Let’s talk time blocking. I know in today’s world we can easily become overwhelmed with all the things and as a result, we start working on the unnecessary tasks. Now, I know I’m not the first person to write about productivity; however, I wanted to cover it since it’s a topic that comes up regularly when I am in conversation with business owners.
“There are SO many things to get done, but where do I focus first?”
If I was a betting person, I would bet that almost all of us live and breathe by our calendars. I’ll be the first to admit it – my schedule has so many moving parts, I’d be lost without a way to keep track of them. My calendar is my go-to solution. It allows me to have separate calendars for different purposes or clients and view them in any combination or alone. I’ve tried to be less attached to my calendar, but it didn’t stick. Between personal, family, and clients – we all work with so many other people. The calendar is such a necessary tool to be able to work with others and keeps us in charge of our own time.
Protect your time and get more done!
How does it work?
So, how do we make the best use of our calendars and be in charge of our own time? This is where time blocking comes into play – yay!
Time blocking is really just scheduling the work you (and only you) need to get done against your calendar – this is project work, meetings, sales calls, financial or operations related. You block off the necessary time (and your brain) each week to complete that work.
You may block off your mornings for dedicated work time and leave only the afternoons for meetings and emails. You may set specific times in which you take sales calls. You may dedicate a small block of time in the morning and afternoon to check emails. Every other Friday you may block time for reviewing financials.
Communicating these blocks to your team will be helpful as well. They won’t have to guess when you are available.
Prioritize Your Time Blocks
Now, I know you’re excited to start blocking off time, but before doing so you need to do some upfront planning. You need to be very clear about:
- Your vision
- Your goals
- Your milestones
- You action plans
- Your priorities
From there, you will know what you need to be focusing on in your business. You also want to get really clear (and realistic!) about how much time is needed for that work each week, every other week or monthly.
Next, you want to consider how many hours in a week you will be working. On top of that, you also want to schedule in appointments you have throughout the year as well as time away from the office such as long weekends or family vacations. If you don’t schedule in this time, you’re going to feel like you don’t have the ability to get away.
The Value
Although time blocking is such a simple concept, it’s really a very useful productivity tool. Here are the many reasons why:
- You’re the master of your schedule. Blocking off your time allows you to do the most important work first and know that all areas of your business are being covered before your time and attention gets taken away from other distractions, phone calls, “quick” meetings.
- Urgent tasks don’t always win. Even with time blocking, you’re still going to have to handle urgent items that pop up. However, by planning ahead and knowing what you need to work on each day gives you the ability to determine if you truly need to drop what you are doing right now to handle the crisis or if it can or needs to wait.
- You are committed. By putting time on your calendar to get certain work done each and every week means that you are committed to doing that thing for that period of time. That’s what is going to increase productivity and drive results. You’re committing that it’s important enough to you and the business to make time for it.
- No more procrastination. We all have good intentions of getting the work done and some people claim to work better under pressure, but scheduling the time to work on things gives you the space to work on them before they are due. You will have more time to adjust or react if issues come up.
- You stay on track. Your calendar is now the tool that keeps you on track and not an annoying interruption. It reminds you of what you’re supposed to be working on to achieve your goals and vision.
- More realistic with your time. It is so darn easy to put 15 things on your to-do list each day because you want to get them done. By putting some duration around how long each will take while you overlay that with whatever else you have going on for that day, you’re going to quickly see how you won’t be able to get it all done.
But I’m so busy . . .
Are you saying to yourself, “this sounds great and all, but I’m so busy that I don’t have time to sit back and plan my time?!”
You’re probably overwhelmed and feeling frantic. I get it. I’ve been there. But, spending some time on your goals, your priorities, and what you really need to be working on will bring so much clarity and focus.
And as always, I’m here to help you get this in motion so you can continue working towards your vision and achieve your biggest, boldest dreams!
What will others think
You went through this exercise and it looks good, but now what? In order for time blocking to be effective, you must honor it and you must be unapologetic when it comes to your time. Drawing boundaries with yourself, your team and others can seem difficult, but the benefits will outweigh your concerns.