Living Life by Design

Do you have a monster sized amount of work to accomplish on any given day? If you do, I hear ya. There isn’t enough time for work, family, and all of the other obligations.

I have one strategy that has really helped me manage my time. I don’t mean procrastination. I’ve done that too. I mean time-blocking.

Basically, it’s scheduling out your day, even down to the little stuff…and let me tell you, it just works. It helps me gain a perspective on how much time I really have in a day, shows me where time-leakages occur, and REALLY helps me become aware of what is truly important. If there is too much to do, hard decisions need to be made.

I usually do it right after I’ve outlined my 2-3 priorities for the day. I open up my Franklin Planner (you can certainly use Outlook or your iPhone too) and I begin scheduling out my day in 15-60 minute chunks.

I try to schedule my priorities in the morning when I am fresh and thinking clearly. I block up to an hour to get my first priority done. If it will take longer, I break it into 1 hour chunks with a 10-15 min break in between.

You can also schedule times to check my email, respond to phone calls, take care of to-do list items, eat a meal, exercise, and downtime with the family. If you really want to see where your time goes, you can even schedule out your breakfast, shower, etc. Basically, the goal is to fill up the entire day with things I need to do, including breaks and relaxation.

By going through this process, I have become acutely aware of when I’m behind schedule or wasting time. If I know I need to be onto priority #2 by 10 AM and it’s now 10:30, I will be either working late, skipping some other work, or maybe missing some valuable relaxation time in the evening.

I DO NOT do this every day but I do find that I work much more efficiently when I do. I waste less time on distractions and I feel much more in control of my day.

If you feel over-worked and short on time, give time-blocking a try. Block your most important tasks first, then meals, obligations, etc. Try to be as realistic as possible. At the end of the day, check to see how you did compared to how you planned it. Then, try to adjust to be more accurate tomorrow.

I’m telling you, if you want to be more aware of where your time budget is spent, try this practice. You will be amazed.