A Quick Guide To Time Blocking

A Quick Guide To Time Blocking

Time blocking is a time management technique that consists in scheduling out everything in your entire day with time blocks, including meals, work projects and personal time. Cal Newport coined the term deep work, which refers to uninterrupted work that is the result of a structured schedule. Time blocks are a defined period of time that you assign to the completion of a task, and context switching occurs when an individual divides his attention between several tasks. Time blocking can help you get more done during your workweek, so you have more free time to do the things you enjoy. How people block their workweek varies depending on their needs, but the beauty of a time blocking schedule is that it can work for anyone, from a work from home contractor to a busy business owner.

The most important details in this text are that it is important to block off the actual workday, which is the time of day that you actually spend at your desk, excluding commute and lunch break. This will give you a good bird's eye view of when you'll be able to deep work and fit in meetings and projects. To further segment this time into designated time blocks, block time one or two days a week as "meeting days" and ask others to move regular meetings to these days. Other days of the week can be assigned as creative time or actual work time. Block meeting and creative time is especially important for those in a creative field, as having meetings at random times can lead to context switching and throw off the creative focus.