Are you one of those people who have a million things to do and never seem to have enough time to get it all done? If so, then you’re probably not alone. With the constant flow of emails, texts, phone calls and other notifications vying for our attention, there’s always something that needs doing in our daily lives. It can be hard to know where to start when it comes to getting everything done.

Today, you will be learning: 

  1. What Is Time Blocking
  2. Who Should Use Time Blocking
  3. Why You Should Use Time Blocking
  4. How To Use Time Blocking
  5. Bonus: 5 Additional Tips For Time Blocking

What Is Time Blocking?

Time blocking is a time management technique that helps you to be more productive by allocating time in your calendar for a specific task. It entails allocating particular time blocks for work-related tasks, events, and activities.

In comparison to just a to-do list, time blocking tells you both what to do and when to do a specific task. This key difference makes time blocking more effective.

Ultra Billionaires Bill Gates and Elon Musk are both avid users of time blocking to help them manage their daily lives and be more productive. In a way they might seem to be super human in terms of the way they manage their time and it might seem that they have more than 24hours in a day. But in reality, as super productive individuals, I think they just have sets of habits that they do on a daily basis that make them seem different than us normal human beings. It’s just a matter of how they use their time efficiently and effectively. In one way or another, they’re just also normal human beings. I think if we establish and do the things they do, and also have the same habits, we’ll be super human in our own way. 

Who Should Use Time Blocking?

You may now be wondering, “Is time blocking appropriate for me?” Simply review the topics below to see if time blocking is right for you. If you identify with any of the following, time blocking is for you. It can undoubtedly assist you in being more productive. I genuinely feel it has the potential to transform your life, as it did mine. Therefore, if you:

  • Feel overwhelmed with all of the things that you need to do
  • Have too many meetings
  • Are unable to work on your priorities
  • Can’t seem to focus on working on a single task
  • Are prone to getting distracted because of chats and emails from co-workers or you always tend to switch contexts
  • Want to achieve more
  • Aim to be more productive
  • Have a job that requires you to juggle a lot of different responsibilities, tasks, and projects

Then you should implement time blocking. Not only can it help you achieve more and be more productive, but also help you manage the daily stress of your life even with all of the things going on around you. 

Why Should You Use Time Blocking

There are a number of reasons why you should use time blocking. But as for me, the most compelling reasons why I use time blocking are:

Time Blocking Allows You To Focus On Your Priorities

As previously stated, time blocking tells you what to do and when to do it. With this understanding, you will be able to determine when to perform a specific task. And the good news is that if this particular task is a priority for you, you will be able to move the needle for what is important to you. What matters here is what is important to YOU, not what is important to someone else.

You will also feel better knowing that you have proactively set a time and date for doing something, and you will feel more compelled to pursue it.

I’ve included a couple of great quotes from well-known self-development/self-improvement personalities.

“Either you run the day, or the day runs you” – Jim Rohn

“If you don’t plan your day, someone or something else will” – Nir Eyal

In simple terms, they are saying that if you don’t plan your day ahead of time, if you don’t schedule ahead of time, the busyness of life and the various distractions around you will take over and control your day, and worse, your life. Make a plan for your day and use time blocking to focus on your priorities.

Time Blocking Makes It Easier To Say No

For me, it’s quite difficult to say no. But with time blocking, this is helping me to say no to requests that I would normally accept even though they aren’t really helping me towards my goals.  But if you are currently working on something, or if you look into your calendar that in that specific time you were asked to do something, it’ll be easier for you to say no because you already have something planned out. And out of respect for yourself since you already made plans, you’ll likely to say no.

Time Blocking Allows You To Focus 

Time blocking is a technique in which you declare which task or work you will perform at a certain point in time. This way, you’re already aware of what you need to do and concentrate on. This will likely enable you to remain more focused on the task at hand and avoid distractions, which could range from notifications from coworkers to your own attempts to switch contexts and work on alternative tasks. Numerous studies have already demonstrated that only a small percentage of persons are capable of multitasking properly. I don’t believe I should also explain why being focused on a task is critical.

Being concentrated on a task means that you devote all of your mental energy to a single activity rather than switching between several tasks at the same time, which results in you being less productive. The more your ability to concentrate on a single task at a time, the higher the quality of your job will be.

