In the interest of time management, I’ll start this article with my conclusions:

• Blocking out time to get important work done ensures intention and attention to that important work.
• Transition times, like school days to summertime for me, provide an opportunity to reassess our time management practices.
• Summertime can make us lax when it comes to productivity, but that doesn’t have to be the case!
• We make appointments for other things, why not for specific tasks?
• Strategies that work in one area of our life often can be used to improve other areas, too, if we just pay attention.

I complete important tasks daily, and you do, too.  I manage my business, family and home, and a number of volunteer roles in my Parish and Community.  I’m grateful every day for the gift of organization, both as a concept and as a skill I am blessed to possess.  And yet, I struggle with time, just like everyone else. We’re all trying to complete our important tasks, and also, occasionally, do things that we WANT to do, and not just NEED to do.

Last week, I was struggling with a particular volunteer commitment.  It seemed that, after spending client and business hours, and family and home hours (plus occasionally eating and sleeping), I couldn’t find time to work on this important category of tasks.  During a meeting, one friend suggested Time Blocking to another friend, as a way to move forward with productivity during the summer months (Thanks, Jill!).  I use time blocking all the time in other ways, so I grabbed onto the idea to help with my volunteer commitment.

Time Blocking is a simple and obvious concept:  We block out time on our calendar, 30 minutes or a whole day, to address specific tasks or types of tasks.   Time blocking means: 1. you know your high priority tasks and projects; 2. you set aside time each week to work on those specific tasks and projects; and 3. then you actually keep the commitment.

Consider this: I make appointments to work with my clients and we keep those appointments, because I am committed to my clients and my livelihood.  I find time for family and home because we have set hours for things, like school time and summer camp and meal times.  I’m invited to parties and events at specific times and for specific duration, and I make those parties and events happen, because I’m committed to the people involved and don’t want to let them down.   These are great examples of Time Blocking.

The real magic of time blocking comes from being specific about what will occur during the block of time.  Set blocks of time aside for a specific purpose.  I’ve blocked out an hour a day this week for business maintenance tasks, and each day has a specific category attached: bookkeeping and bill pay; client follow-up and emails; presentation preparation and booking, etc. Being specific, and working with intention for even a short period of time will move me towards my goals faster than unfocused wanderings. We don’t have to complete a project in our block of time, but we can at least make progress.

A client mentioned the bills didn’t always get paid on time because she hadn’t set aside time every week to pay the bills. I suggested Time Blocks, making an appointment with herself to pay the bills.

The plumber was coming to install a new laundry sink, so I blocked 20 minutes to de-clutter the laundry room before he arrived.

Applying Time Blocking to my challenge last week allowed me to just pay attention solely to one project, one category of tasks, for the allotted time.  It was quite a relief, actually, and I completed the tasks.

How can you use Time Blocking this week to be more productive?  Give it a try!