It’s been a while since I did one of my traditional monthly goal setting posts, but I’m excited for the holidays to be done and getting back to normal – whatever that may be. And even still, this month is going to be a little different talking about time blocking for productivity.
While I’m still setting my personal goals and planning out my weeks in advance, I want to share a new-to-me tool for productivity that I’ve been using for my day job lately and really like.
You may have heard of it – it’s called time blocking and is exactly as it sounds. You group similar projects and block time to work on them.
Time Blocking for Productivity: Grouping Similar Projects
In my case at work, I typically have a few categories of projects: writing, emails / trafficking, and strategizing. Writing projects can incorporate everything from writing social media shares to a much larger report, but require similar brainpower. Emails and trafficking are generally sending things from creative teams to my partners for review and back – these require little effort and are more time intensive. And strategy work – which may take the most brainpower – involves making recommendations for how my programs should go to market or how we want to promote them throughout the year.
Time Blocking for Productivity: Scheduling My Day
Each afternoon, before shutting down the computer, I’ve been taking stock of my following day – what calls I have, and how much time that leaves me in between to get work done. I then consult my master to-do list and see what items are of the highest priority and where I may group similar tasks.
Say I have a break in calls from 10 – 11:30 and four emails that I need to get out to partners to review projects – I might block that time to work on those emails – and ONLY those emails.
It may sound restrictive, but it’s been very helpful in ensuring my highest priority tasks get done and ensuring I stay focused. If I know I only have an hour and a half to get those emails out, it adds a sense of urgency and fights procrastination.
Time Blocking for Productivity: Lessons Learned
In the couple of weeks I’ve been doing this, the one major thing I’ve found is that everything takes much longer than I expect. Perhaps this is why my to-do list always seems to grow instead of diminish. There have been days I’ve set aside 4 hours for all my writing projects and only made it through a single one. Nothing – so far – has taken less time than I’ve expected. Start out conservative with your time so you don’t miss any deadlines!
Another lesson is that for the concept to work, you have to be fully focused on the task at hand. You can’t be keeping an eye on emails or trying to have a conversation over Skype. Given the nature of emails in the business world, I’ve been giving myself half-hour breaks between blocks to catch up on any urgent emails before I dive back in.
I also have to take into account how I personally work best and when I have the most energy. I am not a morning person, so I never block the first few hours of the day for the tasks that require higher concentration. Around 3 p.m. I get highly productive, so I usually save my biggest project for that time. So many self-help guides urge you to do the most important item first, but I disagree – listen you your body and how YOU work best – not what someone else thinks should be right.
Time Blocking for Productivity: How To Get Started
Honestly, it isn’t rocket science. I simply use my work calendar in Outlook. The nice thing about this is it also shows me as busy for fewer co-worker interruptions when I am trying to get something done.
Of course, if you don’t use Outlook for your day job or want to look to deploy the time blocking tactics for your side hustle or life in general, you can always calendar out your day on paper or your phone. Simply write out the hours in your day, mark where you have meetings or other commitments, and use the remaining time to decide what you’ll do and when. If you’re still looking for a 2019 planner, my Simplified Planner has the days organized by hour – ready made for time blocking for productivity.
Have you used time blocking for productivity in work or life? If so, what tips do you have? If not, how do you like to organize your day?
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