Time Blocking: What Is It And Will It Work For You

“A 40 hour time-blocked work week, I estimate, produces the same amount of output as a 60+ hour work week pursued without structure.”

— CAL NEWPORT, AUTHOR OF DEEP WORK

Photo by Julia M Cameron from Pexels

It can be very easy to let your work and study schedule control you, when in actual fact, it should be YOU controlling your schedule.

So, the question is, how can you get all of your work done and meet your deadlines whilst also making sure you’re able to have time to yourself and do the things that you truly enjoy? Time blocking may be your answer.

Time blocking is a method of organisation that focuses on controlling time management by dividing your day and your tasks into blocks of time. Each block that you include within your plan should be dedicated to one specific task or several of the same task.

Example Of Time Blocking Plan

You may ask, ‘why is time blocking more effective than just creating a bullet pointed to-do list?’ Depending on how busy your day is, sometimes a to-do list can seem never ending and could result in you feeling overwhelmed, whereas if you decide to use the time blocking method instead, it allows you to have a concrete schedule and will allow you to know what you have to work on and how long you have to do it.

Creating your work plan in advance is key in order to make this method as effective as possible. Try and plan what you’ve got to do at the beginning of the week and what you hope to have completed by the end of it. You don’t even have to create a concrete, digital version of your plan, a simple sketch on a piece of paper will do the trick.

Allowing yourself to reflect on your work at the end of each day is important too. Allow time for yourself to look back on your plan and take note of any uncompleted work or any new work you have to do. You can easily adjust your time blocks within your plan for the rest of the week to not lose track of what you have to do.

When you schedule a specific amount of time to complete a task, you put all of your attention into it rather than letting your mind go elsewhere and start paying attention to a task that may need to be completed nearer the end of the day. This could also be known as “single tasking”.

Let’s face it, a lot of people struggle with time management and it can be a struggle to estimate just how much time is needed to complete a single task. Time blocking will force you tackle your priorities and make sure you don’t overcommit yourself.

How do you know if time blocking is the right method for you?

There are many examples of how you may know if time blocking is a better suit for you and some of these include if you have to deal with interruptions throughout your day, if you have different projects and tasks and struggle to prioritise and if you tend to spend a lot of time responding to emails.

It is important not to get time blocking confused with similar methods. Task batching, day theming and time boxing are all similar to time blocking but may not be as effective. For example, task batching is grouping together tasks that are similar and doing them all at once to avoid context switching, for example this could be “I will make any relevant phone calls at 3pm” whereas an example of time blocking could be “I will write every day from 9am to 11am.” The distinction between these two methods is that time blocking dedicates time for you to complete a specific group of tasks whereas task batching allows you to complete tasks that are similar all at once instead.

Try and give time blocking a go for a while or for a week at the least and you will see how your organisation and time management skills begin to thrive. I promise there is no better feeling than realising you are back in control of your life.

Check out this YouTube video provided by Simpletivity to receive more tips on how to use the time blocking method effectively using Google Calendar.