Time blocking your schedule is a powerful productivity strategy that can help you stay focused, get more done in your day, and keep your day on track when the unexpected arises.
That said, many people fail to reap the benefits of this strategy because they don’t implement it well.
Here are the 3 most common mistakes you are likely to make when you first start implementing time blocking.
(1) Not Considering Your Energy Levels When Scheduling Time Blocks
As previously discussed, successful time blocking requires more than just scheduling tasks in your calendar. The art and skill of time blocking is in scheduling your day in a way that is aligned with your energy needs.
Think about a time when you wanted to do something and decided “I’ll do that task after dinner and the kids are asleep.” Then, when that time came, you were exhausted and had no energy to tackle the project.
The surest way to set yourself up for failure or procrastination is to neglect to consider the energy or focus you need for the task.
When looking at your outcomes and necessary tasks, ask yourself:
When is is the best time for me to do that particular task?
Consider: – What type of energy do you need? – What type of focus do you need? – What type of task makes a good “warm up” for this task?
(2) Over-Scheduling
Time blocking is a great productivity strategy, and once you get into the game of it, it can be fun to put together the puzzle. That said, it’s also possible to get too aggressive with it.
The point is not to schedule every hour of your day. Even if your time blocks already include travel time, transition time, buffer time, and time blocks for the unexpected, it’s important to leave “white space” in your schedule.
In his seminal book “Getting Things Done,” author David Allen talked about the importance of capturing to-dos so that they don’t weigh on your mind. His point is crucial, especially for people with ADHD:
When you’re dealing with limited cognitive bandwidth and working memory, you need to clear your mind of all the things it’s trying to remember. That said, it’s not enough to capture a to-do if you don’t have a space to put it down.
Without a space to actually do it, you’ll still carry it in your mind, wondering when you’ll be able to fit it in.
White space in your calendar gives you a space to put the things you take in during your day — even if that space is only to figure out a time when you’ll actually do that task.
In addition, having white space in your schedule will curtail the feeling of overwhelm and having “no time.”
(3) Not Scheduling Enough Time
How long you should allow for a task is dependent on the task and how long it takes you to do it. Nobody else can answer that question for you.
Here’s what I can tell you though:
Allow more time than you think you need, even if it’s a task you do regularly.
In our imaginations, things always go smoothly. We lock in our focus, we stay on task, we don’t get distracted. There’s no traffic. Reality rarely matches those conditions. Things always take more time than you think they will.
We also have unreliable memories. Despite human nature’s tendency to have a negativity bias in recalling events, this is one place where we tend to remember the best case scenario.
For example, maybe it typically takes you 20 minutes to get to a certain location. But one time it took you 10 minutes to get there.
It’s very common to forget the typical travel time and think, “it took me 10 minutes once, so I’ll allow 15 minutes to account for traffic” when really you want to leave 25 minutes!
It’s always better to plan for more time than you’ll actually need.
Learn More About Time Blocking
These are just some of the mistakes that people make when implementing time blocking. To learn more, get my forthcoming book, which goes into more practical details.
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