HTBP - What is time blocking?
Unique exploration on its role within planning and organisation
Abstract
Following my last post on the ‘perfect’ day, I chose to explore one of the more prominent productivity techniques called time blocking.
You may have heard of it as a technique used by people to organise their days effectively, but do we naturally time block anyway?
Its function consists of planning yourself for the future ahead in order to have a dedicated time for a specific focus. This is as opposed to the decisions we make on the day or the day before, where we impulsively choose to focus on one task for an extended period of time.
Although choosing what to do in the immediate moment gets the job done in the short-term, in the long-term, as discussed in my post ‘The Prioritisation Grid’, we can easily get caught up with urgent and important tasks, which prevents us from taking a long-view on what really matters to us.
Therefore, it should be seen as a technique that allows us to take full control of our lives, and as a way to set boundaries as to how our time is distributed, where this productivity piece highlights the importance of this time management technique.
Discussion
Time blocking and school
Time blocking is defined by the Time Doctor as “a time management technique that divides your entire day into blocks of time”.
When acknowledging the definition, I saw resemblance in the purpose of time blocking and school timetables, which led me to the question of:
Do schools use a system of time blocking?
I chose to explore this relation as I do believe it is interesting how school incorporates elements of time blocking, whilst not actively teaching us how to time block for ourselves. I hope this unique comparison inspires reflection on how you manage your time.
In secondary school/sixth form, we are given periods for our subjects and with fixed times for a break and lunch.
A conversation that has arisen a couple of times in my time at university is about being reminiscent and in awe about how we managed to balance the subjects we did prior.
What I noticed, is that by having the day structured out for us, a lot of the hard work we as university students now face in terms of organising ourselves, was done for us.
Of course, disregarding the difficulty wouldn’t make university and secondary school for example a fair comparison, but it would not do the role of the timetabling system justice if we were to disregard that also.
In my first year of university, I have had ample time to work around lectures, seminars, and tutorials, so I should technically find it easier, right?
A challenge I have faced has been within taking various opportunities, in which I aspire to have new experiences, but also not be reactive to everything.
In a time of a lot of change, we can mislead ourselves on the capabilities we have by not having firm boundaries in place of how we manage our time.
However, creating these boundaries require experimentation, due to the completely different environment and way of living. Without these boundaries, we would only lead an unsustainable way of living.
Returning to the point of ample time though, even when throwing in revision, societies, study, and other commitments, I am not at university for 7-8 hours a day every week like school.
This outlook is dependent on the university course you take, where I can only sympathise with the courses that have timetables that resemble that of school, with continuous back-to-back lectures, workshops, etc.
For the vast majority in their first year however, a lot of the day is free range for whatever we want to do, where university allows you to explore your productivity’s full potential.
Hence, it is important to try new things and explore your passions and interests whilst having the opportunity to do so.
Similar to school, when entering the workforce, once again the time is blocked out for you, and you are restricted to the time that is left over.
But what people struggle with is the invisible responsibility that has been passed on to them in their transition from school to university; the ownness of continuing to time block in order to assemble a routine.
Even if it is not a routine that has some resemblance to one that you have had prior, the important point is having a routine, whereby time blocking is an essential element.
Why is this important?
When we are free to attack the day the way that we want, the responsibility is on us for how we manage our time.
What I have found interesting is that by taking elements of my weekday routine into my weekend, which is something I have done since after GCSEs, it provides clarity and acts as a facilitator for the things I want to do.
The main elements are having blocks of time in the morning and evening and waking up at a certain time.
Why this is important is because an issue that many face is consistency.
For example, for a personal project. By doing it every weekend, you can see the clear progress you make over time, where making it a part of your routine could serve as somewhat of a consistency neutraliser.
What I mean my consistency neutraliser is smoothing the fluctuations between the peaks and troughs of consistency you go through on a weekly basis. Why this is key is because when progressing in the same positive direction, it is important to limit the depth of the troughs; but you cannot avoid the troughs altogether.
This is why it is important to remember that you will have bad days, but you need bad days to appreciate the good ones.
Also, what you do on these bad days is just as important as those good days, hence, the reason why being organised is so essential.
The less effort it takes to carry out tasks in line with your standards, the much easier it is to be consistent. Irrespective of the task difficulty, by giving yourself a bias to action, you overcome the difficulty of building a habit.
