Do you ever feel like it’s all too much? Every Thursday, I share one action, habit, or project you may want to undertake in order to improve your health, happiness, and sense of well-being.

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Have You Tried Time Blocking?

Time Blocking is a common tool for improving Time Management.

There are two main advantages to using this tool:

You can clearly see when you are planning to work on your tasks and for how long.
By setting Time Blocks for the tasks that you are prioritizing, it is easier to see where to reschedule the Time Block, if your planned time did not happen or was not long enough.

What tasks should you Time Block?

I would recommend scheduling Time Blocks for all deep work that you plan to prioritize for the week.

I would also recommend scheduling Time Blocks for Project work. This may or may not be deep work. It's important to schedule time to work on long-term projects, so that they feel less overwhelming and are not left to the last minute.

You may also want to schedule Time Blocks for:

Prep - Prior to scheduled meetings, it can be helpful to review your notes and determine what you want to gain from the meeting.
Post Meeting Download - Following your meetings or client calls, it is beneficial to take 5 - 15 minutes to update your notes and add each follow-up task to your Action lists.
Small Task Time Block - Set time aside for small tasks that are greater than 2 minutes, but less than 20 minute.
Email - Setting aside 2 or 3 Time Blocks each day for email will help you focus throughout the rest of your day.
All tasks that NEED to be completed within the week.

Getting Started

The Pre-Work

For many people, it is helpful to start planning on paper.

The first step is to choose a paper planner that works for you.

Your Planner should include:

A weekly view that lists out the day in at least half-hour increments.
A space to list out your priorities for that week.

The planner is a tool to help you learn:

How to Time Block
How to see what time is actually available.
How to make adjustments when "Life Happens".

For most of us, there is not a clear line between our work day and our personal time.

Understanding this, I recommend writing in all your personal and work commitments at the start.

Time Blocking is a bit of a puzzle and it's helpful to see where your open time is and where you have commitments.

Below are examples of personal responsibilities/commitments that I would recommend writing in for the first few months:

Wake Up
Shower & Get Ready
Meditate
Work Out
Drop kids at daycare
Breakfast
Pack Lunch
Lunch
Pickup kids at daycare
Cook Dinner
Dinner
Clean Kitchen
Watch TV
Go on Social Media
Grocery Shop
Laundry
Pick up Prescriptions
Check Personal Email

You may think it's strange that I included time for TV and Social Media. What I have found is that we all tend to make time for certain activities that we feel help us unwind. Whether it's going to bed later or skipping another task that you had planned to do, these activities tend to always happen, so it's important to account for them.

Let's Get Started:

You are going to need to set aside 30-60 minutes on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday to plan out the following week.

The first step is to write-in the daily tasks that you routinely do. This is critical in order to see what time is available.

Next you want to look at your electronic calendar and write in all your meetings and commitments for the next week.

At this point, it should be clear how much time you have available for your "work".

Take a look at your Action lists and Project lists and write down everything that NEEDS to be done in the next week.

Take a look at your Action lists and Project lists and write down everything that you would LIKE to work on in the next week.

Now take a look at your Action lists and Project lists and write down 1-3 items that are IMPORTANT, but that do NOT NEED to be done.

Pick 1 item that you listed as IMPORTANT and write it in your planner for the time you are going to work on it. Pick a time that you think you will be at your peak performance. For most people, this is towards the beginning of their day.

Next, write in all the tasks that NEED to be done.

Depending on how much time you still have available, you can add Time Blocks for the remaining item - tasks that you would like to work on and additional IMPORTANT tasks.

However, make sure you have at least 2 hours of open time each day. Otherwise, you are just overbooking yourself and setting yourself up for failure.

We know meetings run late and tasks often take longer than expected. It's important to plan for this.

It is important to review your planner towards the end of each day.

Are there any tasks that you did not get to?
If so, what open time slot does it make the most sense to move it to?
Are there any tasks that you worked on, but didn't finish?
Does the task need to be finished this week or can you finish it next week?
For the personal responsibilities / commitments that you blocked off time for, are these times accurate?
Were there any new tasks that were added to your plate that you need to work on this week?
Do you have time to add the new task to your week?
Do you have to take another task off your schedule, in order to make time for the new task?

When to transition to an electronic calendar:

After two to three months, many clients feel comfortable moving to an electronic calendar.

However, some clients find that it's best for them to continue to Time Block their day on paper.

The time we spend planning is well worth the investment. It allows us to be certain that we are working on our priorities, we are spacing out our effort so that the quality of our work improves, and that we are not forgetting about important tasks.

The benefits to using an electronic calendar are:

It saves time.
- By using repeat calendar appointments, you don't have to start from scratch each week.
- It's much quicker to move appointments around on the calendar, as your schedule changes throughout the week.
It is always available and accessible.

How to Setup your Electronic Calendar:

Review your last few weeks from your planner.
Create reoccurring appointments for the tasks that you work on daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually.
Color Code the Tasks by Category.
Schedule 30-60 minutes on Friday, Saturday or Sunday to plan out the following week.
At the end of your day, review your electronic calendar and see if any time blocks need to be moved or duplicated.
I would recommend duplicating an appointment, if you did work on it for the allotted time, but didn't finish the task.

Additional Resources

The planner I have used the most with clients, as a tool for learning how to see their time and use Time Blocking as a way to prioritize, is the Passion Planner.

Learn more

Happy Spaces’ Tips & Tricks

Many clients have found it valuable to Time Block a 1-2 hour window each week for "Deep Work". This allows you to hold a time where you feel you will be most productive and then label it with the specific task when you are doing your weekly plan.

Many clients have also found it valuable to Time Block 1-hour once or twice a week for Action items that correspond to their Project lists. I call this my "Getting Things Done" hour. You may find it helpful for one hour to be work related and one hour to be personal. This assures that your projects are moving forward and not consistently being pushed to the back burner. Any task that you think will be 20 minutes or less, fits this category well. Since these smaller tasks don’t feel like they take that long, we tend to not schedule them, thinking we will "squeeze" them in. But how often do you have an extra 20 minutes (that you aren’t randomly scrolling social media)?

Feeling Overwhelmed?

We understand how challenging and scary it can be to start something new. If you feel excited about implementing this strategy, but worry that it’s just too much to start on your own, the It’s All in the Planning Started Pak was designed for you!

Get Started

A Note from Happy Spaces

The goal is to add value to your life. If you think this project will add value:

Estimate how long you think it will take. I would recommend doubling the time you estimate.
Look at your calendar over the next week and pick a date and time to get started.
Make an appointment on your calendar for the estimated time.
If you estimate that completing this project will take longer than one hour, I recommend doing it over multiple days. This will support you in getting started!
Prior to starting this project, take a few minutes to make a step-by-step list of EVERY action you need to take to complete this project.
It's not all or nothing. You can choose to implement only the parts of this project that add value to your life.
An Accountability Partner can be a great support in following through on your goals and commitments.

Creating a life you don't need a vacation from! ®

Sincerely,

Sarah Weingarten

Meet Sarah

Growing up as the oldest of nine siblings in Upstate New York, I learned to use organization to create sanity among the chaos. Today, I work together with individuals, families, and small businesses to create habits, systems, and spaces that support their needs, goals, and dreams. Clients often refer to our work together as "life-changing" and "better than decades of therapy". What I love most about my work is the lasting impact it has on real people's lives. Nothing makes me happier than hearing the many success stories of clients I have worked with.

Have You Tried Time Blocking?