Be realistic, not aspirational. A plan you can actually keep beats an ambitious one you'll abandon.
What I can realistically commit to (hrs/week)
My barriers — what gets in the way
How I'll work around each barrier
What I'll let go of to make room
Courses & Resources
Course / Resource
Provider
Hours
Status
Notes
Weekly Study Schedule
Day
Focus
Time
Duration
Done?
Learning Progress
Course 1 overall completion
Course 2 overall completion
Skill practised confidence
Toward my goal the big picture
Learning Reflection
What I learned this week
What clicked
What I found hard
Next focus
✨ What Landed Really Well — and How
When something truly clicks, notice how it reached you. Spotting the format that works for you means you can seek more of it — and learn faster.
What landed really well this time
How did it land?
The Way It Reached Me
Was there a specific person who unlocked it?
How I'll seek more learning like this
🤍 My Mentors — Coming Full Circle
The people who unlocked something in you. Name them here — so that one day, when the time is right, you can come full circle: thank them, tell them what they sparked, or simply reconnect. We so rarely tell the people who shaped us what they meant.
Mentor / name
What they unlocked in me
How to reach them
Have I thanked them?
How my learning feels
Consistent I'm showing up
Understanding it's sinking in
Motivated still excited to learn
Applying using it for real
On track toward my goal
Put AI to work on the thinking — not on the answers
These prompts are built on the 4Ds: a clear role (Delegation), your real context (Description), a constraint, and an instruction to show its reasoning so the judgement stays yours (Discernment and Diligence).
Six for learning that has to stick, mapped to the sections of this planner: the goal, your reading, the progress check, the schedule, the reflection and your why. They are built for retention rather than coverage — the point is not to read more, it is to still have it in a month.
Replace the [bracketed] parts with your own words and paste into whichever AI you use.
Build a retention system, not a reading list
Delegation
Use with ① My Learning Goal, right at the start.
I want to learn [subject] and be able to [what you want to do with it] by [date]. I have [X hours] a week. Design me a system rather than a reading list: what to learn in what order, how each piece gets tested rather than just read, and where the recall checks sit. Then tell me what you have deliberately left out of the syllabus and why — I would rather know what I am choosing not to learn.
Why this shape: A reading list measures pages. A system measures whether it stuck. The exclusions tell you what the plan is really betting on.
An active reading protocol for one specific text
Description
Use with Courses & Resources, before you open the book or start the course.
I am about to read [title or course], and my honest weakness is [retention, focus or finishing]. I have [X hours] a week. Give me a protocol for this specific text: what to do before I start, what to mark and what to ignore while reading, what to write at the end of each chapter, and how to check a week later whether it stuck. Keep it to something I would actually do — if any step takes longer than the reading itself, cut it.
Why this shape: Naming your real weakness changes the answer, and the instruction to cut anything heavier than the reading stops it designing a second job.
Find the gap before the exam does
Discernment
Use with Progress, once you are far enough in to feel confident.
I am going to explain [topic] to you as though you knew nothing about it. Here is my explanation, written from memory without looking anything up: [write it out]. Do not tell me it was good. Point out where I used a term without explaining it, where I described what happens but not why, and where I have quietly skipped a step. Then give me the two questions an examiner or a sharp colleague would ask that I could not currently answer.
Why this shape: The gaps you can feel are not the problem. This is for the ones you cannot.
Build the repetition schedule around a real date
Diligence
Use with Study Schedule, as soon as the date is known.
I need to hold [subject] in my head until [the date it matters — exam, interview, go-live]. Today is [date]. Build me a spaced repetition schedule working backwards from that date: what to review on which days, how long each review should take, and which material needs more passes than the rest. Assume I will miss some sessions — tell me which are the ones I must not miss.
Why this shape: Working back from a real date, and agreeing in advance which sessions are non-negotiable, is what survives a bad week.
Use it within 48 hours
Diligence
Use with Reflection, at the end of each block of study.
I have just learned this: [paste your notes or summary]. My role is [role] and I am currently working on [what is on your desk]. Give me three ways to use this within the next 48 hours in my actual work — small enough to be real, not projects. For each one, tell me what it would prove I have understood, and what it would expose if I have not.
Why this shape: Knowledge you have not used inside two days is knowledge you are going to have to learn twice.
Test whether the why still holds
Discernment
Use with My Why, on the week motivation dips.
When I started learning [subject] my reason was: [paste from My Why]. Since then, here is what has actually happened: [be honest — progress, drift, how it feels]. Ask me the questions that would tell us whether that reason still holds, whether the goal has changed underneath me, or whether I am continuing out of sunk cost. Ask one at a time and wait for my answer. Do not reassure me, and do not tell me to quit.
Why this shape: Ruling out both the reassurance and the easy 'quit' leaves it to do the only useful thing, which is ask properly.
These six are built on the four habits taught free in the SMART AI guide library — Delegation, Description, Discernment, Diligence. Learn the method once and you can write your own. This planner works completely without AI; nothing here is required.