In the digital age, everything flies at us with rapid pace. Emails, messages, phone calls, the list goes on. How do we balance all these commitments while keeping on top of the tasks that we want to achieve? How do we thrive in the modern world and be a proactive, rather than reactive worker?

This article introduces the notion of time blocking and how it can be used to make us more efficient in our time management!

Time blocking is a tool that enables you to split your day into “blocks” of time, where each block is dedicated to accomplishing a certain task. This differs from the daily schedules many people have, where meetings and responding to emails are interspersed between hours spent on productive work. Rather, time blocking allows you to plan your day in advance and take control of your schedule. You won’t have to constantly think about what to work on next, and you minimise the impact that potential distractions could have on your productivity. At the end of each day, what doesn’t get done can be reviewed and moved to the next day, and your schedule can always be tweaked judging on what happens during the day.

Time blocking is advantageous for several reasons.

First, it promotes deep work and enables you to focus intently on a single task. This avoids the stress of spreading your attention thin over multiple competing tasks. Further, it helps you to follow through with your goals and meet deadlines for commitments.
Time blocking helps you use your time more effectively. While responding to emails and calls is an essential part of our day, the mental energy required to do these is not as much as if you were writing a business proposal. Splitting your day into different blocks of deep and shallow work thus helps you work through tasks more efficiently and avoids time lost from continually switching between tasks.
It makes you more proactive and aware of your time. Setting up your own calendar through time blocking counteracts the symptom of being reactive to requests as they arrive, and helps you become more aware of how you spend your day. You’ll be able to recognise when your day was spent unproductively, as well as stay on top of your priorities.

Time blocking is a helpful time-management tool that allows you to design your own schedule. It enables you to set a concrete plan for your day, helps you focus, and supports you in delivering more output with limited time!