How do I time block my schedule?
How do I time block my schedule?
Master the BEST time management hack for creating your digital content.
Does it seem impossible to find time to create the content you need for your business? Do you move the same things from your to-do list day after day?
We live in a world with one big, giant distraction after another! It can be difficult to finish even small tasks. Between back-to-back zoom calls, relentless salespeople stopping by, calendar invites, and more meetings, it can feel nearly impossible to complete anything at all. When are you supposed to get all the blogs written, Facebook posts captioned, find photos, and research hashtags?
All too often, we end up just slapping together mediocre content on our social platforms (or do nothing at all!)
So, what can we do? Unfortunately, most of us can’t just pack a bag and head off to a cave or beach and work with zero distractions on our content plan. We have to balance the necessary evils of daily demands and doing business.
But what if you could create mini “ zero-distraction-cave-work time” on your calendar every week?
Enter time blocking → a game changer for creating your content with ease. It’s so simple! With one little tool, you gain control of your content strategy.
( P.S. A little secret, this not only works for your content, apply this concept in other aspects of your business and you’ll see productivity gains across the board. )
"A 40-hour time-blocked work week, I estimate, produces the same amount of output as a 60+ hour work week pursued without structure."
– Cal Newport, author of Deep Work
What is time blocking?
Time blocking is a tool, it’s a way to reign us in - focus efforts and take control of our time. In a world with many distractions, we spend much of our time in reactive mode.
Time blocking promotes prioritizing and allows you to control your day and puts you in proactive mode.
With time blocking, the day is divided up into blocks of time, each block is dedicated to accomplishing a specific task or activity and only that specific task or activity. You block and protect the time on your calendar before you even need it.
Generate content for your brand, with scheduled blocks of time. Content creation doesn’t have to overwhelm you anymore!
Here is how!
It’s a simple concept, just follow the steps below. ✅
Get a calendar or planner that works for you. If you don’t use one, now is the time! At Tandem Works we use Google Calendar for sharing and viewing our calendars with the team, everything goes on the digital calendar.
Each day, Vivian uses a planner called The High-Performance Planner, Machaela also uses the same planner and A Daily Overview Pad from Ramona and Ruth. We review the google calendar and write down our top priorities and compare with each other to see if any adjustments need to be made.
3. Write down all the things! Make a list in your planner or on a scratch pad of all the things you need to do.
4. Then prioritize what needs to happen in the next 7 days.
5. Start grouping similar tasks together. For Example, group all bookkeeping tasks together. This could be entering invoices, balancing a checkbook, checking the status of paid and not paid, or entering receipts. Group all your administrative tasks together like returning calls, reading and sending emails, and writing up proposals. Group together your content creation time such as writing blogs, captioning posts, researching hashtags.
3. Block off the time. Prioritize your content creation time first. What time of day is your best? When is your head in the game? Block that chunk of time to dedicate to content creation and give yourself a minimum of 90 min and up to 4 hours. Yep, I said it up to 4 hours! You are going to do the most important thing first and really let yourself get your head in the game and get momentum. Don’t worry you can do this once a week, every other month, or go all in and do it once a day for the first week of the month. Make it work for you, but do it first and give it the time it deserves.
The goal is to block and tackle.
Pro Tip: Unsure of how much time to start with?
Our formula is 1hr of time spent tackling = 1 week of content for 1 channel or platform.
For example, if you want to create just 1 week's worth of content for Facebook at a time then schedule 1 hour of sit-down time to create and schedule the posts. If you want to create 1 month's worth of content at a time for Facebook, schedule 4 hours fo consecutive time to work on it.
Now your Calendar should look something like this, we suggest doing this for all areas of your work, you can even try it at home! ⬇️
Consistency and Commitment are key. Commit to the schedule, commit to scheduling everything, and staying consistent. If you don't schedule the time you won’t find the time.
How do I stick to time blocking?🤔
We have a few tips to help you stick to the schedule. ⏰
How to stick to your new schedule time block schedule:
Set Boundaries! Let your team know when you are available and when you are not.
Communicate your boundaries! Turn on the “Out of Office” responder on your emails and calendar.
If you’ve scheduled more than an hour of time (which you should remember at least 90 min and up to 4 hours) then create a template “Out Of Office” responder with this response:
“Hi! I’m currently head down working on an important project with a time-sensitive deadline. I will check and return emails later this afternoon.”
Avoid Distractions. Set yourself up to avoid distractions! Shut your door or book a conference room or go to a coffee shop. If you work in an open workspace, put on noise-canceling headphones and music for concentration.
Flag it! Open workspaces are great and encourage creativity and collaboration but can often be a source of distraction. Come up with your own “do not disturb me” visual queue. Use a flag on your desk, wear a certain hat, or place a funny figurine on the end of your desk. Convey to your team when this flag is up, “I need to stay focused and work on the project in front of me, can this wait?”
Do Not Disturb! Set your devices to DND.
Try time blocking if…
Your calendar is booked with meetings.
You have a hard time focusing for longer than 20 minutes.
“I just don’t have time…”
You constantly find yourself interrupted by all the things.
You Struggle to find space for creative and strategic thinking.
Juggling different responsibilities and projects is part of your job.
Your inbox and notifications dictate your day.
Living in a reactive state of mind.
Suggested Favorite Products To Try!
This website uses affiliate links, meaning: at no additional cost to you, we earn a small commission if you click-through and make a purchase. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. We only feature products that we believe in and use ourselves. Your support means the world to us and allows us to bring you great content. Thank you!
