I believe I was first introduced to Time Blocking by Taylor Pearson (honestly, read Taylor’s stuff – he takes complex issues and makes them readable).
Since then, my primary goal this year – re-establishing my home and regaining traction after being stuck traveling for too long.
One of the primary tools I’ve used with this is my calendar. And, while I’ve been in a calendar nomad about as long an actual nomad (I became calendar homeless when Sunrise got bought), ever since Woven came on to the scene – I’ve got my relationship with time straightened back out.
Here’s how I use time blocking and Woven to get the most out of my day.
The Basics of Time Blocking
Table of Contents
The basics of time blocking lie in laying out what you want to do. Then go doing it.
Sounds simple, but why do we have so much trouble doing it.
The solution is to lay out a schedule – a path for how you want the day to go. Then treat yourself like a petulant child and “do what’s good for you.”
We had no problem doing it for years (go to school) or when you work at a job (in by 9, leave at 5), so why have a trouble.
You need to set a “boss schedule.” A boss that tells you what to do and your little brain has to comply – just do it.
I mention this briefly in my productivity hacks, but treat your calendar like you’re creating a day that you’d want to live. Instead of treating it like it’s a bad tyrant that is forcing you to do horrible things – look at is as a guideline for living the day to day life that you want to live.
I’ve stolen this from Taylor, but I basically break my work day down into a few categories:
- Maker – creative, writing, brainstorming or working on key tasks that only I can do
- Manager – phone calls, client/vendor management, etc.
- Admin – email, bills, planning, or handling miscellaneous things as they come up.
Maker – I allocate 4 Horus to this. If I get 4 hours of real, true creative work done in a day – that’s a huge win. If I’m consistent with that for a week – things are happening.
Manager – These vary throughout the week, but I find that I allocate around 2 hours/day for stuff that falls into this category. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but that’s the average.
Admin – I can do this stuff without much fuel in the tank. Answering emails, responding to stuff and coordinating. I try to outsource as much as possible, but at the end of the day – I can do a lot of this with my brain turned off.
Because of all this, I try to set up my day in a way that’s most beneficial to me
Then I go do it.
Practically Using Time Blocking
The way I’ve done this in my calendar is to create three sections.
What’s awesome about this is that while it’s available on my calendar, it’s not always visible.
If I want to take this to another level, I set up uut this is that while
I’m pestering the Woven team to let me set a “time block” calendar and then give me stats to how well I’m meeting those objectives, but alas I’m waiting on that still.
Supercharging Time Blocks with Pomodoro + Workstation Popcorn
If you want to realize how much time you really have, get a timer and use it. If you want to feel unproductive AF, set a timer and then get to work.
I am not joking.
If you set a timer of all the time you’re wasting on unproductive stuff that YOU DO NOT CARRE ABOUT it’s actually horrifying.
You’re wasting your life zoned out doing things that you don’t care while there are urgent and necessary things to do that would make your life materially better.
If that doesn’t send a jolt of adrenaline through your body and make you want to get up and run through a wall – I don’t know what to tell you.
If you’re procrastinating or putting off what you should do, let this Steve Jobs’ quote resonate through your head.
Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.
Set a timer and get to work. You can likely get way more done in 30 minutes of focus than you can in 3 hours of screwing around.
If you want a version of pomodoros on cocaine, check Sebastian’s Ultraworking Cycles methodology.
Once you have a grip on your time and how much you’re using for each task, stack your Pomodoros together, and use Workstation Popcorn to maintain your momentum throughout the day.
If you need a refresher on how to execute Workstation Popcorn, read up here and watch the video below.
How I Use Woven to Time Block My Calendar + Get More Done
In my calendar, I have these set as non-my-time calendars. This lets them be informational, without having to block time off when I’m actually trying to coordinate meetings. That said, I can flip a switch (literally) and see them at any time.
This makes scheduling with others particularly easy.
Scheduling with Others
The nice part about time blocking is that it puts you back in the driver’s seat of your schedule. You’re not in control of your time. Instead of letting others dictate what you can do and when you cnn do it, you set the parameter of what your calendar looks like.
With Woven specifically, I’ve guarded my time in a few ways to make sure that people can’t just come in and hijack my time whenever they want.
1) I create scheduling links that let other people schedule according to what availability I have.
2) I create types of scheduling links for the different types of meeting requirements.
I found that a lot of time requests come in the form of three types of events – so I created templates for them that I use over and over.
They’re not just time slot availabilities, they’re different types of meetings that have different times allotted according to my energy + time blocked windows.
Phone Calls
I hate morning calls with a passion. Not only am I more creative in the morning, but planning for and bouncing back after a phone call into productive work always sucks more time than I think it does.
That’s why I keep these in the afternoon when possible between 3 & 6pm.
Coffee Meetings
If someone wants to grab coffee, that’s great, but I set up a couple times a week where I’m available to do coffee shops and pick my local coffee shop so it’s all pre-set. They just grab a time and go.
Podcast Interviews
If someone wants to do a podcast with me, I typically keep these to Fridays in the afternoon so I can focus on them and not be distracted by other things coming up in the week.
I can also break these rules when necessary by creating one-off links specific to the person, but I find that forcing myself to stay within them (even if I don’t always want to) helps me better make sure I show up in the best way possible for both the meetings and myself.
Get Started TimeBlocking
Start saving your time and getting back control of your life with time-blocking. Let’s recap.
- Download Woven Calendar (free)
- Chart Your Rhythms and block your time.
- Get a Pomodoro Timer
- Get Freedom.to
- Build your Pomodoros.
- Get to work
Any questions?
Other Time Blocking Resources
- https://toggl.com/time-blocking/
- https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/how-to-manage-time-effectively-even-if-your-schedule-is-hectic
- https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/time-blocking-guide
- https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/18/why-twitter-ceo-jack-dorsey-works-on-an-iphone-not-a-laptop.html
- http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html
- https://taylorpearson.me/idealday/
- https://www.nateliason.com/blog/productivity-daily-system
- http://www.calnewport.com/blog/2013/12/21/deep-habits-the-importance-of-planning-every-minute-of-your-work-day/
Leave a Reply