Is it just me or does anyone else feel like a little elf came into their house in the middle of the night and swapped out their coffee with decaf? Regardless, it’s been one heck of a productive week around here, and praise be–it’s FRIDAY! I gave a little presentation on Wednesday to a group of badass business ladies all about boundaries, time management and productivity (it’s kind of my thing). In conversation later that day, one attendee shared that the most valuable nugget of information they got out of the presentation was the concept of categorizing their calendar blocks.
I’ve used these tricks for years, so it never occurred to me that it might be a new concept to someone else. I’ll admit, I sometimes feel a bit fraudy when I share tips and tricks with people because this all seems so second nature to me that it seems almost silly to share. But it got me thinking that maybe you could benefit from this little tactic.
First, what is calendar blocking?
The premise of calendar blocking is to basically list out all of your weekly commitments, prioritize them, then scheduled those commitments into your calendar starting with your highest priorities first. It’s a great visual representation of how much time certain tasks take up, and it’s a great way to filter out the not-so-important tasks as you start to see your calendar space filling up.
It’s important to remember that every task on your todo list will actually take time. So the concept of calendar blocking is a great way to visualize how those tasks will play into your week.
Okay, what do you mean by categorizing your calendar blocks?
Alright, bear with me here a second. Probably not much unlike you, I wear a lot of different hats throughout the week. At any given time, you can find me doing any number of things from coaching clients to sweeping the floors. (I know, glamorous, right?💁🏻♀️) So this anxiety prone plan-a-holic likes to know what to expect from her weeks.
But over time, I’ve come to learn a few things.
- Things will always get added to my todo list throughout the week. Urgent things. Important things. Urgent things that are important. You get my drift.
- I do not shift gears well. Not to say that I can’t, but I’ve just found that I am far more productive when I group like tasks together.
So, in order to still plan out my weeks even when I don’t know 100% exactly what’s going to come at me–and in an attempt to protect my productivity, I categorize my calendar blocks! The main productivity categories I have are:
- #focusedwork
- #unfocusedwork
- #writing
I have others, but these babies are the ones who see the most action (and, in my opinion, are the most important. Shh, don’t tell the others. And yes, I use #hashtages because sadly, I’m a #millennial).
How Categorized Calendar Blocks Work
I usually take Saturday mornings to plan out the week ahead. (Coffee in hand, please!) I’ll write out all the various things I have going on in the coming week in list form. I include everything: appointments, housekeeping tasks, errands, and all the work things. Like traditional calendar blocking, I go ahead and schedule all the appointments into my calendar first. Fun fact: I have certain parts of my week/day reserved for potential client meetings. Because of that, I make sure to never schedule a #focusedwork session during that time (#focusedwork is sacred), but I do sometimes schedule #unfocusedwork just in case appointments don’t pop up and I have time on my hands.
First, here’s what my categories mean:
- #focusedwork: This guy is the head honcho. He’s the prince of productivity. This block means I’m here to work and I’M NOT PLAYING GAMES! The kind of work that falls into this category for me is anything I mark as “urgent & important.” It’s reserved for the tasks that are the most time-sensitive, goal-driven, and/or deadlined. This work has to get done no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
- #unfocusedwork: These tasks are important, but they’re not urgent. If I make these things happen this week, I’m ahead of the game. (Woohoo!) I let my guard down a little bit with these blocks. I can be in a room with people. I don’t necessarily need headphones in. If I’m at a coffee shop and run into a friend, I’ll gladly invite them to join me and co-work.
- #writing: This one might seem a little self-explanatory, but ultimately–this is book writing. I typically only schedule these blocks reaaaaaaally early in the morning or after dinner. It’s sacred time, but it’s not usually part of my general workday.
So after I schedule all my appointments for the week, I start blocking off large chunks of time for the general categories. #focusedwork always gets first dibs. Then it’s #unfocused work. Once I have everything blocked off, I go in with and schedule the specific tasks over top of the block. It’ll end up looking something like this:
The main reason I started categorizing my blocks was because I was tired of running out of time. Basically, I use the category blocks to reserve time for the tasks that I know will start to filter in as the week gets started. This little trick has been really helpful for me, and it allows for me to still feel like I’m managing my week on the offense. Let me know if you give this a try!
If you need some help regaining control of your day, week, or business, you need a boundary boss coaching sessions!
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