The Power of Time Blocking

“I want to do it, but I just don’t have the time”

“I’m too busy I can’t go”

*Insert excuse here*

When our schedules begin to juggle more than a few different tasks we automatically start shutting down the options of adding anything else to the mix.

What if I told you that you could start saying yes to more while not becoming overwhelmed (and still get a full night sleep)?

I am pleased to introduce you to the power of ~time blocking~

Scenario 1

Has this ever happened to you:

You schedule your whole Saturday to get a large task done. You end up spending most of that day scrolling on your phone and grabbing snacks every hour, only sporadically doing the task you set out to do. Your friends invited you on an afternoon hike that you declined due to your “productive day”. Surprise it’s 7pm, your 8 hours of work that you planned, ended up being 2 hours’ worth… and you didn’t get to do anything else on your Saturday. You are left feeling unproductive, sluggish, and anti-social.

Now let’s look at this scenario using time blocking:

You wake up, have your morning coffee, and put your phone away to get one solid hour of work in on your task. You close your laptop to go get some groceries and make a full breakfast. You are well fed and ready to put in another hour of work on your task. Would you look at that it’s noon! You stop for some lunch and meet up with your friends for an afternoon hike to get your body moving. After you get home, you sit down for another 2 hours of your task and boom- 7pm rolls around and you are done! Dinner, shower, relax, and sleep are the only items left on your to-do list. You are left feeling fulfilled, accomplished, and rejuvenated.

Time blocking allows you to chop up a larger task into smaller increments. It is easier to focus for shorter amounts of time while giving yourself time and space to complete other daily chores and social activities. This produces a very balanced and productive day.

By time blocking you are also being more realistic. We often feel guilty for setting out to do more than we actually accomplish because of distractions we get ourselves into. Be forgiving and kind to yourself by splitting up your tasks so you can accomplish what you set out to do. It is more feasible to put your phone away for an hour at a time instead of 8, right? So do that!

Scenario 2

Alright lets switch the setting… have you ever had a project so large that you put off starting it due to procrastination that turns into intimidation that then turns into anxiety for saving such a large task for the last minute? SUCH A SPOOKY FEELING 10/10 DO NOT RECOMMEND!

For larger tasks, time blocking also helps chop the work up into smaller increments to not only make it more approachable, but to slowly get it done rather than rushing at the last minute. Seeing a project with several checklist items and a quickly approaching due date is intimidating.

If you can write out all of the steps needed to complete the project will see it as several little tasks rather than one big one. If you complete one to two of those little tasks each day (get the hardest ones done first if possible!), you will have taken down that big scary project in no time!

This time blocking lens of seeing projects, problems, and even weekly commitments makes everything more approachable and ultimately doable!

I’m not going to lie… since I started implementing time blocking, I have looked at every task in my life in increments and automatically breakdown situations into parts to accomplish rather than one big thing. Time blocking is such a great skill to bring into your personal life as well with self-improvement goals, relationships, and more.

Google Calendar

This may all have been self-explanatory and straightforward to understand, but implementing this in practice is where the challenge comes in. I will let you in to my secret for how I time block effectively and actively… GOOGLE CALENDAR (not sponsored). Google Calendar is like my organizational Bible and honestly is one of my proudest possessions (I sound so nerdy right now wow). Wait let me show you…

Yup! That’s a week in my daily life- colourful eh? Colourful and FULL- full of work, side projects, coffee chats (plug for last week’s article), activities I enjoy, time with friends and calls with family. The power of time blocking baby! Before you agree to adding something else to your plate you can quickly check your Google calendar to see what your week looks like so you don’t over schedule yourself. Google calendar helps you visualize the time increments you are blocking. You can do this by colour coordinating different types of tasks, schedule reminders, add locations and consistently add new things in and take others out. Google calendar brings time blocking to life.

Before You Go...

I hope that you are walking away saying one of three things:

1. She just re-explained how I already live my life (yawn).

Because this would mean you are already about your business! You know what’s good and you are probably killing it in whatever you do. Also sorry for boring you in this case.

2. This was very helpful!

Yayyyy I am so glad that was the goal :)

3. I need to download Google Calendar.

Yes… yes you do.