My 5-Step Time Blocking Process That Actually Works

The process to set it in motion and tools to reinforce them.

Illustration by the author

Time blocking is one of the most potent ways to enhance productivity and improve outcomes. It combats task and context switches like nothing else does.

Time blocking can make you almost 80% more productive when done right.

The keywords here are ‘done right.’ As simple as time blocking may sound, implementing it religiously is a gargantuan task. In addition to overcoming your inner state of distractibility, you have to make sure that external circumstances (people and objects) don’t pull you away from your block.

In an era of increasingly smaller attention spans, our minds and bodies don’t react to time blocks really well, especially if you’re just getting started. However, once we get over the initial hurdles and roadblocks, our brains adapt to this working style, and we start seeing a dramatic improvement in our work and our happiness. Not only that, people around us get used to this, and we eventually start seeing our internal and external distractions dwindle.

I’ve had multiple failed attempts at getting this right. However, over the past few months, I’ve been able to create a process that works for me and has helped me get back on track. Before you try…