Time Blocking vs. Not Time Blocking
Hello! Let’s talk about a form of planning called time-blocking. Generally, a time-blocked schedule is done on a weekly basis and lines up what tasks and/or appointments you have during the week. It will normally be in a list format, with the days of the week at the top. My ideal time block schedule would start at 5:00am (since I wake up at that time), and end at 11:00pm. *Most planners will start at 7:00am or 8:00am, and end at 8:00pm or 9:00pm. (It is sometimes difficult to fit large amounts of hourly time blocks on one page).
Now, you may ask, why would you time-block; what is it’s purpose? According to the author Nir Eyal in his book, Indistractable, time blocking is the perfect way to limit distractions and also limit undesirable habits. (i.e. checking e-mails multiple times per day). A time-blocked schedule gives you an ideal lay-out of how you want your day to go, and if you’re good at following instructions, it may be the perfect ticket for you to be the most efficient you could ever be.
So what happens when you’re job isn’t blocked up nicely into meetings and appointments? For example, in on-call jobs, or project heavy work. Personally, I am a stay at home mom/online business entrepreneur, and no matter how much I would love to have a time-blocked schedule, it just doesn't work for me. I have small kids constantly asking me for things, and as soon as I get in that flow, I need to get up to do something else.
I found that for me, an open to-do list where I can label the importance of the task works best. (i.e. the Franklin Covey system). I list important appointments at the particular times they need to occur, but everything else is written down into a large list. As for a weekly setup, I write down the things that I know absolutely need to occur during that day, but I don’t box myself into a guaranteed time, because I know I won’t be able to follow through.
Instead, I do something called day-theming and batching. Theming is allowing yourself to dedicate one day (or part of that day) to one thing. For example, Tuesday a.m. is my blog writing day/time. It doesn’t matter what time I do it; as long as it gets done in that time frame. There are many instances however that I don’t always get to it in the morning. Sometimes I find I’ll be crunching it in before bed. On really busy weeks, sometimes I miss it entirely on Tuesday.
If you find yourself doing the same, I recommend having a “catch-up” day. Mine is on Friday, and it works so well for me. On weeks when I know I’ll be busy, I wrap my mind around the fact that Friday will be a working day. On slower weeks, sometimes Friday is dedicated to more trivial stuff, or for “me-time”, or for personal development.
Batching tasks is just doing all of the same thing at the same time. For example, if I have ten sticker orders in one week, I’ll do them all on Wednesday. Doing your work in this way ensures that you maintain the same flow throughout all of your work, and the distractions are lessened. (Your brain wastes so much time jumping from task to task because it takes time to “switch over” into the right mindset for a new task).
I think a time-blocked schedule is perfect for someone who doesn’t get interrupted by others frequently. (If you work in an office setting, or if you don’t have small kids at home). I would love to try it again later when my kids have left the nest.
I absolutely think it benefits you, especially if you have a tendency to get “lost” in your work, or if you are easily distracted or can’t seem to stay in focus mode.
There are AI tools that can help you schedule your day - I will do some research on these in the upcoming months, as I’m curious how they work. I think that idea is great for executives with meeting-heavy days and lots of appointments.
Do you prefer time-blocking your schedule? Have you experimented with different styles of planning? I would love to hear from you!
Until then, have a great week and we’ll see you next time!
Sandra