How To Use Time Blocking

Now that you’ve reached this section of my blog article, I’m going to assume that you’re already sold on the concept of time blocking, or that you’re already sure that time blocking will benefit you in whatever areas you believe would benefit the most from it. 

The steps outlined below will guide you through the process of time blocking your day.

Step 1: Plan with Priorities in Mind / Identify Your Priorities

To make time blocking effective, you must first determine the tasks that are most important to you. In some ways, this is similar to generating a to-do list. Additionally, time blocking requires purposeful planning and prioritization. Determine the tasks that need to be completed and then prioritize them. When prioritizing, remember to keep them in order, as you will need them when setting your time blocking, or by sorting and prioritizing them beforehand, time blocking will be much more efficient.

Step 2: Create A Schedule And Time Blocks In Your Calendar

Now that you’ve identified your tasks and top priorities, the next step is to set and define time blocks. I strongly advise you to use a virtual calendar system such as Google Calendar or Outlook to increase your productivity.

Another thing I would suggest doing when time blocking is identifying your typical schedule where you are most effective and productive. In my case, I usually set all of my important priorities/tasks first thing in the morning, around 5:30 a.m. My typical workday consists of numerous meetings, so scheduling my priorities in the afternoon will not be effective for me.

Given this, my calendar might look as follows: 

Step 3: Follow your Schedule

It is now time to put your plans into action. You have already determined what you need to do and what your priorities are, and you have also planned when you will complete a task or the activity. Now it is time to get to work. I believe it will take some getting used to when you first start using it, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll enjoy it because you won’t have to think about what you need to do; you just execute.

I would also again recommend that you use a virtual calendar so that you can assign your schedule there. With this, you would also be able to easily see your schedule on your laptop or even your phone so you would know what you need to do at a certain point in time.

What I would also like to add on is that I’m not really a fan of notifications, whether it’s from my laptop or from my phone. I only turn on notifications for

  • Phone Calls
  • Urgent MS Team chats
  • Calendar notifications

Calendar notifications are very important to me because I would know if a certain task was coming up. However, I think this one is more of a case-by-case thing. Some people might get distracted by what they’re doing if they know what’s coming up. Then, for this one, you will decide.

5 Additional Tips to Time Blocking

Tip #1: Plans Change, So Don’t Worry About It Too Much

Only a few things in life are certain. However, the majority of things in life change and are unavoidable. Your calendar is also subject to change. Don’t regard your calendar and time blocks as fixed or perfect. Consider it more of a daily or hourly guide to what you should be doing at any given time. Time blocking will tell you what you should be doing at any given moment.
When needed, adapt and adjust your calendar and don’t stress too much if it changes. Move forward and aim to follow the other tasks in your calendar. 

Tip #2: Use A Virtual Calendar

Back then, people use a physical wall calendar to keep track of their day. But personally, I think this might not be the best practice anymore. Using a virtual calendar can help you better manage your time and stay on top of important events, and most importantly help you with time blocking.

One of the best features of virtual calendars is its ability to sync with your computer or mobile device. You can also add notes, reminders and other pertinent information directly onto your calendar. This enables you to keep track of everything important in one place. Google Calendar is a good place to start because it’s free and simple to use (all you need is a Google Email Address).

Tip #3: Spend Enough Time Planning & Preparing

To fully benefit from the effect of time blocking, you should set aside enough time to identify your priorities and sort them out effectively so that you can move the needle closer to your goals. Time blocking can be effective to remind you to what you need to do on a specific time, but planning and preparing will help to ensure that you are doing the right things at the right time.

Tip #4: Combine With Other Productivity Techniques

Time blocking can help you be more productive on its own, but if you want to take your productivity and effectiveness to the next level, you should combine it with other productivity techniques and strategies. To assist me, I use Getting Things Done (GTD).

Tip #5: Find your best time

Are you more of a morning person or a night person? Do you have any children? Do you, like me, have a lot of meetings in the afternoon? These are the factors to consider when implementing time blocking. What I’d recommend is that you identify your most productive, effective working hours and use time blocking to schedule your MOST important tasks.

As I previously stated, my best time to work is in the morning, so I schedule my most important tasks and activities in the morning, followed by shallow work in the afternoon.

Conclusion

Now that you’re armed with the tools to block out time on your calendar, I hope you can use them effectively. By managing your calendar, you’ll be able to manage your life better.

If you have questions or ideas on how to apply the time-blocking method, please feel free to comment below!