OVERWHELMED? - TRY TIME BLOCKING

Do you ever feel like it is impossible to get everything done and there just aren't enough hours in the day.  We are all leading busy lives, trying to balance multiple priorities and meet looming deadlines.  Just thinking about all of the tasks and fitting them in our schedules causes an extreme amount of stress.  This results in unsuccessful attempts at multi-tasking our way through varying projects.  At the end of the day, we end up with a bunch of half finished projects and no relief from the growing stress.  Here are a few tips that will help organize your work, increase your efficiency, and ultimately reduce stress.  These are not brand new, untested techniques, but rather tips that have been successfully implemented by top performers for decades.  

The primary concept is to spend some time planning your week by grouping and prioritizing tasks, then blocking out chunks of dedicated time for them.  An easy way to explain the time blocking technique is to take you through an example.  You can modify the technique in ways that will help it work better for you but here is how I use it:

1. Set aside a consistent time to plan your week.  I schedule an hour every Sunday night to plan my next 7 days.  
2. Keep a to-do list with you at all times.  I use the Notes app on my phone so that every time I think of something important, I can immediately make a quick note of it.  This relieves the worry that I will forget about it.
3. During your scheduled planning time, start by grouping the tasks from your to-do list into common projects.  Often you will find that a large list breaks down in to a few projects or categories and won't seem so overwhelming.
4. Create a spreadsheet (or what ever works for you, I love spreadsheets) where you can input your project tasks into boxes that represent chunks of time.  I have pre-existing categories for my spreadsheet that are color coded.  My main entries are the color coded blocks and I use the "notes" to enter in the specific tasks.  This allows me to look at the spreadsheet and identify what categories are taking most of my time so that I can make adjustments if needed.
5. As you go through your days, commit 100% to the task that you have blocked off for that time.  No email or phone interruptions, no social media, no switching back and forth between tasks.

Here is an example of a day out of my spreadsheet:

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A few tips that will help make this painless and keep you using the time blocking technique:

• Don't over schedule yourself.  It is not realistic to think that we can schedule every second of the day and stay on track.  I try to leave 5-15 minutes between tasks, depending on how big the transition is.  This allows time to get a drink, go to the bathroom, or walk around and get the blood flowing.  
• Leave blocks of unscheduled time for those unanticipated tasks and putting out fires.  
• If you know you will be traveling or have other commitments, put these in first so that you can schedule activities around that time.
• Leave 1/2 day towards the end of the week to finish up things that you weren't able to complete in the allocated time block. I like to reserve my Friday afternoons for this.
• Always block out time during the week for non-work related things that are important to you.  This allows you to be 100% present with your spouse, kids, or whoever is important to you.
• Place this document in Google docs or someplace that you can easily access from all of your devices.
• Learn as you go about how much time you need for certain tasks and adjust your time blocks.  The more you practice this the better you will get.

Give it a try for a few weeks and let me know how it works for you or post your suggestions in the comments section below.