How to Crush the Day: Time Blocking for Beginners!

If you don’t know what time blocking is, this post is about to change your life! I know that sounds super dramatic, but seriously! Implementing this in your way of life will guarantee that you will be more productive. At the end of the day you will be able to account for where your time actually went. Whether you want to start a blog or just run your household more smoothly, this should help!

What is time blocking

Time blocking is literally planning out every hour of your day. You take the time and assign purpose to each hour of your day. Even if it is something simple like ” 6-6:30 Take the dog on a walk.” You have then assigned that 30 minutes to a specific task and you aren’t scrambling to find time to take your dog out.

I like to combine batch working with time blocking. Batch working is combining similar tasks into blocks of time. When you actually write out what each hour of your day is used for you will be surprised at what you can do with your time. The key to being successful with time blocking is actually sticking to it and being committed to your schedule.

Successful people time block

Unfortunately, I can’t take credit for this technique, but I learned it from many successful entrepreneurs and content creators. Time blocking isn’t just for people working for themselves, but this strategy can definitely be applied to a 9-5 job. I certainly use it for that! When you time block your day, you’re already committed to being productive instead of just “busy” and you actually have results to show at the end of the day. Some of my favorite entrepreneurs that use this strategy are Mattie James, Erin May Henry, Erin on Demand, and Amy Landino. I started watching Amy Landino’s Youtube videos last year and she swears by this system and it clearly shows in how she has become such a successful Entrepreneur and Youtuber.

What are the Benefits of Time Blocking?

• You have a clear and specific plan for the day
• You know where your time goes
• You’re able to be laser focused
• You reduce the amount of time required to transition tasks because you already know what is up next
• You’re able to stick to your priorities and say “no” to whatever doesn’t fit into that block of time
• Helps you become realistic about how long it takes to execute tasks

How to Implement Time Blocking in Your Routine

1. This might seem pretty obvious, but the first step is deciding what type of calendar you will use for this. I personally use Google Calendar because I like that I can have multiple calendars within it and color code different types of activities. I also mention Google Calendar in my post about the Apps You Need to be more Organized and Productive linked here. It’s also easier to just set reoccurring activities instead of hand writing everything. I also like that with an electronic calendar for time blocking you can have reminders set for when to start/end activities as needed. It also makes it easy to edit and adjust the calendar as needed.

Don’t be mistaken — I still love a good physical planner! I’ve been using a Bloom Daily Planner I talked about at the beginning of the year, and it’s been great for my to-do lists! I have a full review on it in this post here.

2. Once you have decided where you are going to organize your time, your next time is deciding how you will spend your time. I first like to fill in the tasks that are part of my daily routine for each day of the week we will call those your “fixed” tasks. Examples of these items would be: waking up, quiet time/reading, workout classes, my 9-5 job etc.

3. Now that you have your fixed tasks filled in, you can see where all of your free space is! You can see all the time you claim you don’t have to be working on your side hustle lol. Now, don’t just fill in that free time with something generic like “work on side hustle”. No, we are getting specific here and writing down exactly what we want to accomplish within that hour. So you can put down “Make Pinterest graphics for blog post about time blocking.”

4. Add detail as needed for completing the tasks. After you create a new event, you can click the edit button add any extra details you might want to have. Once you do this, when you hover over the calendar event, the details of what you’re working on will also appear.

5.The fifth step is stick to your schedule!!! Don’t waste your time in planning your week if you aren’t going to follow it. Of course, there are always things that come up in life, but do your best stay committed to yourself and what you have planned.

6. Reevaluate your time blocks. After you’ve successfully completed your first week of time blocking, reflect. See where you were a little more optimistic about how long certain tasks would take you. Or see where you can make time blocks shorter. Keep your time blocked calendar evolving so that it can continue to serve you well.

Final Thoughts

Do you think you’ll give time blocking a chance? If you do, let me know how it worked for you! If you’re trying to be more productive, you may also enjoy my posts on Tips for Having a Successful Month, and Tips for Waking Up Early.