Do you ever feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day to achieve everything? That time is like sand, and the more you try to grip it, the more it slips through your fingers. Navigating work and free time feels like a chore we all have to go through.
But maybe you’re the one standing in your way by letting things distract you. It takes you longer to complete tasks than you’d anticipated, which eats into your personal time.
This is pretty common—academic research suggests that even the briefest interruption at work can take up to 25 minutes to recover from. The way to stay focused is to experiment with different productivity methods.
Today, we talk about a popular way to complete deep work and regain control of your day: time blocking.
TL;DR—Key Takeaways
- Time blocking is the process of breaking up your day into blocks of time dedicated to specific tasks or activities.
- Time blocking is best suited for people who multitask, struggle with focusing and procrastination, need a clearer overview of how they spend their time and struggle with overworking.
- Blocking has many benefits, including reduced decision fatigue, better work-life balance, a clearer idea of how you spend your time at work, as well as helping battle perfectionism.
- There are many time blocking techniques, including traditional time blocking, the Pomodoro technique, time theming, batching time blocks, and energy management.
- Kickstart your time blocking by thinking about your most productive times. Create your to-do list and prioritize each task while estimating how long it may take. Then, block off your day and honor the time slots you assigned for yourself.
What is time blocking?
Time blocking is the process of dividing your day into distinct chunks of time, each dedicated to specific tasks or activities.
For example, you might answer all your emails in one block and then complete all your project-related tasks in your next block. The main aim of time blocking is to plan your time intentionally, do deep work, minimize distractions, and focus on the task(s) at hand.
This method is more intentional than creating to-do lists or tracking time and puts you in the driver’s seat.
How to know if you’d benefit from time blocking
Time blocking is an exceptional time management strategy, but it’s not for everyone. People in jobs that are more reactive and dependent on external factors won’t get the full benefits of time blocking.
For example, customer support employees can’t predict their daily call volume. They won’t be able to set a clear start time for their blocks because they may get interrupted at any point.
People who do benefit greatly from time blocking are:
- Those in roles with plenty of multitasking
- People who struggle with focusing on one task at a time and frequently have to fight procrastination
- Those who want a clearer overview of how they use time at work
- Those who work too much and lose track of how much time they spend on certain activities
Even if your role doesn’t allow you to reap all the benefits of this time management technique, you should still try time blocking. Why? You’ll likely regain some control over your time at work, which is always a step in the right direction.
The benefits of time blocking for productivity
Time blocking can help anyone who wants to quickly complete their most important tasks. But focused work isn’t the only benefit of time blocking.
Some other pros of this productivity method include:
- Reducing decision fatigue—if you’ve committed to a certain type of task, you won’t be stuck figuring out what to do next
- Creating a clearer path for your workday and eliminating context-switching
- Getting a clearer idea of how you spend your work week, days, and hours
- Preventing perfectionism and focusing too much time on a single task
- Leading to a better work-life balance
If you’re not one of the lucky 2.5% of people who can actually multitask, time blocking is going to come in handy. Beyond work, it’s also useful in your personal life if social media prevents you from doing a detailed kitchen clean!
Different time blocking techniques
Before we get into the different ways to block time during your workday, we need to make a distinction between several terms that sound very similar:
- Time blocking: Dividing your daily schedule into distinct blocks of time, each dedicated to a specific task or a group of tasks
- Task batching: Grouping similar tasks for more efficiency
- Time tracking: Measuring the amount of time it takes to complete tasks
- Timeboxing: Setting aside a specific amount of time and attempting to do as much as possible in that time frame, e.g., with timeboxing apps
While task batching, timeboxing, and time tracking are helpful, time blocking is the only genuine way to allocate time slots in your calendar to similar activities.
Traditional time blocking
In its most basic sense, time blocking entails setting aside specific time slots for certain tasks during the day. For example, the 9–10 am timeframe is reserved for handling email communication.
This approach is simple and a strong option for those who are just getting into time and task management. It does not require special time blocking apps, only commitment and a bit of planning.
Pomodoro technique
The Pomodoro technique dates back to the 1980s when Francesco Cirillo invented it to prevent procrastination and increase productivity.
The idea is simple. You start a timer and work for 25 minutes, then take a 5-minute break, which constitutes one Pomodoro. Every time you complete four Pomodoros, you take a longer break.
This technique can help you gain more focus time, prevent burnout, and do massive amounts of work in short time frames.
Time theming
Time theming is similar to time blocking, but the block is bigger. It entails setting aside entire days or parts of a day to tackle different themes in your work. You won’t dedicate a block to a task; instead, you dedicate it to a broader category that is in the same context.
For example, if you’re a freelance designer, you can dedicate a theme (half of a workday) to one client before switching to a different one. This allows more freedom compared to some other methods but still forces you to group similar tasks in one time block.
Batching time blocking
Batching is when you group similar tasks in one block, which helps you focus better, streamline your work, and complete it more quickly.
For example, you’re an SEO specialist who needs to send out monthly reports. Instead of doing work for each client, you dedicate two hours of your time to doing a batch of reports for all of your clients at once.
You’re constantly working on one type of task rather than switching contexts. This technique is ideal for repetitive work that tends to follow the same process from start to finish.
