A Tip: Calendar Blocking

I am a scheduling and organizing geek.  I love it, it makes me so happy. I wanted to discuss the topic of Calendar Blocking because it has been a game changer for me and thought it may help someone out there.  There are different ways and methods to Calendar Block, but after some tweaking this is what works for me.

I break down my Calendar Blocking day by day.  I have a monthly paper planner that allows me to look at the month-at-a-glance and also by week, with enough space to write in my to-dos and appointments in detail on each day.  I write big events on my monthly calendar (doctor appointments, birthdays, weddings, graduations, parties, etc) and on the weekly calendar I fill in the details and write what needs to happen on each day.

For some people that’s enough organizing and they can figure out how to get it done from there.  The problem is, is that more often than not, the time gets away from us and things pop up that we don’t expect and our to-do lists get longer than the time we have to do them.  The day, week and sometimes month goes by and things keep getting pushed.

In comes Calendar Blocking.  You look at the hours in your day that you have to work with and break the time in to chunks and allot what needs to be done during that time.  Monday through Friday here is basically how I calendar block my time:

5am-8am- go time (wake up, exercise, breakfast prep, school lunch prep, kids wake up and get ready and fed, shower, school drop off)

8am-9am- chores (laundry, dishes, breakfast and lunch prep for next day).  This is when I do any emails or phone calls that I need to make.

9am-11am- time with my daughter (reading, park, outside time, crafts).  If we have any appointments or outings/errands I do it at this time.

11am-12pm- lunch prep and mealtime

12pm-2pm- nap for my daughter and get ready to go pickup my son

2pm-4pm- after school (snack and play, homework, and after school activities)

4pm-5pm- pre-dinner (shower, piano and taekwondo practice, laundry and dinner prep)

5pm-7pm- family time (dinner, cleanup, family meeting on some days, show, playtime, chores)

7pm-10pm- downtime (finish with chores, make any phone calls I couldn’t during the day, spend time with my husband, blog, read, watch tv, prep for tomorrow)

This is just the bones of my Calendar Blocking schedule but it should give you an idea of how it works.  This is how my day runs every day. Whatever I know about and have control over I fit in to the appropriate block of time.  It helps me get more done and it helps me stay calm so that I know there is a time slot for everything I want to do. It also helps my days go by faster sometimes when I start to feel like the days are so monotonous.

This can work in a professional environment of course and probably would be really compatible with work deadlines and projects.  I didn’t know about this practice when I was practicing law but I think I would have benefitted from it. It’s not foolproof because we don’t have full command over everything that can pop up in a day or a week or a month.  But it helps over time for you to see how much time you really have and what you may not want to take on if you know you don’t have a slot for it. Try it and let me know what you think!