There is always a struggle to get everything done in a day, and finding structure in your day can be a real challenge!
Your days can be filled with distractions, whether it’s from dishes in the sink, pets wanting your attention, or even notifications continually popping up on your phone screen. Whether something is necessary or not – it’s still considered a distraction.
There are so many ways to get pulled in different directions whenever you are not in a structured environment, so coming up with different, more effective ways to avoid or work around these distractions is essential! This is where the genius method of “Time Blocking” has been known to help others focus on their most productive hours, allowing them to get a lot done in a short amount of time! Many professionals and successful people in this world implement time-blocking into their lives with incredible results!
Below are 5 tips on how to use Time Blocking for keeping yourself on task and getting things done faster:
Write Down Everything You Need to Get Done
Writing everything down that you need to get done is the first step and foundation for doing successful time blocking. When you write a list of things you need to get done, consider that this doesn’t necessarily only include work-related tasks. You must include everything from doing groceries, going shopping, appointments, dog walker scheduling, and more. Write down everything you are responsible for! Once you have finished writing them down, go through and prioritize them. Make this even more effective by color-coding tasks by the highest priority to lowest.
It’s essential to ask yourself when making this list, what your most productive hours are – what hours during the day or night do you not only get the most done but produce the best work? Once you know, block these hours off to do your highest priority jobs.
Turn Off Notifications
To make the best of your time and utilize the benefits that time-blocking has to offer, it’s vital to turn off all of your electronic notifications. It’s OK to miss a phone call or a text message from a client! In fact, the right kind of clients are going to appreciate how dedicated you are to your work and providing top-notch results.
Look at your notifications and respond to those who need a reply when you have time, in a timely manner for clients where required and get the work done that you NEED to get done! Those notifications and messages will still be there when you’re ready!
Set a Timer
Another way to plan your day with time blocking is to set a timer to help you stay focused and on track with your day.
Once you have determined your most productive hours, make sure you set a timer when doing the work in those hour slots. This way, when you’ve completed your high priority jobs in those hours, you can set your work aside, checking back in with reality! Once the timer goes off, permit yourself to take the necessary breaks you need and in doing so, get more work done throughout the day!
Taking a break may seem counter-productive, but it’s rather the opposite, and lends to being VERY productive!
Schedule Your Time
It seems we never have enough time in our days and we know it is impossible to stretch a day into 28 or 30 hours! However, the next best thing you could do is to start scheduling your time at the end of each day for the following day. Not only will this help you look at the most important things that need to get done the next morning, but you are also blocking out time in 25 or 50-minute blocks.
Schedule your calendar where you assign 25 minutes for the simple tasks and 50 minutes for the more significant tasks. If a job is longer than 50 minutes, make sure you break it down into smaller tasks!
Do not schedule every minute of your day, because things can always come up that need to be dealt with and that are just as important, or more important, such as eating, exercising, having a friend over, playing with the dog or going for a walk, before getting back on task. If you schedule wisely, your work will be done in a smart, productive way – making it feel like you gained so many more hours in your day!
Put Social Media as a Task on Your Calendar
With the method of time-blocking, you don’t need to avoid all social media! Instead, set aside some time in your calendar where you go on social media as a task! This will help you keep up with what you may have missed either work-related or personal, and you can also keep in contact with your clients and followers, continuing to build relationships! Setting aside time for social media as a task will lower your temptations to keep playing with Facebook on your phone or laptop throughout the day when you should be getting other things done.
Give Yourself Time Back Into Your Day and Be Productive
It is important to remember that time blocking is meant to give you the structure for your day and is a significant part of being productive in life and business! Embrace that time-blocking is precisely what you need to get ahead in life and that without it, you will continue to dredge yourself along day in and day out hoping for more hours while doing unnecessary things and getting distracted! Plan your day with time-blocking and see what changes you can see in your life because of it!
Time-blocking may just be the method you need to have the success of gaining back time! In fact, your life and business can and will flourish because of it!
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