If you’re juggling a million responsibilities, hustling to meet your goals and wearing all the hats, or are generally looking to establish stronger boundaries in your work and life, this is for you. At the start of the year, I enforced a time-blocked schedule, and it’s totally changed my life.
If you’re a solo-preneur or gearing up for your side hustle, you’re in for a challenge: learning (and then doing) allllll the things. Mastering tasks is one thing, but maintaining a sense of ease is another. If you’ve reached a point where you need a more streamlined approach to your work, try time blocking.
What it is
Grouping all your similar tasks together, and doing them all at once at a pre-designated time.
I find that when my brain has to switch between types of tasks or different functions, I get distracted more easily and end up wasting more time. Time blocking is a way to go deep into one “function” or area of your work, rather than staying shallow and covering a breadth of different tasks.
How it works
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Make a list of everything you do in a week
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Then, start to group”like” tasks together
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Once you’ve made groups, identify the 3-7 main functions of your work
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Ask: What does an ideal day look like? An ideal week?
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Assign each of these functions a day of the week
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Set boundaries and create structures that ensure you do these things on these days only
Here’s an example:
Monday: Admin 8-12, CEO time 2-5
Tuesday: Client + coaching
Wednesday: Client + coaching
Thursday: Client + coaching
Friday: Creative 8-12, CEO time 2-5
I only do admin tasks (emails, documentation, bookkeeping, backend systematizing) on Monday mornings. I only see clients on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. All of my creative work (email sequences, social media content, event workbook creation) happens on Friday mornings. And I make sure to schedule “CEO time” — time for me to work ON my business instead of IN my business, engage in personal development or self care, or do what is needed most in my work or life on that day.
Benefits of time blocking
Working within a time blocked schedule has transformed my life. My work (and results) are more streamlined, I can juggle many different projects and tasks without feeling overwhelmed, and I can ensure that the lifestyle I want is taking priority. Because of the way I’ve structured my schedule, I can be more present with my clients, and also have days fully to myself to recharge. I’m more focused, and more productive, and overall I experience more ease in my schedule because I’m not trying to do a million different things in a day.