Calculator Inputs
Example Data Table
Sample weekly plan (7 days). Values are typical, not idealized.
| Input | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Period | Week | 7 days, 168 total hours |
| Sleep | 8 h/day | 56 hours per week |
| Work / Study | 8 h/day | 56 hours per week |
| Commute / Travel | 1 h/day | 7 hours per week |
| Meals & Personal Care | 2 h/day | 14 hours per week |
| Housework & Errands | 5 h/week | Weekly commitment |
| Appointments / Projects | 3 h | One-time in the week |
| Buffer | 10% | 16.8 hours reserved |
| Estimated free time | ≈ 10.2 h | About 1.46 hours/day |
Formula Used
The calculator estimates free time by subtracting commitments and buffers from total available hours in a chosen period.
DailyHoursInPeriod = (Sleep + Work + Commute + Essentials + Exercise + Care) × Days
WeeklyHoursInPeriod = (Chores + Admin + Social) × (Days ÷ 7)
BufferHours = (TotalHours × Buffer%) or FixedBufferHours
CommittedHours = DailyHoursInPeriod + WeeklyHoursInPeriod + OneTimeHours + BufferHours
FreeHours = TotalHours − CommittedHours
FreeHoursPerDay = FreeHours ÷ Days
How to Use This Calculator
- Select a period: day, week, month, or a custom date range.
- Enter daily commitments as hours per day for the period.
- Add weekly tasks in hours per week; they scale automatically.
- Include any one-time events that happen during the period.
- Choose a buffer as a percent or fixed hours, then submit.
- Review free hours, adjust categories, and download results if needed.
Time Budget Baseline
A full week contains 168 hours. If you sleep 8 hours nightly, that consumes 56 hours, leaving 112 hours for everything else. This calculator starts from total hours in the selected period and subtracts planned commitments, so your baseline is explicit and comparable across weeks, months, or custom ranges. When availability is limited, override total hours (for example, 40) to model travel days accurately.
Daily Commitments and Recovery
Daily inputs are multiplied by the number of days, which makes small habits add up. For example, 2 hours of meals and personal care becomes 14 hours in a week. Adding 30 minutes of exercise daily becomes 3.5 hours weekly, and 45 minutes becomes 5.25 hours. Tracking sleep, commute, and caregiving together helps reveal whether evenings are open or booked by recovery needs.
Weekly Tasks That Steal Hours
Weekly items scale by Days / 7, so you can model partial periods without guessing. A 5-hour errands block is 5 hours in a week, about 2.14 hours in a 3-day window, and roughly 21.4 hours across a 30-day month. Consider splitting "housework" into batches (laundry, shopping, cleaning) if totals feel vague. Better categories create clearer tradeoffs when you need to free time.
Buffering for Variability
Plans fail when every hour is assigned. The buffer reserves capacity as a percent of total hours or a fixed number of hours. A 10% buffer on a 168-hour week protects 16.8 hours for delays, transitions, and unexpected requests. If your schedule is stable, a 5% buffer may be enough; high-interrupt roles often need 15% or more. Fixed buffers work well for predictable obligations, such as 6 hours of weekly admin time.
Turning Results into Action
Use Free Hours and Free Hours Per Day to set realistic commitments. Add one-time projects as period hours, then compare scenarios: moving a 3-hour appointment may raise daily free time by 0.43 hours in a week. If free time is negative, cut categories, reduce one-time projects, or increase recovery time. Aim to keep committed time below 85-90% so you can absorb surprises. Re-run the calculator weekly to track improvements and protect focused personal time.
FAQs
1) What does the calculator treat as free time?
Free time is the remaining hours after daily, weekly, one-time commitments, and your selected buffer are subtracted from total hours in the period.
2) Why should I include a buffer?
Buffers account for delays, transitions, interruptions, and underestimation. A small reserve helps plans stay realistic and prevents your schedule from collapsing when something runs long.
3) When should I override total hours?
Use the override when the full 24-hours-per-day assumption is not appropriate, such as travel days, partial availability, or a fixed work window you want to evaluate.
4) How are weekly hours handled for custom date ranges?
Weekly categories are scaled using Days / 7. This keeps weekly tasks proportional, whether your period is 3 days, 10 days, or 30 days.
5) What if the result shows negative free time?
Negative free time means commitments exceed total available hours. Reduce inputs, move one-time tasks, shorten commitments, or increase the period so your plan matches reality.
6) How often should I update my inputs?
Update weekly or after major changes to workload, commute, or sleep. Small adjustments improve accuracy, and repeating the run helps you measure whether your schedule is trending healthier.