Time Blocking 101: The Perfect Approach to Maximizing Your Daily Schedule
Learning how to time block can seem overwhelming at first, but it doesn’t have to be! Time blocking is an easy way to maximize your productivity by planning out your day and scheduling important tasks like exercising, eating well, and even relaxing. This guide will teach you how to best block out your schedule each day using the popular Pomodoro technique, so you can work more efficiently without sacrificing your health or happiness.
What is Time Blocking?
Time blocking is a method of setting aside time in your schedule for specific tasks. It can help you maximize your productivity, get the most out of your day, and work smarter, not harder. It’s based on the Pareto Principle (aka 80/20 rule) which states that 20% of our efforts lead to 80% of our results. This means you should be focusing your time on those few tasks that will give you the best outcomes – and then let everything else go.
Benefits of Time Blocking
With time blocking, you’ll get the most out of your daily schedule. This type of planning is based on the 80/20 rule, meaning that 20% of your tasks will give you 80% of your results. To find out which 20% is most important, start with eating the frog– that task you dread doing but know it’s important. If this means starting work early and not going home until late, then do it! Otherwise all those good habits are wasted because they’re not benefiting from the opportunities they present. After eating the frog, take a quick break to gather yourself and then set off for everything else on your list in order of importance, leaving more challenging or complicated tasks for last.
What does a Time-Blocked Schedule look like?
The time blocking rule is a powerful technique that can help you get the most out of your day and maximize your time. This concept, often referred to as Eating the Frog, means doing the things that are most important first in order to give yourself more free time later in the day.
Start by mapping out your week ahead on paper and list everything you have going on for each day. Next, take your tasks and divide them up into categories based on their importance level. Then rank them from 1-3 based on which tasks you want to complete first during the day. For example, if you need to write an email but don’t know how it should start, this would be ranked higher than answering emails. Finally organize the list in order of priority so that at any given point during the day if there’s nothing else urgent coming up you know what task needs completing next.
How do I make my own time blocked schedule?
To make a time blocked schedule, start by identifying what needs to be accomplished on a weekly basis and then identify the most important tasks that need to be completed daily. Once you have identified those tasks, decide how many hours they should take. It is recommended that you only work up to three hours at a time, so use the 80/20 rule which states that 20% of your tasks will take 80% of your available time. Start with these priority items first and block off the necessary amount of time for them in your day. If you still have some free slots left, move on to less critical tasks. If you find that you do not have enough time to complete all of your tasks before the end of the day, rethink your priorities or ask someone else for help. As long as all of your priority tasks are completed, it does not matter if you did not get everything done.
Conclusion
Successful time blocking is essential for maintaining balance and achieving goals. Keep this in mind when you’re managing your daily schedule, so that you can get the most out of your time. Time blocking is not difficult if you take the time to plan ahead and prepare before jumping into your day. Remember these important tips before diving into a new way of life
SOURCE: Time Blocking 101: A Perfect Approach to get the most out of your Daily Schedule