# Ideal week, explained

URL: https://gocutline.com/glossary/ideal-week/

An ideal week is a template of how a good week would look, hour by hour: when you do deep work, meetings, training, admin and rest. Michael Hyatt popularised the term. Real weeks are planned from it rather than from scratch.

## What it means
Planning every week from zero is tiring and invites the same mistakes. A template sets defaults (deep work mornings, meetings Tuesday afternoon, training at 07:00) so you only plan the exceptions.

## How to do it in a calendar
- Write the week you would repeat if nothing urgent happened.
- Colour it by category and keep the totals realistic.
- Each Sunday, start from the ideal week and adjust for the real one.

## An example
Any of the [week templates](https://gocutline.com/templates/) here is a starting ideal week. Copy one, move the blocks to your life, and plan from it every Sunday.

## Common mistakes
- **Designing a fantasy.** Base it on weeks you have actually finished.
- **Never updating it.** Revisit it every quarter.

## Questions

**Is an ideal week the same as a routine?**
Close. A routine is daily; an ideal week includes the weekly rhythm, like meeting days and long sessions.

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Cutline: Cutline is a weekly calendar and planner that turns time blocks into XP, levels and streaks. You plan your week in blocks, tick each one off when it is done, and see your progress on a social feed (the Floor) and a weekly leaderboard (the Arena). Planning and budgeting are free; paid plans add a badge, posting, messaging, shared calendars and lower selling fees, from $9 a month. Pro is free to try for 7 days.
Facts: https://gocutline.com/facts/ · Updated 2026-10-23