Using Block Schedules To Tell Your Time Where To Go

PRODUCTIVITY

Jan 24

Written By Laurie Cosgrove Design

Using Block Schedules To Tell Your Time Where To Go

Do you ever get to the end of the week and wonder, “What did I even get done this week? Where did the time go?”

Time is just like money, if you don’t tell it where to go, it’ll just get spent on whatever comes up.

If you’re not structuring your time well during the week, it’s going to look like this….

Overscheduling yourself
Stretching yourself way too thin
Not making any progress on what you really want to
Getting distracted easily
Never knowing where to start

Before I had kids, I had a pretty typical 8 hours a day work week to design. Because I had an open schedule and plenty of extra time, it wasn’t a big deal if distractions came up. I wasn’t as productive with every hour, but I could still get my projects done by the end of the week.

Then I had kids and I went from 8 hours a day to only 2-4 at the most. My old system of just working on whatever came up had to change. I had to really FOCUS and work much faster in those smaller windows of time. I had to figure out how to work smarter and use plenty of tools to help me streamline everything.

I’m arguably WAY more productive now than I was before when I had loads of time to waste.

One super helpful tool I’ve used to structure my time is telling it where to go with a block schedule system. Every time seasons change I make a new one so that I can figure out how to make everything work with the time I do have.

The idea of blocking out your time is nothing new, but it’s really simple if you’ve never done it before. The concept is basically just choosing blocks of time (1-2 hours) to focus in on different types of work. (For example, 1-2 hours for writing, 1-2 hours for client work, 1-2 hours for tracking finances, etc.)

I think it works so well because it causes you to focus on what NEEDS to get done, rather than just whatever you FEEL LIKE doing at the time.

Block Schedule Printable by The Obsessive Planner on Etsy

How to Create A Block Schedule

Check Your Time Bank

I first heard the idea of a “time bank” from Shanna Skidmore and it makes so much sense. It’s easy to waste time when you assume you’ll always have more. But the truth is we all have a limited amount of time in our time bank before we start losing energy and creativity. So step one is to figure out how much time you actually have to work with each week. When do you start getting drained during the day? When is the best time for you to get work done? What hours do actually you have available?

Cross Off Busy Blocks

There are probably times in your week that are already pre-scheduled with meetings or events that are not able to be moved. Cross off those time blocks. Also, draw a line through your day off. Everyone needs a break from work to rest, recharge and have balance. Don’t be one of those entrepreneurs who works 24/7 and misses out on everything else. Even if you love your job, there’s more to life than work.

Jot Down All Work Tasks

List everything that you typically do each week. What consistently needs to be done? You can summarize them into categories if that’s easier. Once you have everything listed out, go ahead and put a star beside the essentials. If you’re not sure what is an essential ask yourself, “Could my business still run if I stopped doing this every day? What about every week?”

First Things First

Now that you know what your essentials are, go ahead and schedule those tasks into the first blocks of time. This ensures that you make progress on what’s most important to you. That way, if new problems/distractions come up during the week (which they will), you’ll have already tackled the essentials. We all hate getting to the end of the week with nothing to show for it.

Fill In The Rest

You can fill in the rest of your time blocks however you want. Keep in mind that for most of us, our energy slows down throughout the day and toward the end of the workweek. So you might want to schedule the more mindless tasks for these times. You’ll also want to keep a block or two open for unexpected things that come up.

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My schedule is constantly changing based on what’s going on with my kids or different work projects. Right now they are all in school during the day, so I work during that time. It looks way different than it did 1-2 years ago when only worked a few hours a day.

Here’s an example of both…

This was my typical block schedule when I had kids at home and could only work 2-3 hours a day.

Here’s a typical block schedule when all three kids are in school and I can work 5+ hours a day. The blank squares are for unexpected projects or for wrapping up what didn’t get done.