Life Changing For Your Time Management: Time-Blocking

YOU GUYS! Meet the little sucker that keeps my life together.

CRAZY, but this time cube has become so life-changing that I legit bring it in my purse. Everywhere. To every meeting. So much so that I even use it to manage my time in the shower ( YES ), makeup routine, & e-mails.

I did an Instagram post on the time cube & a lot of you requested more information. SO, ta-da. More info just for you.

Michael introduced me to time-blocking when he saw that I was trying to do more than one task at a time. Pretty much, it would take me just as long, if not twice as long to complete a task because instead of doing ONE THING, I’d do ten. Hmmm.

With time-blocking, you do one thing for the amount of time of your choice.

For instance, I will only spend 30 minutes a week cleaning out my closet. 15 minutes showering. 10 minutes on makeup. 1 hour, 3 times a day on e-mail. You get the drift.

Once that time goes off you STOP.

There’s something about it that JUST works.

You should also know that you are supposed to do ONE task only for the entire time. So JUST e-mails. You can’t get distracted on Daily Mail or start a blog post. That sort of defeats the purpose.

According to this source, time blocking helps you make smart choices in regards to:

Priority of each item

Time required to complete each item

How much time is available to work on each item

They state: “A to-do list is important, but it is not sufficient. You need to prioritize tasks based on importance and then schedule adequate time for them on a personal calendar. This is called time blocking. You are blocking time on your schedule for those activities you intend to accomplish. It is a simple but powerful technique.”

Basically the MOST DIFFICULT part of working on a task… is getting started, right.

I start with my most important tasks first, ALWAYS. I wake up & immediately make a list of SEVEN, only SEVEN priorities for the day, every day. I’ve been going with lucky number 7 for the last year & it’s really worked for me. The number 7 came from Richard Branson who said he sets 7 goals to complete for the day, every day. This provides motivation to follow through with the commitments listed.

Example of today’s list of seven? Final touches on TSC Meal Plan, write a blog post, choose & edit 200 photos, plan July’s content calendar, return 150+ unread e-mails, complete some interview questions, & clean out blog-doo’s inbox.

I also make a list of 3 random things on the side. For example today: workout, clean out the laundry room, & drive to LA.

Lastly I set alarms in my phone for conference calls.

After the list is complete I write down/estimate how long each thing will take. That’s where my time cube comes into play.

This list sits in front of me ALL DAY LONG.

I’ve been doing this for the last six months every day with a time cube & it’s been game-changing for my businesses.

Let’s just say it’s helped motivation-wise & provided laser focus. It’s also helped with my stress levels. A LOT.

This article states that time blocking is ESSENTIAL: “Continuous learning should be a part of what we do regularly. But this is one of the areas in our lives that gets whatever time is left over. And there is never time left over. Blocking out time on a regular basis for education makes sure that we are always growing personally and professionally. Blocking out time for fun, sleep and physical activity also puts our minds in better condition to get the most of the time we dedicate to learning. Are you a people pleaser? Is your automatic response the answer ‘yes’ when someone asks you to do something? This can lead to feeling overwhelmed and the problem of not getting your important things completed. By blocking out time, you know whether or not you have time to do an additional task for somebody. If you don’t have the time for what you are being asked to do or it is not important, let your calendar be your excuse to say ‘no.'”

There are really no cons here. It just works.

Also a fan of the lemon timer but I feel like the white is cuter, right?

Little update: a new podcast episode went live this morning. It’s called THE BREAK-UP EPISODE. Enjoy — I hope you listen to TSC Podcast while doing your makeup… and of course, with your time cube ON. A tiny bit of multi-tasking never hurt a flea.

Oh, & if you have ANY TIME MANAGEMENT tips, PLEASEEEEEEEEE ( LIKE please ) send them my way. I need all the help I can get. Books you’ve read that help? Ideas? Workshops? Toys? Help.

See ya tomorrow, lauryn x

+ be sure to check out my game changing calendar tips to really get yourself in gear. 

+ a sweet reader wrote an amazing post on time-blocking too. Check it out! Love sharing your posts, send them my way via Twitter.

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