Best Practices in Time Blocking
I’ve been time blocking my schedule for years now. It’s not a fully seamless effort, but it makes me feel extremely balance and it’s taught me how to take breaks. Once you’ve started, follow these tips to make it more bearable.
This post is a continuation of the first post I wrote about time blocking here. Go there first, and come back to this to refine your process!
Leave white space. You have to! White space allows time for other tasks that pop up, for flexibility if something goes longer than expected, and for you to breathe. Checking emails, taking a break, eating lunch, etc. all can happen in your white space areas. If you don’t give yourself white space, you’ll go in. sane. :)
Put everything on your calendar. Down to the dog walks. If it isn’t captured on your calendar and it takes longer than 15 minutes, you’re going to be crunched for time or rushed at some point.
Shorter tasks first. For me, when I have a day full of short tasks and long tasks ahead, I always get after the short tasks first. The morning can sometimes be a hard time to focus and I’m often checking emails, too, and putting out new fires. For that reason, I do my short (15-30 minute) tasks all in a row which typically takes me up until lunchtime. Once everything has quieted down and the emails aren’t flurrying as much, I settle in with an afternoon snack, light a candle, and get in the zone for my longer tasks.
Set two hour maximums. Do you have an 8 hour project to work on? Break it up into four 2-hour tasks and don’t put more than two on your schedule for the day (if they are on the same day, put a break or another task in between them). Ideally, you’d break this into four days. Long tasks are daunting and are the most likely to be put off, but breaking it into pieces makes it more realistic. This also gives you a chance to bring fresh new thoughts to each working session since you’ve had a break and some time away from it.
Move the blocks when you have to. Had a bunch of work blocks set for today but now you’re feeling sick? Move them! Do not force yourself to do something if you really don’t want to. Alert your client that their turnaround time has been bumped (be honest!) and let them know exactly when they’ll see the completion. In a perfect world, you’re ahead on the work anyway (early completion makes for the happiest clients!) so in the worst case scenario you’re on time vs. early.
Break the rules. This is YOUR calendar, do it the way you want to. You know what works best for you! If you know you’d rather crank out the 8 hour task the day before it’s due, go for it - but I hope you don’t get sick :)
