What is Time-Blocking?
The Time-Blocking System is a system of productivity that divides your day into time blocks dedicated to specific themes of work or tasks to accomplish. Many people use the system to divide their day into several blocks, each allocating a work task.
For example, from 9 am to 10 am, there will be meetings, 10 am to 11 am a task, 11 am to 12 am another meeting, 12 to 1 lunch break, and so on. Additionally, some use the system not hourly but daily, whereas each day of the week will be assigned a specific work ‘theme’.
Who invented Time-blocking?
Evidence suggests that time-blocking techniques have been used as early as the bronze age to track the agricultural cycle. However, Benjamin Franklin popularised and brought it as a mainstream productivity method.
Since the invention and mass adoption of the smartphone as a standard tool, time-blocking is now entirely digital and far more popular. Some have criticised time blocking in the working environment, stating that relying on time blocking and not giving just a deadline undermines the workplace’s creativity and imagination to achieve the deadline’s goals.
Which famous people use time-blocking?
On the positive side, many noted achievers, such as Bill Gates, Jack Dorsey, and Marc Andreessen, use the time-blocking system daily. Feel free to ignore this post if you disagree with time-blocking and are more successful than them.
Why is time-blocking good for your career?
You are paid to get stuff done. Whatever the niceties (or not) around a job or career, that is the reality. The more you can do, the more you can produce, and the more value you can add – the better your career will be.
Time-Blocking Pros:
- Compartmentalise your day.
- Focus on what is more pressing and avoid unnecessary distractions.
- Feel more in control of the day.
- Better distribution of time.
- Increased productivity.
Time-Blocking Cons:
- Lack of spontaneity.*
- Lack of imagination.*
- No wriggle room – could be considered non-viable due to Murphy’s Law. What could go wrong will. Problems will always be faced with any work task; some, for the most part, cannot be foreseen.*
- Humans are terrible at estimating time.*
* Peter doesn’t agree with any of these excuses for not focusing. If you are flexible and build in buffers and time, you can still be spontaneous and react to unexpected events. Routine and choices create the space for imagination – Hemingway wrote religiously every day – his life was hardly routine, boring, or devoid of adventure or imagination.
How To Get Time-Blocking To Work:
- Don’t rely on clock time; rely on your circadian rhythm – your body clock.” What is a circadian rhythm? Your circadian rhythm is “a natural process in animals and plants that controls when things such as sleeping, eating, or growing happen during a 24-hour period.”
- Create a theme for each work day that focuses on a specific theme of the work environment, i.e., Mondays – recruiting, Tuesdays – finances…
- Instead of a day theme, you can split your day into quarters. Focus on batch working during these quarters. Mentally separate them – if a quarter of your day goes wrong – the other three quarters can be successes!
- Set boundaries, but be flexible.
- Reserve breaks and time off
Tips for Maintaining a Healthy Circadian Rhythm:
Maintain a regular sleep schedule, even on weekends. If you have a late night on Saturday, instead of sleeping in (which will screw up your sleep on Sunday night), get up early and power through the day and then get to bed early on Sunday night. Your Sunday sleep will be better, and you will be fresh and rested for Monday.
Get exposure to natural sunlight or bright light during the day. Avoid bright screens and reduce light intensity in your environment a few hours before bed. Exercise regularly but not too late in the day. Be mindful of your eating patterns; avoid heavy meals and caffeine before bedtime.
Research in chronobiology (the study of biological rhythms) is ongoing, and the understanding of circadian rhythms continues to evolve. Continuously emerging research in this field can provide more insights for optimising daily routines.
Personalised approaches can be more effective, as individual differences exist in circadian rhythms. You can enhance your work efficiency and overall health by respecting and aligning activities with your circadian rhythm.
Work and Private Life:
Understanding and respecting your circadian rhythm can improve productivity and general well-being.
In work: Aligning work tasks with your natural energy levels can enhance performance. For instance, intellectually demanding tasks are often best performed during peak alertness, usually in the morning.
In private life: Consistent sleep schedules, exposure to natural light during the day, and minimising light exposure (especially blue light from screens) before bedtime can support a healthy circadian rhythm.
Tips for Maintaining a Healthy Circadian Rhythm:
Maintain a regular sleep schedule, even on weekends.
Get exposure to natural sunlight or bright light during the day.
Avoid bright screens and reduce light intensity in your environment a few hours before bed.
Exercise regularly but not too late in the day.
Be mindful of your eating patterns; avoid heavy meals before bedtime and cull your coffee consumption after midday.
Jet lag and shift work can significantly disrupt circadian rhythms and are special challenges.
Healthline has written more about the definition and maintaining a healthy circadian rhythm.
For more productivity hacks:
Productivity Hack #1 to Getting Stuff Done – Compartmentalise Your Day – This mental hack is to divide your day into quarters. In your head. Just like a ship. Then, if something goes south, it’s not the whole day lost or damaged – it’s just that quarter. The other quarters can be good quarters.
Productivity Hack #2 to Getting Stuff Done – The Pomodoro Technique – We’ve all seen the memes on social media about how we all have the same number of seconds, minutes and hours daily. We know that. Stop preaching. But how do you become more productive? How to focus. How to ignore the distraction of the seductive phone screen?
Productivity Hack #4 The Myth of Multitasking – Multitasking is a myth. We like to brag that we are good at it. But we’re not. Humans do not have the mental capability to focus on more than one thing.
