GNOME · time blocking

Routine

Design a repeating weekly rhythm, then practice it day by day with checklists, projects, and calendars on your desktop.

Today

See today’s blocks on a timed timeline. Expand a block for its checklist and project tasks as you work through the day.

Why time blocking?

Decide once. A weekly template beats re-planning every morning from a blank calendar.
Protect focus. Named blocks fence deep work from the inbox and endless task lists.
See the day. Intention and reality share one timeline, so you notice drift early.

Connect your task tools

Link Vikunja, Kaneo, or OpenProject so upcoming tasks sit right next to the time block you are in now. Plan the day in Routine; pull work from the tools you already use.

Vikunja Open-source task lists
Kaneo Lightweight project boards
OpenProject Structured project work

Get started

On Arch, grab it from the AUR. Elsewhere, build from source or run the server with Docker Compose.

Arch Linux

Pick one package: routine (build from source) or routine-bin (prebuilt).

AUR helper

yay -S routine
# or: yay -S routine-bin
# paru works the same way

Without a helper

# PKGBUILD lives on the AUR, not in the GitLab app repo
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/routine.git
cd routine
makepkg -s
sudo pacman -U routine-*.pkg.tar.zst

Start the service

systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable --now routine.service
routine

Other distros: clone gitlab.gnome.org/wit3k/routine and follow the README (Meson / cargo).
From source: start routine-server, then run the GNOME client.
Self-host: docker compose up --build -d (image registry.gitlab.gnome.org/wit3k/routine:latest, port 50051). In the client, add a Remote profile to http://<host>:50051. Put TLS behind a reverse proxy if that host is not on a trusted network.

Read the README View source

Watch

Two talks that map cleanly onto how Routine thinks about a week and a day.

Cal Newport - Introducing the Time-Block Planner

Newport contrasts a reactive day (inbox and chat run you) with time-block planning: you assign work to concrete hours, keep a visible plan for what remains when something runs long, and shut down intentionally. Routine takes that same idea digital - a repeating week template plus a Today timeline so intention, not urgency, fills the clock.

Watch on YouTube if the embed is blocked.

Dr. Sahar Yousef - Superhuman focus & memory

Yousef’s “focus sprint” starts by blocking time in advance, then picking one measurable outcome, clearing distractions, running a timed bout of work, and taking a real break-not more scrolling. That matches Routine’s named blocks with checklists and project tasks underneath: protect a stretch of the day, execute inside it, then move on.

Watch on YouTube if the embed is blocked.