12/16 Monday Prep Day: Time Blocking
From Day Blocking to Time Blocking
Apologies. I plan to send this out every Sunday to help you start the week.
I’m preparing to launch a 21-day Peak Performance challenge for the new year. Those who sign up will receive 21 daily emails, and we’ll have three video calls with a guest. If interested, reply YES to me.
One final push until the holiday season begins. We’ve been pushing hard for these two weeks. Some are coding, others are prepping for a fundraising event, and those in transition are researching new ideas. Whatever task you selected, you are giving it your all. But you still have other demands, don’t you?
I discussed day blocking previously. It is based on the mental work needed to complete the task. For example, I do deep work in the mornings, like writing and reading. After lunch, I do meetings and calls—a lot less brainpower. That’s a reasonable basis for structuring your day. Now, we go one step further.
Let’s timeblock. Within your day, estimate the time for each task and block off the time to do those. Include eating, walking, driving, and transitioning from task to task. Brain transitions are a new topic that I’ll address in the future. Please do it for this week. Get good at gauging what time it takes to do what task and write it down!
The reason this becomes important is simply project management. Now, that’s a job for many. Knowing which tasks depend on others and how to allocate a certain amount of time. But there becomes a power in doing this. Those powers are as follows:
It gives you structure in an unstructured job.
You focus entirely on each task needed, knowing the other task are structured. Structure STOPs the constant circular thinking.
Finally, when preparing a longer-term project, you’ll start to know the exact number of hours you need to complete it.
The software Motion, has a great article on Timeblocking 101.
There is a variety of software for managing tasks/time. I use Asana and Notion, but they don’t give me time slots for the day, and I always don’t like to be on my computer. I need help, so I often use a daily planner like the Panda Planner. I want to write it all down.
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