How Time Blocking Can Make Your Schedule Easier

Are you getting your most important work done? Are you prioritizing your work? Are you tired of your to-do lists?

It's time to change your to-do list and replace it with blocks of scheduled time.

This will help you work on your most important tasks. It's called time blocking. You devote blocks of time to focus on a specific task or group of similar tasks.

While creating lists is excellent and can help you, replacing a to-do list with time blocks is even better.

What is Time Blocking?

Time blocking is the practice of planning out every minute of your day in advance and scheduling blocks of time on your calendar. This will help you with the critical question of "when."

When will you work on the tasks on your to-do list? That's what time blocking does.

"You don't get results by focusing on results. You get results by focusing on the actions that produce results." — Mike Hawkins, a former American football cornerback

Why Does Time Blocking Work?

Time-blocking works because you may write down an item on your to-do list, but it won't happen for a while. You may choose to work on your list from the top of it and then work down. The 10th item on your list may have a more significant impact than the 5th item on your list.

However, your 10th item doesn't get done until later.

"Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent, and not enough time on what is important." — Steven Covey, an American educator, author, businessman, and keynote speaker

When you schedule tasks, you are committed to get that thing done during this block of time. The goal is to have that task done when the time is over.

You are letting yourself know that this task is essential, you can't be interrupted, and you need to deep dive into the project. Time blocking works because it helps you stay focused on the tasks at hand.

"Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days." — Zig Ziglar, an American author, salesman, and motivational speaker

Time blocking is helpful because our brains need to focus at work to be more productive.

The key is to block out time that doesn't go more than 90 minutes. Research of elite performers such as musicians, athletes, and chess players find that they are at their peak in uninterrupted intervals that don't go longer than 90 minutes. These intervals increase performance and help maximize productivity.

After 90 minutes or between tasks, a break should happen because our brains are not built for extended focus. It would help if you changed your mind about breaks. Taking a break is not a bad thing. It's actually good for you.

Scheduling Your Day in Time Blocks

At the end of your workday, you should review your next day's calendar and block out time for different tasks that you need to get done. When the event reminder of your time block pops up on your calendar, you know what you need to do and how much time you have to get your tasks done.

It's also essential to block out time for tasks that have been pushed from other days. These tasks don't need to be done right away, but they need to be done. Knowing that your day is blocked out to accomplish your most essential tasks for the day will help you become ultra-productive that day.

Bringing It All Together

Time blocking works because it helps you focus. By scheduling your day, you prevent distractions. Single-tasking or group-tasking can make you more productive than multi-tasking.

Time blocking works well because you can block chunks of time each day to complete batch activities such as email, meetings, writing, errands, meals, breaks, and relax time. When you stay focused, you can be more productive.

Time blocking is an excellent time management method because when you have a limited amount of time to do something, you'll focus and give the activity more attention. This leads to being more productive. Time blocking makes your schedule more manageable and provides the "when" for tackling items on your to-do list.

"Successful people maintain a positive focus in life no matter what is going on around them. They stay focused on their past successes rather than their past failures, and on the next action steps they need to take to get them closer to the fulfillment of their goals rather than all the other distractions that life presents to them." — Jack Canfield, an American author, motivational speaker, corporate trainer, and entrepreneur

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