AI FOR GOOD

Work · Make room for a decision

Tradeoff Week Planner

Maya runs a community library’s front desk. Ten tasks need 29 hours. Her week has 27 hours available. Choose what gives, and who to ask.

Fictional week

1. Select a task

Tasks can be split into whole hours. Check with people before splitting real calls or meetings.

2. Select a day, then add hours

Six working hours a day, minus one hour of fixed desk cover on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Deadlines are the end of the named day.

Allocated hours by task and day. Scroll sideways on small screens.
TaskMonTueWedThuFriLeft

Check the plan

Capacity and deadlines

    Unscheduled hours

      Prepared in advance

      Leave room to respond

      Postpone the 4-hour storage tidy. Schedule 25 hours and leave 2 hours as a buffer.

      Monday: emails 3h, supplies 1h, posters 1h.
      Tuesday: slides 5h, rota 1h.
      Wednesday: rota 1h, website 3h, training 1h.
      Thursday: report 4h, neighbor meeting 2h.
      Friday: report 2h, training 1h.

      Assumptions to check: The rota, training and report can be split across days. Ask whether the storage tidy can wait.

      This button replaces the current plan and tradeoff note.

      3. What gives?

      Name one task to delay, shrink or ask for help on. Add a reason and a question for a person. This note does not change the hours above.

      Choose a task, add a reason and write one question.

      Run this activity

      Presenter · 5 minutes

      1. Start with must-do tasks and explain which deadlines you protect.
      2. Add too many hours to a day to show the warning. Choose what gives.
      3. Load the prepared suggestion and read its assumptions.

      Pairs · 15 minutes

      1. Place the musts, then the helps-others tasks.
      2. Choose what gives. Write the reason and a question to ask.
      3. Swap plans with a neighbor. Find one assumption in their plan.

      No devices: Print the task list and empty grid. Cross off hours and mark overflow. Vote by hands on what to delay.

      Debrief: What did you protect first and why? What would you ask a real colleague? Where could an assistant help, and where must a person decide?

      Check your plan: All musts placed, one named tradeoff and one question for a person.

      Prompt to reuse

      Place the tasks so every “must” meets its deadline. Name one task to delay, shrink or hand off, and write one question you would ask someone before deciding.

      Sources and attribution

      Concept by Claude Sonnet 5.5; built by Codex. The page makes no AI calls.