Use Time-blocking to get more done
What is time blocking?
Time blocking is a time-management tool where you schedule your time and productivity around blocks of time instead of around specific tasks. In short, it’s a time-focused work method as opposed to a task-focused work method. I’ll explain why a time-focused method can be better for your productivity.
HOW TO DO IT
Plan your work day ahead of time. Identify everything that needs to get done and assign ‘blocks’ of time to complete each task. Aim for the least amount of time for each block of time (this is important). As you move through your schedule, only focus on the task assigned for each time block. After each block of focused work, allow yourself a short break, then move on to the next scheduled task. After you get used to it, time blocking can make you more productive and makes work less stressful.
Time blocking may not be sexy, but it is cool. And it’s far superior to the old list-making. It gives you mental relief in how you think about and plan your day. And it frees your mind up and allows you to channel your energy into being productive without the psychological weight of “getting a task completed.”
Lists are great, Time blocks are better
And time blocking can be far more effective than a list.
A lot of us are list-makers. It’s natural. You write down what you need to do for the day. You do the things. And then you mark them off your list. It feels good to get stuff done. You scratch one thing off and move on to the next one.
Lists make sense. Lists imply action. But the issue with lists is that they’re not as efficient as you think. Why? It has to do with something called Parkinson’s Law.
Parkinson’s Law is this weird psychological thing where, if you have a certain amount of time to do a task, then you’ll just allow yourself to take up all that time doing it. That’s why if your productivity mindset is task-focused, you can let yourself use up too much time on one task. As long as time is available, we just find ways to spend it on something. However, if your productivity mindset is time-focused, then you only give yourself so much time for each task. When the time is up, you move on to the next block of time and the next task.
Time blocking is the distraction killer
Time-blocking keeps you laser focused on completing the task at hand. This also prevents distraction. Distraction is the productivity killer. That’s obvious, but let me explain two big reasons and how time blocking helps.
One, phones and technology. And I’m not trying to be all “kids and their phones” here. I love tech. I love social media. But whether you think it’s good or bad, we all know that it’s specifically designed to capture our attention. No one’s strong enough to resist it’s pull through will-power alone.
When you’re task-focused, as opposed to time-focused, it’s easier to get distracted. A task-focused person can be working as hard as possible, but you’re still working from a conceptual space of “limitless” time. So when micro-distractions come up, it’s easier to give in to them. And that’s what distractions from phones, and social media, and the internet are - they’re micro distractions. “Let me just look up this one thing” or “I’ll check Instagram real quick” or “I’ll just send one quick tweet.”
Take a look at all those micro distractions. They all have the word “I” in them. Obviously that’s on purpose, because I wrote those sentences and they could have been written differently. But the point stands. Any time your attention is drawn away from work for something seemingly simple and minor, it’s still drawing “you” away.
The second reason distraction is a productivity killer is that there are always other things that need to get done. And they’re often connected to the task at hand. But if you let yourself get pulled into other tasks, then you won’t get the first task done, and your effort and work is inefficient.
This is especially hard for entrepreneurs. You’re running a business and there are million responsibilities. You’re trying to design a marketing campaign, and that makes you start thinking about product development that’s behind schedule. Now all of a sudden you’re thinking about hiring. And on and on and on. It’s the sign of an active mind that you can see connections between things, but when you’re trying to work, it’s not always the most efficient thing.
The perfectionist’s dream come true
Perfectionism is one of the great causes of procrastination and low productivity. I like to say that imperfect action is better than no action. Time blocking is the best way to combat perfectionism, because of it’s time oriented focus. Schedule a time to work on something, and when that time comes, focus that short period of time on that task. If you’re able to focus on that task for the scheduled time block, then you win. It takes the pressure off from finishing and completing a task to perfection.
This works especially well for deep work that takes time.
Let yourself relax
Time blocking allows you to schedule breaks. Last week I talked about procrastination and how to overcome it by embracing it. With time-blocking, it forces you to think through the entirety of your day, so go ahead and plan some time to relax and enjoy yourself. When your schedule gets to a time block that allows relaxation, just let yourself do it. No guilt.
Deep vs. Shallow work. Time-blocks can also allow you to schedule in work activities that are important, but might require less focus or intense concentration. This helps your overall productivity, because we sometimes use these tasks to procrastinate from the harder work. Go ahead and schedule these in. It can help to schedule “shallow” tasks in-between or after periods of intense, focus-heavy work. It gives yourself a break while still allowing you to be productive, but without feeling guilty.
A habit hack, not a shortcut
I have a confession.
Time blocking is not easy at first. That makes it seem like it’s not a “habit hack,” because it does require a little more effort on the front end. But I include it here, because it works. And if you’re committed to it, you’ll see that it’s a hack in the sense that it helps to make you more focused and productive with your time. It’s a way of conceptualizing and organizing your time that frees up a tremendous amount of mental energy to get things done.
There is a learning curve with time blocking. At first you’ll need to overestimate how much time it takes to complete a given task. The goal is to organize time around the shortest increments or “blocks” possible, but it’s important to be flexible as you learn how to organize and structure your tasks for the day around time blocks.
This brings up an important objection to time blocks. Time blocks may seem to0 restrictive. What if the time is up for an allotted task and you’re not ready to move to the next thing?
That’s okay. If the task at hand is something you must get finished today...then allow yourself another block of time to get it done. If it doesn’t have to get finished today, then move on to the next time block you previously had scheduled. This is important to do if you can, because it helps establish a commitment to the concept of time blocking. But in the end, be flexible. As with any structured planning, structure is there to help make you more productive, but it shouldn’t be restrictive.
Time blocking apps
In my opinion, you don’t need a special app for time blocking.
Google calendar or any time scheduling app that lets you to break up the day into chunks of time can be used.
Time blocking works great with the Pomodoro Technique and there are great apps exclusively for Pomodoro like this one.
There are some good apps out there, many of them are paid apps, but unless you have to have one, then I don’t think it’s necessary.
But if that’s your thing, I’d consider checking out these three:
Skedpal this is a paid app, but it does take a lot of the work out of time blocking for you. Skedpal integrates with several different calendar programs, and it will schedule out your time blocks based on the priority and time needed for each task that you assign.
Timely is easy to use and lets you plan your schedule far in advance using time blocking.
Plan is another easy to use app that integrates well with other calendar apps such as Google calendar. And the best thing about it is that it’s free for teams of only 1 - 4 members, so if you’re less than four people, you may want to check this one out.
Work with Anthony and hit the rocket fuel 🚀button on your success!
Click below to schedule your free strategy call and apply for 1:1 coaching:
