How to apply time-blocking and deep work
Learn how Benjamin Franklin, Cal Newport and Bil Gates manage their time and workloads.
Let’s talk time blocking— a time management technique that's been super helpful for me over the past seven years.
What is time blocking?
This method centres around dividing your day into blocks of time. Each block is dedicated to accomplishing a specific task or group of tasks, and only those particular tasks.
Although the first person to use timeblocking is unknown, Benjamin Franklin was one of the early adopters of this technique. He used to meticulously plan his daily activities, including rest and household chores, allocating time for each hour. He also reserved long hours for deep work and set aside two hours for lunch.1
It helps you focus your energy and attention. Many successful people swear by it, and it's easy to see why.
According to various sources, Benjamin Franklin had a habit of dividing his day into hourly blocks, which he allocated for sleeping, meals, and recreation. Author Cal Newport spends 20 minutes each evening planning his next day using timeblocking. He believes this technique helps him focus on essential tasks and achieve more daily. Similarly, Bill Gates also uses timeblocking to schedule his day effectively.2
It's a great way to increase productivity and efficiency as you focus on one thing at a time.
To fully understand the benefits of time blocking, I must take you back to 2015.
How time blocking helped me expand my skill set.
In 2015, I decided to improve my skills by signing up for a personal performance coaching program. You know how the term "coaching" gets thrown around often, so I wanted to understand what it meant in my line of work.
The program was pretty pricey, but I felt it would be worth it for my personal and professional growth. It was self-paced and included six-weekend sessions, each eight hours long.
Plus, I had to do 64 practice coaching sessions, complete some course materials and exercises, have a few assessments, and listen to some audio content.
The only tricky part was juggling all that with my full-time manager job since I had to work nine hours a day and then do the program.
Overcoming overwhelm
Eventually, I found myself overwhelmed with my workload. I was so stressed out with work that I felt like I couldn't keep up with everything. It was taking a toll on my relationships and overall happiness. It’s an understatement to say that I was always working and studying.
I knew I had to figure out a way to balance everything and still have time for myself.
I didn't know any time management techniques, so I started blocking off time in my calendar for everything - even my meals and sleep.
It helped me keep track of where my time was going and how much I had left for the things that really mattered.
Check out my 2015 calendar if you want to see what I mean!
Why good old-fashioned planning is often the key to success.
You might think planning and slotting your tasks into ‘time blocks’ is unnecessary and be tempted to skip past it. Yet, I would beg the difference.
This simple action worked like magic by helping me visualise the time I still had available to invest in studying.
It certainly tamed my overwhelm because I now had a clear action plan for each activity. No task was missed, and I was still scheduled to complete the training in 2016.
Let’s fast forward to 2023 and discuss when you could benefit from time blocking and how to time block your workload.
Would you benefit from time blocking?
Look, if you're having trouble getting important stuff done and always seem to be running out of time, you might wanna give time blocking a try. It's a game-changer!
Try time-blocking if you:
Juggle many different projects/responsibilities.
Spend too much time on autopilot or in ‘reactive mode’. Doing all the busy work but not getting anywhere.
Find meetings that consume your days
Battle constant interruptions throughout the day
Struggle to find the time and mental space for big projects you care about (for instance, like my example)
Time Blocking in 3 Simple Steps.
🟤 Identify your major project 🔍
🟤 Break it down into small subtasks 📝
🟤 Schedule subtasks into available time blocks in your schedule 🗓️
What about emergencies and unexpected stuff?
I totally get that things can pop up out of nowhere and throw off your plans. One thing that might help is if you set aside some time specifically for dealing with unexpected events. That way, you won't have to scramble and sacrifice time you had planned for other stuff. Even if you can't predict when emergencies will happen, having a designated time to handle them can make things a lot less stressful.
Why does time blocking work better than an open-ended to-do list?
Instead of looking at the list of scattered tasks on one sheet of paper, time blocking helps you start each day with a concrete schedule, and the calendar helps you lay out what you’ll work on and when.
The key to this method is prioritising your task list in advance.
If you're looking to save some time and reduce stress, try planning out your upcoming tasks in advance. It might seem like a lot of work upfront, but trust me, it'll be worth it in the long run.
By creating a monthly schedule and allocating specific time blocks for each task, you can avoid the hassle of doing it daily.
Making decisions ahead of time can also help you conserve your mental energy and stay focused on what really matters.
Reasons Why it Works.
Let’s explore some reasons why Time blocking works and why it might work for you, too.
Promotes Focused Work
Time blocking means basically just setting aside a chunk of time for a specific task or project. It's a great way to really focus your energy on one thing and not get distracted by other stuff. Plus, it can help you improve your ability to concentrate and stay on task.
Reduces Task Switching
One of the best things about time blocking is that it helps you avoid wasting time switching between tasks. You can focus on one thing at a time and get it done more efficiently. Task switching is the process of jumping from one task to another, and that can really mess with your productivity!
With time blocking, you can focus on one thing at a time and knock it out faster.
Generates Massive Productivity
According to Cal Newport's book Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, if you time-block your work week, you can get just as much done in 40 hours as you would in 60 hours without any structure. Sounds pretty cool, right?
By dedicating a specific amount of time to each task, you can accomplish as much work in a 40-hour time-blocked work week as you would in a 60+ hour work week. — CAL NEWPORT
Your weekly action is to try out time blocking. That’s all. See if it works for you; you have nothing to lose. In fact, if it does work, you might produce more work in less time, which is not too shabby, right?