Energy management time blocking
In this approach, you create time blocks based on your natural energy levels.
For example, if you know that your most productive hours are between 9 and 11 am, you’ll create a block and handle your most important work in this period. Meanwhile, you’re at your worst from 3-5, so this is when you’ll do the least important tasks for the day.
This reduces fatigue and helps create a workflow that is suitable just for you. While this time-blocking method is highly effective, it requires some investment in time and effort to determine when you’re at your most productive.
How to implement the time blocking method (successfully)
You might want to jump into time blocking immediately by grabbing one of the many available time management apps in the market. While these tools can help you with the time blocking functionality, you must do the hard work first. In other words, learn more about the process before clicking that “start” button.
Think about when you’re most productive
Sure, we all have 24 hours in a day, but not all of us are at our most productive at the same time.
Discover when you feel the most energized, focused, and ready to tackle new tasks. For some early risers, this is 9 am, while peak productivity happens at 10 pm for night owls. If you don’t know your most productive hours, dedicate time to learning more about yourself and your personality.
Use this information and schedule your most important daily tasks within those chunks of time.
Create your to-do list
Before starting with time blocking, create a detailed to-do list that accounts for all of the tasks you want to tackle within a specific time period. Include tasks and subtasks and prioritize them as soon as you write them down or add them to your favorite project management tool.
Be realistic and make sure to account for unexpected tasks and downtime because of various reasons. Also, add buffer time between tasks to help you mentally prepare for the next thing on your list.
Assign each task a priority level
“If everything is important, then nothing is.”
At this point, you need to do something very difficult: prioritize tasks based on urgency and importance. Naturally, the more important and urgent tasks get more attention compared to those that can wait.
There are many ways you can do this, including:
- The Eisenhower matrix
- The MoSCoW method
- The RICE scoring method
Find one that works for you and allows you to quickly prioritize your everyday tasks. More importantly, one of the most important time management tips is to be realistic about what you can and cannot achieve within a day or a week.
Estimate the time for each task
You should now estimate how long each task will take you. Unfortunately, you won’t know right off the bat, so give yourself some time to experiment and learn.
Here are some tips for accurately estimating your time:
- Track your time diligently and write down times for individual tasks and task types
- Break down large tasks into smaller ones to gauge time more accurately
- Create some buffer (10-20% extra time for unforeseen circumstances)
- Consider external dependencies (whether you have to wait on someone else to complete a task)
- Consult with others and ask your team members how much time they usually spend on similar tasks
Over time, you’ll be able to improve your scheduling accuracy and avoid over-scheduling or giving yourself too much time for simple tasks.
Block off your day
Now comes the fun part: assign the time blocks in your calendar for each task or a group of tasks. For example, doing focused work in the mornings while leaving the afternoons for meetings or email communication.
Make sure to split your task times with breaks and give yourself some flexibility in changing the order of your time blocks. Having the blocks visualized in a calendar app gives you a better idea of what you need to do and when.
Honor your time slots
After all the hard work and preparation, it’s up to you to make time blocking work and be disciplined about the blocks you’ve given yourself. While you may struggle with honoring your workload, the biggest distractions will often come from those around you.
A calendar app comes in handy here. Tools such as Google Calendar allow you to share your calendar with the rest of your team (and see their calendars). This way, if you have a day chock-full of meetings, another team member won’t feel inclined to put a big task on your plate.
Automation features often allow you to signal to your team that you’re in a meeting or working on an important task in a time block. For example, Google Calendar can send custom notifications to your Slack app status.
Example of a real time-blocked schedule
Want to see what it looks like in practice? Here’s an example of Toggl’s Content Marketing Manager’s color-coded time-blocked schedule:
While it might look packed, each block is there for a reason:
🟩🟦 is for shallow work, which applies to tasks like emails, Slack replies and meetings.
🟥🟨⬛ is for different kinds of Deep Work, like editing, writing and research.
🟪 is for (much needed) breaks.
While you don’t have to color code yours (and shouldn’t if it isn’t the most effective method for you; do what works for you), color coding helps her quickly identify what tasks she has for the day and whether anything needs shuffling around based on importance.
Try one of the best apps for time management
Time blocking helps you regain focus, be more intentional about your work, remove distractions, and complete more work in less time. It’s not suitable for every job in the world, but for most people, it’s a superb way to feel more in control of your time in and out of work.
Want to know the secret to getting started with time blocking? All you need is a good time management app such as Toggl Track.
Here’s how its intuitive features will skyrocket your productivity:
- Seamless time tracking: It couldn’t be easier to monitor how you spend your time across different blocks, ensuring you always stay on track with your schedules.
- Calendar integrations: By syncing with popular calendar apps you’re already using, you’ll have a cohesive view of appointments and tasks in one central location.
- Visual reports: You’ll gain granular details into how you spend your time, allowing you to adjust your time blocks for maximum efficiency.
Create a free Toggl Track account and start managing your time more efficiently today! ⏱️
Mile is a B2B content marketer specializing in HR, martech and data analytics. Ask him about thoughts on reducing hiring bias, the role of AI in modern recruitment, or how to immediately spot red flags in a job ad.