Conversely, it would be unjust to ignore our motivation to remain resilient, which accompanies us when rising out of these troughs.
Therefore, a piece of advice I would give is to make your calendar feel like a routine.
This resembles my earlier discussion on the ‘perfect’ day, where I talked about having a skeleton of your day as well as not giving up too much energy to make decisions on the day where you take action.
Reflections
Upon reflection, in primary and secondary school, by having a personal timetable at home, I was already using a technique to exercise time blocking, whereby I would study after school in the evening for a fixed time.
This became a routine which meant it didn’t take too much effort to follow the timetable.
However, an experience you may share with me is the disproportionate emphasis on how much time you spent on a task as compared to the amount you have done.
Rather than having a focus on output and efficiency, a safe way to measure the amount of work I completed was to assess how much time I have used up.
For me, the transition from having to follow a fixed timetable to study for a set amount of time to becoming more fluid with my approach was a long journey.
Towards the end of secondary school, a shift occurred when I realised my overreliance on estimating how time should be spent on a task and how it inhibited my ability to be more fluid with studying.
Nowadays, from my perspective, how much time being used up on a task is more about external approval of a person’s effort rather than a key indicator of the quality at which a task has been completed at.
Furthermore, only recently did I realise that we tend to have a poor ability to estimate how much time we should block out for our tasks.
When looking into our ability to estimate how long a task will take, I came across a bias we possess called the planning fallacy.
In short, the planning fallacy “describes our tendency to underestimate the amount of time it will take to complete a task”.
However, this is not a problem as it is simply a bias that stems from our proneness to optimism, especially with regards to our abilities.
Why I find this interesting though is because this optimism can manifest into overconfidence, which I find is a common occurrence amongst us.
The issue occurs when a person is presented with the evidence that they need; how long it takes them to complete the task, with what skill, and with what degree of focus, and then proceeds to ignore it in order to abide by their prior expectations.
I have been a culprit of this mistake in the past, in which I believe this comes from our sense of trust, where having stability in your beliefs provides a sense of security in what you do.
Learning from this however, I have key takeaways which I have developed and incorporate in my decision-making today.
Key Takeaways
It is important to have an iterative approach, as when you estimate how long something will take, essentially, you are conducting an experiment. Take this analogy as some perspective:
Your hypothesis is the estimate
Your dependent variable is how long the task takes
Your independent variable are your energy levels
Your control variable is the environment you complete the task in (as consistent as possible)
This is a simplified example but aims to put into perspective what you do when you try something new.
Therefore, avoid assuming the hypothesis is correct; that your estimate is the perfect amount of time you should use.
Further, do not feel the need to benchmark the time you spend against other responsibilities you have, e.g. other subjects, jobs, tasks, etc.
Everything tests our ability to learn differently, which will result in unique demands.
A perfect example of this is in learning a new language, whereby you need consistent dedication in order to improve and solidify what you have learnt.
Personally, I underestimated how long I should spend on a language if I wanted to have lasting improvements, as I allocated time towards my subjects based on importance.
This encapsulates my failure in realising that I should have been more flexible with how much time I spent on the language, but it was a valuable lesson I learnt moving forward.
Aside from time though, other factors such as study techniques and your focus all play a part, but time ultimately highlights your intentions within all these factors and your mindset towards a task/subject.
For example, the time you spend on a subject that you will be examined on will determine whether you maximise the effectiveness of spaced repetition or cram the day before the exam.
Overall, time blocking effectively is at the root of making that ‘perfect’ day and provides you with a clear view on how you intend to achieve your goals moving forward.
Conclusion
Time blocking is a method that can make organisation easier and is a fundamental behind working towards your priorities. Whether in school or in work, time blocking happens all around us and the act of allocating time to specific responsibilities or tasks allows you to focus intently on your goal.
Approaching the precipice of having your time optimised means mastering your ability to time block, where productivity will be a product of this.
Instead of having our attention and focus dispersed with considerations outside of our immediate priority, time blocking enables you to focus entirely on the task at hand.
Having a clear view and a single cause on your mind makes everything a lot easier.
P.S.
Interested in the planning fallacy? Let me know if you want further insight into it. 👍🏾
Do you think schools are the first place where time blocking is introduced?