Time Blocking: How I Use it to Be More Productive

I often get asked how I manage to get so much done each day. Not just by Cutting for Business blog readers, but by my friends and family. On the surface, I have a lot on my plate: I have a husband, four kids who have extra curricular activities 5 days a week, I sell on Etsy, Amazon, and a few stand alone websites, I write the Cutting for Business blog, and 98% of the time my house is as clean as a model home. Oh, I should mention that I am an absolute bear if I don’t get at least 8 hours straight of sleep.

Today, I’m taking you into my time blocking schedule to show you how everything gets done.

What is Time Blocking?

Time Blocking is a time management strategy where you divide the hours in your day into ‘chunks’. Within each chunk of time, you schedule tasks to be done during that time. While working through your schedule each day, you only focus on the tasks assigned to that time block. When the time block is over, you move on to the next task.

How I Use Time Blocking to Be More Productive

Here’s a look at my real life schedule. Obviously, my schedule won’t work for anyone but me. However, you can create your own blocked schedule. Simply write down the time you wake up until the time you go to sleep. Then, begin putting your daily tasks into blocks. Your blocks can be as short as 30 minutes to as long as the whole day. It truly just depends on your needs. If you work a 9am to 5pm job, you may only need to time block your evenings and weekends.

What Happens If I Don’t Finish Something in the Allotted Time?

If you are working on something that isn’t finished and your schedule switches to the next time block, you stop what you are doing and move on. When I first started with time blocking several years ago I scheduled one hour daily as catch up time. As I got used to time blocking and worked on my schedule, I was able to remove it.

Looking for more information on time management? Head to my Pinterest board at this link.

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