The idea
Plan your life, not just your list
Time Buckets is a calm, private planner built on the core idea of Bill Perkins’ book Die With Zero: your money is renewable, but your time and health are not. Some experiences simply expire — they only work while you’re young enough, healthy enough, or free enough to do them.
Why buckets, not a bucket list
A normal bucket list is a flat pile of someday-maybe wishes with no sense of when. Time Buckets instead splits your life into five-year stretches and asks a sharper question for each experience: which stretch does this actually belong in? Trekking Patagonia belongs in your 30s, not your 70s. Time with young kids has a window that closes. Giving money to people you love lands hardest while you’re alive to see it. Putting things on a timeline turns vague intentions into a plan you can actually act on.
The three seasons of energy
Perkins divides life into three broad phases. They’re a guide, not a rule — you set the exact ages in Settings.
Physically demanding travel and adventure belong here — while your body says yes without hesitation.
Family, career and deeper, slower travel take the lead as pace settles down.
Comfort, connection and legacy matter most; big physical goals have usually passed.
How to use it
- Set your profile. Your birth date and life expectancy draw the timeline and place the Go-Go / Slow-Go / No-Go lines.
- Fill your buckets. Add experiences to the five-year stretch where they belong — pull ideas from Suggestions if you’re stuck.
- Zoom in. Open any bucket to plan it year by year, set a status and rough cost, and drag items between years.
- Add real dates as they firm up. Once a trip is booked, give it exact dates and watch it land precisely on the Life in Weeks grid.
The pages
“The business of life is the acquisition of memories. In the end that’s all there is.” — Bill Perkins, Die With Zero