Secrets to Time Blocking

The time is 9 a.m. on a Monday morning as I type this, and I know what I need to do when I sit down at my desk, because this is my writing block. In fact, most of my day goes like this since I chose to plan out my week in timeblocks.

You may have heard me profess my love for timeblocks before and I explain what they are right here.

Ready to take time blocking to the next level? Today I want to discuss some secrets to time blocking.

Time Blocking is Not for Everyone

Here is the first thing I’m going to do: I want to make sure if you should even bother reading this.

Do you consider yourself a classic creative? Many creatives don't want to be told what to do. They don't even want to tell themselves what to do. Being over-scheduled increases their stress level. 

Those of you who are not in charge of their own time, because you may work for someone who controls your time, or may be required to change direction quickly because of your job, will need to be flexible if they want to change direction quickly. If that is your life, time blocking may also be a problem. Let's face it, that's your reality. And that's okay. 

Not every system works for everyone. I recommend giving theme days a try.

Consider What Your Are Blocking When

We all have a circadian rhythm that our bodies tend to follow when we are free to do so. We can schedule (analytical vs insight) tasks at times when our brains are best equipped to handle them if we pay attention to these rhythms.

If you want to take an even more detailed look at your time, join my email list. I will be launching Life After Busy Bootcamp soon where we do a complete time tracking exercise.

You Don’t Need to Block Every Minute

In fact I plead with you not to block every minute. 

I drove to witness my niece's catechism last weekend. I knew I would have to stop for food and might hit traffic along the way.  I padded my 2 hour drive with an extra 30 minutes.

When I returned home it dawned on me ... organize your schedule in the same way you would a road trip. Plan for pit stops and traffic delays.  I call this buffer time or white space. It's unscheduled time in your calendar, so you can deal with whatever life throws at you.

Mind Your Blocks

Use time blocks correctly and they'll be powerful. Because you’re planning them days or even weeks in advance, you must consider the important items on your list (not just the urgent ones). You are intentionally setting aside time for these most important things. Most of us never figure out this ninja move.

You should also know how long things take so that you can allocate enough time. It seems simple but how often do you underestimate the time it will take to complete a task? I’m looking at you weekly content creation!!!

Finally, never delete a block because I know you block time for the things that are important to you.  Life will happen and you will have to move it to another day but don’t delete.

Time Blocking is a Diet for your Schedule

Think of blocking your time as getting rid of the junk food. 

It will set you up for success by focusing on the important thing and cutting out the time that you're spending aimlessly scrolling social media, or doing things that you don't want to be doing. Be mindful of what you're putting into your day and not allowing for a lot of the needless stuff that kind of eats away at our time and gets us off the track. 

So now that we are at the end of this post, what do you have blocked off for the rest of this day?