Time Blocking

Increasing Your Productivity

Time blocking has been around forever. Really, it has. It just took this long for someone to give it a name. But since time began, most humans have worked in blocks of time.

Wake up before dawn, tend to crops, tend to livestock, break for a meal, etc. Today, it might look more like…wake up and go to the gym, go to work for eight hours, dinner with family, etc.

Most people don’t have set time-blocked schedules. What they do is purely routine and generally not the most time efficient. The way it usually works is that they go through the daily routine and stuff happens to interrupt the current task. That’s to be expected. Life happens.

Multitasking is a myth. It is impossible to devote 100% of your attention to more than one thing at a time. (Photo Credit: 123RF.com Copyright: alphaspirit)

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Some people also brag about being great multi-taskers. There really is no such thing. Multi-tasking actually decreases productivity because you are dividing your focus between different tasks. That means that these tasks are getting less of your attention and will take longer to complete and likely, not to the best of your ability. It is absolutely impossible to devote 100% of your attention to multiple tasks.

The Difference With Time Blocking

But with time blocking, your day is spent more deliberately and each task is given 100% of your attention for that block of time. For the majority of us, the eight hours at work is not negotiable and nothing interrupts it. And that’s great. That’s where our paychecks come from. But what about the time you block off to work on your art? What if your family interrupts? What if the phone rings?

This may be something that a family meeting can solve. If creating art is important to you, then treat it like a second job. Explain to your family that this time is very important to you and it would be appreciated if they could hold any questions and such until you take a break. This might mean that your partner/spouse has to help out by stepping in to handle kid stuff while you work.

Breaks are just as important as time blocked for working. (Photo Credit: 123RF.com Copyright: alphaspirit)

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And speaking of breaks, those are important too and should be scheduled in. You’ll have to decide how big of a time block you like to work in. I prefer one hour increments. It’s long enough for me to get into a good flow and get a decent amount of work done. The breaks are essential for giving your back, hands, and eyes a rest. This is time you can use to refresh yourself, refill your drink, and come back to your work with a fresh view. But stick to a specific break time. If it’s 15 minutes, make sure you’re back at work when the 15 minutes is up. During the week I really only have a one hour block of time, but on the weekends I may go three to four hours. For this large block of time, I will have several 15 minute breaks set on a timer.

What Do You Do? How Does it Work?

Google calendar allows the user to block time easily, with distinguishing colors, and notifications.

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So how does one go about time blocking? Well, the first thing to do is find a calendar you like. It may be a regular paper calendar, a large desktop calendar, or an online one. I use Google calendar. It allows me to schedule my time easily and sends me notifications if I choose. It also allows me to block time in different colors. For example, time spent meditating is light blue. Time for drawing is red. My gym time is green. So I know at a glance what’s what. If using a paper calendar, you might use different pen colors.

How do you know what to block?

I suggest not blocking absolutely everything you have to do. Some things are a given, like brushing your teeth. You do it automatically when you get up and before you go to bed (hopefully). You don’t even have to think about it. Eating meals is the same for me. But for some, who get so wrapped up in a task that they forget to eat, those folks might need to schedule it as a reminder.

I like to fall back on the “rocks, pebble, and sand” concept when I time block. A philosophy professor brought four items into his class. A large jar, rocks, pebbles, and sand. He put the rocks in first and it filled the jar. He asked the students if the jar was full and they all agreed that it was. Next, he took the pebbles and poured them over the rocks and then shook the jar so that the pebbles settled in around the rocks. Again he asked if the jar was full and the class agreed once more that it was. Finally, he took the sand, poured it over the rocks and pebbles, and shook the jar so that the sand settled in around the rocks and pebbles. He asked one last time if the jar was full and his class answered that yes, this time it was definitely full.

Successful time blocking calls for making time for the important things first (the big rocks). (Photo Credit: https://www.developgoodhabits.com/rock-pebbles-sand/)

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In short, the jar stands for our lives. We each have limited space to fill with all the various things that happen in our lives. The rocks stand for the big things, the non-negotiable things, like work. The pebbles stand for important things, too, but these are things that have a bit more flexibility. And the sand represents all the small insignificant, distracting things, like TV or social media. If you fill your life with the insignificant things first, you won’t have room for the big important things.

Now, how does this concept work with time blocking?

Well generally, I don’t bother blocking out the rocks, the big things. I know when I work and it never changes, so I don’t even bother. I do block out the pebbles, the important but flexible things. For me, these include working on commissions, personal projects, writing for this blog, freelance writing, meditation, exercise, and meal prep, to name a few. I also do not block out any time for sand items, the distracting stuff like social media. Those will happen if there’s time, like when I’m standing in line or waiting in a doctor’s office.

Separate your daily routine into rocks, pebbles, and sand. (Photo Credit: mnaitodesigns)

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It might help you to take a sheet of paper and write three columns. One for rocks, one for pebbles, and one for sand. Think about what you do on a day to day basis and organize your day accordingly. Write it all down in the appropriate column, from the most important to the most mundane, and to the biggest waste of your time. You might be surprised at how efficient (or inefficient) you’ve been. Then start plugging each item into your calendar. Block the rocks first and once that’s complete, start blocking in the pebbles. And if you so desire, once the rocks and pebbles are absolutely complete, you can block in some sand time.

Keep in mind that this might take some adjusting. Once you launch this new time-blocked schedule, you may decide that you need to rearrange some of the pebbles. That’s quite alright. Seasons change, circumstances change, and priorities change. The schedule isn’t set in stone. We’re human and as always…a work in progress.