Don’t get me wrong, I love time blocking – it’s a super easy and incredibly effective way to get yourself organized, focused and efficient (and this applies no matter how structured or “free flowing” you consider yourself to be)!
But sticking to your time blocked calendar can be a challenge and there’s one big reason why that is: you’re blocking off every single minute of the day.
Be OK with some blank space in your calendar, because scheduling every minute of your life is a lot of pressure.
Leave some open and unscheduled time for:
🥳 Spontaneity (because you never know what the day will bring or what you’ll feel inspired to do!)
⏰ Buffer time for those unexpected things that come up or that take longer than you expected
🧘 Just chilling – take a nap, read a little, cook something, go for a walk…the down time will recharge you and ultimately make you more productive.
But maybe you’re like “But how the heck do I even get started time blocking!?”
Time blocking is soooo easy – just follow these steps:
1️⃣ Choose a calendar format that allows you to draw squares or blocks of time easily. Google Calendar or any paper planner with 1 hour or 1/2 hour increments written down the right or left hand side of each day are perfect). The visual format will make it easier to understand and follow.
2️⃣ Block off time for your “commitments” first. For example, meetings, appointments, time with your clients, driving your kids to school, etc. Include things like working out, meditation time, cooking / dinner or anything else that you consider a priority for your health and wellbeing.
3️⃣ Now that you can see the time you have left over after your commitments are taken care of, block off time for your “important / priority” projects. These are usually the things that get pushed aside or put off because you’re too busy.
Pssst: the reality is that in your pre-time-blocking life, all of the commitments and other things that came up in the moment stretched out to fill your whole day. It’s common for us to just wait for that magical day when all the commitments are done and taken care of, but this day will never come, so set boundaries (aka: time block) for how much time you allocate to them. And set an intention to spend time on those priority / important projects instead. 😉
