What Is Time Blocking and How To Use It [Free Template]

Have you ever worked an entire day and only crossed off one small item on your to-do list? It’s happened to all of us at some point. Time blocking is an easy solution to this common problem.

To-do lists are just that: lists. But it becomes real when a task gets allotted time on your schedule. If you make an appointment to get a haircut or visit the dentist, why not do the same for your work-related tasks?

In this blog post, we’ll examine time blocking, why it works, and how anyone can use it to increase productivity.

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What is time blocking?

Time blocking is a time management and productivity technique that involves dividing your day into blocks of time and assigning a specific task or set of tasks to each block. You estimate how long a task will take and commit to working on it during its block without getting distracted.

Keep in mind that time blocking isn’t an exact science. You’ll get distracted. Sometimes, you’ll be wrong in estimating how long a task will take — but that’s okay. Over time, you’ll better estimate how long tasks take.

Time blocking gives you better control and understanding of how you spend your time. You might find that:

Intimidating tasks you think will take hours don’t take that long at all.
You have pockets of time that you could spend on that hobby you previously thought you were too busy to pursue.
When you block out time for priorities during peak hours, you can get them done faster and more efficiently.

Who should use time blocking?

Time blocking truly is for everyone. If you want to get more done, use your time more efficiently, and get control over your schedule, time blocking is for you.

With that said, this method can be particularly effective for people who:

Are juggling different projects or responsibilities at the same time
Struggle to find time for deep work
Tend to get stuck in reactive mode and want to find more time to be proactive or creative
Deal with interruptions regularly and want to be more strict in regards to setting boundaries about where they give their attention
Have a hard time sticking to one task or plan of action and get sidetracked easily

Time blocking can help switch the brain into work mode — even if work happens at the kitchen table. It can also help solve challenges like:

Work-life balance
Procrastination
Inability to focus

Free 5-day workweek time blocking template

If you’re ready to try time blocking, you can start by planning your work week using this simple Google Sheets template.

If you feel up to it, you can always add columns for the weekend, but this template is a good starting point if you want to start experimenting.

3 types of time blocking

Time blocking may remind you too much of the schedules you used to get in school that mapped out every minute of your day. But there’s more nuance to the method in its more grown-up form.

If you’re skeptical about time blocking, consider these three variations. You may find that one fits your personality, work style, or work type.

1. Timeboxing

Think of timeboxing as time blocking’s stricter cousin.

When you time block, you might find a task taking longer than you expected, so you adjust your time block schedule accordingly.

With timeboxing, you limit how long a task will take. Once the time is up, you declare that task “done.”

Timeboxing works best for:

Unpleasant or tedious tasks you don’t want to do
Tasks you have to do but don’t want to spend too much time on
Tasks that eat up too much of your time if you’re not careful
Perfectionists who dwell on such a detailed level that they struggle to mark tasks as done

For example, if you get sucked into your email inbox every day for way too long, try timeboxing 30 minutes to reply to all emails. Once you’re done, close down your email for the day.

Be specific when you’re timeboxing. Instead of deciding to work on a report for 45 minutes, aim to write a 500-word introduction that summarizes your main points in 45 minutes.

2. Task batching

When we switch tasks, our brains are going through two complementary stages:

Goal shifting: (“I will do this instead of that”)
Rule activation (“I’m activating the rules for this task instead of that task”)

That takes mental effort, regardless of the task’s size. Every time we switch tasks, we’re also switching contexts — and these context-switching traps waste considerable time.

Whether it’s glancing at your phone or getting up to put laundry in the dryer while you’re supposed to be working, you’re context-switching. When you have to refocus to get back to the task, it can seriously affect your productivity.

While time blocking reduces the opportunity for context switching, task batching takes it a step further. With task batching, the idea is to group similar tasks and get them done in a single time block or series of time blocks. That way, you can reduce the negative effects of context switching even further.

You can use time batching to:

Complete multiple administrative tasks that each take a short amount of time (e.g., invoicing or answering emails) all at once
Take advantage of your peak hours (e.g., work on your most important tasks in the morning and save administrative tasks for the afternoon when you aren’t as focused)

3. Day theming

With day theming, you dedicate entire days to similar kinds of tasks. You could do themes based on:

Type of task (e.g., complete all administrative tasks on one day of the week and set aside other days solely for creative work)
Energy (e.g., work on more analytical tasks during the first three days of the workweek and save the last two days for less demanding tasks)
Time to complete (e.g., Knock out the tasks that will take the longest first so that your day gets easier as it wears on)

In a Forbes interview, Jack Dorsey said he used day theming to juggle work at two companies. Mondays were for managing both companies, Tuesdays were for product development, etc. This allowed him to take Saturdays off and use Sundays to reflect on the week.

