Skip to main content

Quick Start

Prefer video? Watch the full feature breakdown on YouTube to see everything in action.

Step 1: Open settings​

  1. Open Settings (gear icon in the bottom left)
  2. Navigate to Periodix-Planner in the left sidebar

You'll see several tabs for configuration:

  • Folders - Where your periodic notes will be stored
  • Naming - How your notes will be named
  • Time budget - Configure available hours
  • Categories - Define your time investment categories
  • Properties - Customize frontmatter property names
  • Generation - Control auto-generation behavior

Step 2: Configure folders​

Set up where you want your periodic notes to be stored:

  1. Go to the Folders tab
  2. Configure each period type's folder:
    • Daily Folder: Periodic/Daily (default)
    • Weekly Folder: Periodic/Weekly (default)
    • Monthly Folder: Periodic/Monthly (default)
    • Quarterly Folder: Periodic/Quarterly (default)
    • Yearly Folder: Periodic/Yearly (default)

You can customize these to match your vault structure. The plugin will create these folders automatically if they don't exist.

Step 3: Set up categories​

Define your time investment categories:

  1. Go to the Categories tab
  2. Click Add Category
  3. Enter a name (e.g., "Work", "Health", "Learning")
  4. Choose a color for visual identification
  5. Repeat for all your categories

Example categories:

  • Work (Blue)
  • Health & Fitness (Green)
  • Learning (Purple)
  • Relationships (Orange)
  • Personal Projects (Red)

Step 4: Configure time budget​

Set your available hours:

  1. Go to the Time budget tab
  2. Set Hours per Week (default: 40)

The plugin will automatically calculate hours for each period type based on your weekly hours.

Step 5: Customize naming (optional)​

Customize how your notes are named:

  1. Go to the Naming tab
  2. Adjust the format strings if desired (uses Luxon format tokens):
    • Daily: dd-MM-yyyy (default: 04-12-2025)
    • Weekly: WW-kkkk (default: 47-2025)
    • Monthly: M-yyyy (default: 5-2025)
    • Quarterly: 'Q'q-yyyy (default: Q1-2025)
    • Yearly: yyyy (default: 2025)

Step 6: Generate your first notes​

  1. Go to the Generation tab in settings
  2. Enable Auto-generate future periods
  3. The plugin will automatically create notes when you open Obsidian again or use the command Generate future periods

Step 7: View the time budget block​

The plugin automatically adds a time budget block to each generated periodic note:

  1. Open one of your generated periodic notes
  2. You'll see a periodic-planner code block already added after the frontmatter
  3. The block renders as an interactive view with:
    • Pie chart visualization
    • Allocation table showing each category
    • Budget tracking indicators
    • Edit allocations button

Note: If auto-inherit is enabled (Settings → Time budget → Auto-inherit parent percentages), child periods will automatically inherit allocations from their parent period based on percentage distribution.

Step 8: Allocate time to categories​

Use the Allocation Editor to distribute hours across your categories:

  1. Click the Edit allocations button in the time budget block
  2. For each category, you can:
    • Type hours directly in the input field
    • Use quick-fill buttons: 10%, 25%, 50%, or Max
    • Drag the percentage bar to adjust visually
    • Enter custom percentage and click Set
  3. The editor shows:
    • Total allocated vs. remaining hours
    • Color-coded status (green/yellow/red)
    • Parent budget warnings if you exceed parent allocations
  4. Click Save allocations to write the changes to the note

Tip: Use the Fill parent button (top-left) to instantly inherit your parent period's percentage distribution.

Next steps​

Tips​

  • Link to projects: Use the time budget to track hours spent on specific projects
  • Review regularly: Check your allocations weekly to ensure you're on track
  • Adjust as needed: Time budgets are flexible - update them as priorities change

Need help? Check the FAQ or Troubleshooting Guide for common questions and solutions.