Check your capacity
Open Settings and set the number of hours in a normal workday. Choose whether date ranges show every day or workdays only.
Effort Plan Help
Use Effort Plan without guessing where to click.
This guide shows the common daily flow: bring work into the Inbox, plan what fits, review old open tasks, export a report, and keep the app updated.
Best first step.
Start with one manual task and one day. After that feels clear, connect task, email, or calendar sources if you want them in the same plan.
Make your first plan
Use this flow when you open Effort Plan at the start of the day.
Add or sync work
Add a manual task, or sync from a connected source. New open work appears in the Inbox.
Plan what fits
Drag a task into a day, or open it and enter how much effort you want to plan for that day.
Finish or move work
Mark planned work done when it is finished. If it is still open tomorrow, Effort Plan reminds you when you open the app.
What the main screen means
The app is organized around three simple areas.
Inbox
Open work that is not yet planned. Search here when you need to find a local task or a synced item.
Planner
Each day shows planned tasks, meetings, remaining time, and whether the plan still fits your capacity.
Task details
Open a task to adjust planned effort, mark it done, add notes, or open the original source when available.
Today
Inbox
New client follow-up
Review estimate
Prepare notes
Planner
9:00 Meeting
Review estimate - 1h
Remaining 3h
You do not need to finish a large task in one day. Plan one part today and leave the remaining effort visible for another day.
Common choices
These settings help keep your plan realistic.
Every day or workdays only
Use Settings to choose whether planner ranges include weekends. Workdays only skips Saturday and Sunday.
Not Counted tasks
Use Not Counted when you want a task visible in the plan but do not want it to reduce your available time.
Previous open tasks
When you open the app, Effort Plan can show older planned tasks that are still open, with a button to jump to that day.
Effort Plan imports items for planning. If a synced task was completed, then later reopened in the original source, the next sync brings it back as open so you can plan it again.
Effort Plan helps you decide what fits. It does not need to change the original task, meeting, or email item to help you plan your day.
Export a report
Use reports when you need a simple summary for review, timesheets, or follow-up.
Best when you want a clean report to read or share.
Best when you want to filter, sort, or keep a workbook record.
Best when you want a plain data file for another tool.
When exporting, choose whether to include Not Counted tasks. Turn it off when the report should only show capacity-counted work.
Updates
Effort Plan checks for a new version when the app opens.
Install the update, open the HelloX download page, or open the Mac App Store depending on how you installed the app.
Close the message and keep working. The app can remind you again later.
Hide this specific version. A later version can still appear when it is available.
Need the app?
Download Effort Plan, then use the question icon in the app to return to this guide.