Empower Your Life
Are you overwhelmed with tons of tasks and long to-do lists? Do you want to become highly productive and finally have free time for your family? Just because you can’t cope with your to-do lists doesn’t mean you are lazy. It’s all about organization and productivity, which are the secrets of getting more work done in a short period of time. When you face the times of worry and stress or get too busy, you risk letting things slide.
Luckily, there’s an effective solution to your messy, chaotic, and unproductive life. Time blocking is a popular method widely used by the majority of successful people. Read on to find out what time blocking is and how it works.
What’s time blocking?
Time blocking is a productivity exercise that involves using a calendar for blocking time for the most critical tasks and priorities. You set a specific time and work on a single task during that time. You allow your calendar to lead in the right direction and don’t miss any important task or goal. Time blocking gives you a confidence with each task as you know what you should do next.
It only takes 10 to 20 minutes to create your schedule for your next day. When creating it, you consult your calendar, your task list, and those important notes you write during the day. The key of time blocking is to ensure the progress is made on the correct goals at the correct pace for the pertinent deadlines.
A lot of people work hard to achieve their goals and dreams, but fail to do it. Why? The reason is they do work hard but they don’t make any progress. Time blocking teaches you to get truly meaningful and important things done, helping you improve your focus and direct your energy in the right direction.
Finally, time blocking helps you transform intention into action and forces you to figure out the amount of time needed to complete a certain time. From theory to practice, so how can you start the time blocking process?
How to time block
There are many tips, tricks, and methods on how to time block in order to boost productivity and get more done in one day. If you have no idea where to start, follow these important steps:
1. Set your biggest priorities
Although it’s best to have one top priority, it’s okay if you have several. Try to analyze your goals for the month or year and identify the most important one. Visualize you achieving that goal and how it would improve your life. If you can’t see a significant change after reaching that goal, then it’s not your priority. Keep visualizing until you find your biggest priority.
Once you do, block the first 3 to 4 hours of your workday for working on reaching that goal. For instance, if your goal is to improve the sales, use your 3 to 4-hour time block to generate leads for sellers and buyers, make calls, and send emails. Don’t expect the fast results, though. Keep working on your priority until you achieve it. When you focus on your goal, everything else should be a distraction.
2. Stop working on the clock time
We used to live and work by someone else’s schedule and time. We start working at 8 or 9 am and leave the office at 5 pm because that’s the time when the workday starts and ends. Sometimes we stay at the office to complete some important projects, but that’s because our bosses say so. Even if you have a 9 to 5 job, you can still reach your goal with time blocking technique. Just schedule your most important in the morning and ignore all the distractions that can disturb you, like gossips, frequent coffee breaks, calls, emails, texts, etc.
3. Block time when you’re most productive
If a morning is your most unproductive time of the day, block time for the critical tasks for the afternoon, for instance. Then schedule other less important tasks for other time. If you’ve managed the most difficult project first thing in the morning, you can break down the afternoon into 2, 3, or 4 blocks of time. Make sure each block of time lasts for no longer than 2 hours. If you’re most productive late at night, schedule your priority accordingly, but don’t forget about sleep.
4. Create a time block for planning
Time blocking is about advanced planning and simple scheduling, so make sure you make time for planning too. Each day, month, or year, set aside time for a daily, monthly, or annual planning (generally it’s for complicated tasks and long-term projects. Scheduling and creating of the to-do lists occur during the time block that you set aside for killer planning.
5. Reserve breaks and time off
Add in an empty block of time and time off for your family for more flexibility and relaxation. The empty blocks are usually short and last for about 15 to 20 minutes. Life is unpredictable so you always need to be ready for any disasters. Time block a few hours to spend with your friends and family weekly. Moreover, add time blocks for cleaning, shopping, and other errands.
6. Use a calendar to track your time blocks
Whether you’re new to time blocking or you’ve been doing it for a while, having a digital or paper calendar is essential. You can purchase a big desk calendar, keep it handy, and label the days, or months, or year with your time blocks. You can also download a free calendar app on your phone. Look for the app that has reminders and timers.
7. Watch your productivity level to ensure that time blocking works well for you
Track your progress to see if you get more productive after organizing your schedule. For example, figure out and write down the time you spend on your daily tasks. Do it either weekly or monthly to see the progress or failures.
The Art of Time Blocking Final Thoughts
Time blocking is effective, simple, and is one of the secrets why successful people get so much done in just one day. Take the step to organizing your life, it’ll take a little effort at first to implement it but the rewards will be huge in the long run. Take control of your life and your schedule. Give it a whirl and you’ll never regret you did.