Day theming works for people who:

Have a lot of responsibilities and work better if they focus in-depth on one area at a time
Find time blocking too tedious and want to spend as little time as possible on their schedule
Work best using routines, as day theming creates consistency from week to week

When you embrace day-theming, you experience less decision fatigue about what tasks to schedule during the week. When you create your weekly time management plan, you already know what tasks you should block time for each day.

How to time block in 5 steps

Time blocking looks different for everyone. For some, it means scheduling one block of focused work time every day. For others, it means scheduling and color-coding every 15-minute increment in their day. In other words, it scales up or down in complexity based on your personal needs and preferences.

If you’ve never tried the method before or you have but it hasn’t worked for you, consider these five steps:

1. Ask yourself why you want to time block

Yes, there are the more general, universal benefits to time blocking, like being more productive or getting more done. But it’s worth digging deeper to pinpoint why you’d want to time-block your day in the first place.

Is it because you want to dedicate more time to a project you’re falling behind on? Or is it because you struggle to maintain a social life while working from home?

The “why” will give you a better sense of your priorities.

2. Set your recurring tasks and routines

Instead of immediately blocking out time for your to-do list items, lay the foundation first. Create time blocks for your morning and evening routines, meal times, and other important life rituals.

If you’re the type to forget to eat lunch, schedule it in. If you want to improve your sleep schedule, block out time to sleep the right amount of hours.

Time-blocking daily or even weekly routines will give you a more realistic idea of how much time you have for your to-do list items. Instead of having to time block a blank schedule each day, you’ll have a narrower window to work with.

3. Be generous when estimating how long tasks will take

Sometimes, tasks (particularly ones we’re dreading) take a lot less time than we anticipate. But it’s better to err on the side of caution and block out more time than you think you need.

If you finish early, you’re still on track. If you underestimate, you have to re-adjust your schedule, which can have a domino effect on the rest of your tasks. Re-doing a week’s worth of time blocks can be frustrating and discourage you from continuing to time block.

The more you use time blocking, the better you’ll get at creating accurate time blocks. But if you’re just starting, try giving yourself 1.5x to 2x the amount of time you think you’ll need.

4. Schedule breaks and leave buffers

Unless you’re an expert, back-to-back time blocking of high-level tasks isn’t going to work for more than a day or two. We all need breaks and even just time to context switch from one task to another.

Scheduling intentional breaks will give you the mental space necessary to give your full focus to more demanding tasks. Leaving some room in your schedule will help you extend your time blocks if needed. It’ll also help prevent you from feeling like you’re rushing through your to-do list.

5. Schedule time for time blocking and reflection

If we stick to the “schedule it so it happens” philosophy, it makes sense that time blocking will only work if you make time for it.

For example, you could set aside 30 minutes every Sunday to review your week’s tasks and create time blocks for them. Then, schedule 15 minutes every evening to review your schedule and make any adjustments.

If you want to take time blocking up a notch, schedule time to reflect on what’s working and what isn’t. Ask yourself:

Am I blocking out enough time for my priorities?
Which tasks are taking more or less time than I expected?
Is my schedule creating balance or making me more stressed out?

By taking time to reflect, you can improve your time-blocking skills to get more done in less time if that’s your goal. You’ll gain greater self-awareness about your habits and priorities and better bridge the gap between expectation and reality.

Benefits of time blocking

Time blocking, when done well and consistently, isn’t just a productivity technique you try because you think it’ll make you more productive. It can actually change the way you think.

Here are a few side-effects of time blocking:

You start to see time as a finite resource

We all get the same 24 hours each day. That seems like a lot, but it goes fast if you don’t make the most of your time. Sure, you need time for all the essential activities like eating, sleeping, and taking care of household chores.

But when you start blocking out time for those essential activities, the chances are that you’ll find gaps of time you never knew you had. It may be exciting but also slightly embarrassing. What had you been doing with all that time before now?

Pro tip: Try a time tracking software like Hubstaff to get a sense of how you’re spending your time right now before you jump into time blocking. It’ll give you a better understanding of estimating the time needed for your tasks.

Looking at the blank spaces on your calendar will force you to understand how you spend that time.

You may not have all the time you want to accomplish your goals, but if you have three hours on a Thursday afternoon, why not use that block to make some progress?

You get your priorities straight

You should be spending the most time on your priorities, right? It sounds logical, but let’s be honest: most of us spend way more time on what we call “meaningless” tasks than on our priorities.

