One page covering the whole run up. Four dated blocks headed 1 to 7, 8 to 14, 15 to 21 and 22 to 24 December, every day numbered with its own ruled line, a still to do section for anything without a date, and a Christmas Day block at the foot with eight slots split into a time and what happens at it.
Dated rows, not a blank grid
A blank weekly planner asks you to write the dates in before you can use it, which is the point at which most of them get abandoned. Every row here is already numbered one to twenty four, so the sheet is usable the moment it comes out of the printer.
Splitting December into four blocks rather than a month grid also keeps the writing lines full width. A row that runs the width of half the page takes a real sentence, which a calendar square does not.
The Christmas Day block
The bottom third is given over to the day itself, laid out as eight slots in two columns. Each slot has a narrow box on the left and a wide line on the right, and the note above it says to write the time against each one.
That is the part a host needs and a calendar never gives you: turkey in, potatoes on, people arrive, presents, eat. Written down and pinned up, it also means somebody else can take over a job without asking what time it is meant to happen.
Fields at the top
Three fields run across the head of the sheet: the year, where we are eating and people at the table. The last one is the number that decides the shopping, so having it on the planner as well as in your head is worth the two seconds.
There is no row count control on this sheet, because the dates are fixed. The only settings are the paper size and the Clear button for anything typed in.
Questions
- What does the Christmas planner cover?
- The 1st to the 24th of December as four dated blocks with a ruled line for every day, a still to do section for jobs without a date, and a timed plan for Christmas Day itself with eight slots.
- Is it dated to a particular year?
- No. The days are numbered rather than tied to weekdays, and there is a year field at the top you fill in yourself, so the same sheet works every December without being reprinted.
- How many slots does the Christmas Day plan have?
- Eight, in two columns. Each one has a narrow box for the time and a wide line for what is happening, which is enough for the oven, the sides, the arrivals, the presents and the meal.
- Can I print it larger than A4?
- Yes. The sheet is drawn as vector line work, so printing the A4 PDF onto A3 from the print dialogue keeps the rules crisp. A3 is worth it if it is going on a kitchen wall for a month.