Assignment Deadline Planner
Choose the stages and how much of the effort each takes, the start date and the deadline. You get start and finish dates for every stage, using only the days you can work.
Worked examples
Shares to days
20 working days, shares 30, 10, 30, 15, 10, 5
5, 3, 5, 3, 2, 2 days
Every stage gets one day first, then the other 14 days are shared by weight. 5 + 3 + 5 + 3 + 2 + 2 = 20.
Not enough days
4 working days, 6 stages
There are only 4 working days, fewer than the 6 stages.
The message tells you how to fix it.
About Assignment Deadline Planner
The usual reason an assignment goes badly is that the last stages, editing and checking, get squeezed by the earlier ones. Planning backwards from the deadline avoids this. You decide how much of the effort each stage deserves, then spread the working days between the stages in order, with a few days kept clear at the end for problems.
Choose a template for an essay, report, presentation or project, or write your own stages, and give each a share of the effort, such as 30 for reading and research. Enter the start date and the deadline, tick the days you can work, and set how many spare days to keep before the deadline. The tool gives each stage a start and a finish date and number of working days, shared out so that they add up exactly and every stage has at least one day. Print it with tick boxes.
How to use Assignment Deadline Planner
- Pick a template or type your own stages, one per line with a share of the effort after a comma.
- Enter the start date, the deadline and the spare days you want to keep.
- Tick the days of the week you can work.
- Read the dates for each stage and print the plan.
Common uses
- Essays and dissertations
- Lab reports and coursework projects
- Group presentations
- Teaching students to plan long tasks
Frequently asked questions
What are the shares?
They are relative, so 30, 10, 30, 15, 10 and 5 work the same as 60, 20, 60, 30, 20 and 10. Each stage gets that share of the working days.
What if there are fewer working days than stages?
The tool says so. Add working days, cut a stage, or move the start date earlier.
Are weekends counted?
Only if you tick them. By default Monday to Friday are working days.
Why keep spare days?
Something nearly always goes wrong: illness, a missing source, a computer problem. A day or two kept clear before the deadline stops that becoming a crisis.
Can I change the template stages?
Yes. Edit the box freely. Each line is a stage name, a comma and a number.