3 Important Aspects of Time Blocking Your Calendar

Originally thought to have been popularized by a man named Cal Newport, time blocking is simply the practice of holding space in each day for your top priorities, and then filling in the gaps around those time blocks with other important tasks or events until your days are filled. While how this plays out is likely different for everyone, the principle of carving out time to do the activities you need to do and achieve your goals. How do you intent to spend your time is what matters. If the end goal of time blocking is increased productivity and decreased stress, then developing a commitment to living life (or at least carrying out your workday) in a structured series of segments is well worth the potential gains. If you are interested in learning to effectively time block your days, be sure to take the following 3 aspects of effective time management into consideration: 1. Identify recurring tasks or events and streamline those in your calendar When you are able to identify recurring events inside of your calendar, you are well on the way to saving time and making your life a whole lot more organized. The truth is, much of our daily life is cyclical and repetitive – we get up at the same time each day, we visit the same places each week, we speak with the same clients each month; the list goes on and on. Setting up recurring time blocks in your preferred calendar or schedule application will save you time and energy. If you prefer to work with a handwritten calendar (like a Franklin Day Planner), you can achieve the same result by sitting down at the start of every month or quarter and manually mapping out any recurring work to-do items that you know will happen on a consistent basis. When you eliminate the need to think about every single item on your calendar every day, you decrease the potential decision fatigue that you may face and also decrease the mental strain you have from trying to remember too many things. You no longer have to be afraid you will forget to do something. 2. Look through th