Time blocking makes us aware of how much time we give priority tasks.

For example, if you’re a manager, one of your main priorities should be to listen to your team members and analyze their feedback. How many managers set aside time to do that? While they may have the best intentions, if it’s not on their calendar, it’s likely not going to happen at all.

You’re able to fully enjoy your time off

When you operate off a to-do list, it’s tempting to always be ‘on.’ That’s because you can always put more tasks on the list, and you don’t have a clear sense of when your work for the day is done.

The worst part is that little voice in the back of your head saying that you should be working right now. It makes you feel guilty about relaxing or doing things you enjoy. That voice is exhausting, but time-blocking helps you get rid of it.

If you’re not on the clock or working on one of your time blocks, let yourself off the hook. The nice thing about time blocking is that any time that you’re not working on time blocks can be used to rest and recharge. Fill the negative space on your calendar with the positives in your life, like family, friends, hobbies, and rest. It’ll make you more productive in the long run.

You get better at managing your time

Lots of people say they want to get better at time management. But what does that mean?

With time blocking, you’re managing your time — not trying to be more productive. You’re creating specific intentions for how you spend specific amounts of time.

A time management technique becomes real when you see the tradeoffs you’re making by spending time on one thing over another. It sounds obvious, but it’s a powerful concept.

If you’re spending time on lesser-value tasks, you’re choosing not to spend that time on your priorities.

That’s not to say there isn’t a time and place to lie on the couch and scroll through Instagram. There’s nothing wrong with not being “productive” all the time. But being aware that how we spend time is often a choice, we can spend it more wisely.

Challenges of time blocking

The time-blocking method isn’t a miracle cure. Some downsides might keep you from fully embracing it or even steer you away from it altogether.

It’s easy to get derailed

The most common mistake people make when they start time blocking is that they pack their time blocks so tightly that any change messes up their entire calendar. If a task takes an hour more than they blocked time for, they spend too much time trying to adjust the rest of their day or week accordingly.

Leave ample space or buffer time in your calendar to stop yourself from getting derailed. Alternatively, try to always overestimate the time you think you’ll need to complete a task — at least until you’ve done it enough times to be confident about how much time it really takes.

It can feel too restrictive

Spontaneity and time blocking can co-exist peacefully. You don’t have to time block every minute of your day to the point where you kill any chance of being spontaneous. Still, some people might find that even time blocking certain parts of their day feels like putting on a straitjacket.

If that’s the case for you, try time-blocking activities you enjoy and look forward to instead of your most dreaded tasks. You’ll develop a more positive relationship with time blocking and might be inclined to use it more often.

You have to rely on self-discipline

When you schedule time to work on your passion project at 9 PM after a long day at your job, moving or deleting that block is a lot more tempting.

Time blocking also doesn’t account for our mood and energy fluctuations. So unless we’re sincere and self-aware about how much we can realistically accomplish, it can be discouraging when we fail to complete our time blocks.

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3 best apps for time blocking

There are plenty of apps out there that can help you time-block your day. Here are three of our favorites:

Google Calendar

You might already be using the Google Calendar app to keep track of your most important appointments — but it’s also the perfect tool to start time blocking because you can:

Create calendars for different areas of your life
Color-code tasks to make different types of tasks more visually distinct
Create recurring tasks for daily routines
Schedule meetings and have them appear in your calendar
Set reminders

Google Calendar might be a good fit if you already use other Google apps like Gmail and Tasks. It’s also great if you anticipate adjusting your time blocks a lot, as Google Calendar lets you move them around quickly.

Any.do

Any.do is a to-do list app that allows you to organize all your tasks, lists, and reminders in a single place.

It has both a classic to-do list view and a calendar view. The calendar view is designed to help you visualize your tasks and enable you to time block your day.

In Any.do, you can color-code tasks and add due dates, notes, and attachments. Setting up one-time, recurring, and location-based reminders also helps ensure you don’t forget about a task.

You can create multiple to-do lists in the app and share them with your family or team members, assign tasks, and monitor progress. Any.do is available on Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS. It can sync across all your devices seamlessly.

TickTick

If the idea of staying focused for hours at a time makes you tired just thinking about it, then TickTick’s integrated Pomodoro timer can help.

The Pomodoro technique involves working in short, focused bursts (usually for 25 minutes) and then taking a break. However, scheduling all of those breaks manually can be tedious.

TickTick lets you create a to-do list, block out time for your tasks, and then use a Pomodoro timer to stay on task while still taking breaks. It might suit you if your time blocks are multiple hours long, but you still need some structure within those blocks.