept: create the calendar event using the standard write flow. Add it to this week's plan markdown so /plan review Friday sees it.

Why this skill exists

Most planning tools live as lists. Lists don't care about time. A 14-item to-do list is the same length whether you have 8 hours or 8 days, which is why most lists never get done, they don't fit.

This skill enforces fit. Every task either fits in a real calendar block or it doesn't get scheduled. Tasks that don't fit get triaged, dropped, or pushed. The scorecard surfaces the gap between scheduled-self and shipped-self, which is the only signal that tells you whether your planning is calibrated to your actual capacity.

The biological-anchors-first rule comes from the idea that sleep, exercise, and meals are non-negotiable inputs to cognitive output. Booking them first means work blocks happen with rested brain, not at the cost of rested brain. Maker/manager separation comes from Paul Graham's essay of the same name: deep work needs contiguous time; meetings shred it.

Human-in-the-loop before every calendar write is paranoia about wrecked plans. Calendars are public commitments. A skill that silently writes events can blow up your week before you've reviewed it.