"Productivity isn't about being a workhorse, keeping busy or burning the midnight oil... It's more about priorities, planning, and fiercely protecting your time." - Gary Keller

Introduction:

I first heard about time-blocking a few years ago from Jordan Page, online creator, productivity queen, mega-entrepreneur and mom to 8 kids. She developed this Block Schedule system to help manage her busy life and I knew that if this worked for her it could work for me. 

I had been a stay-at-home-parent on and off throughout my parental leaves as I had my kids, but it wasn’t until the pandemic dropped in 2020 that it became a full-time gig out of necessity. It didn’t make sense for me to go back to work when my kids had to go school online, or, later when schools reopened, they had to stay home for every sniffle or cough. 

Without the structure of leaving the house for work every day, I had to figure out a better way to manage my time to stay on track with all the tasks it takes to keep the wheels from falling off the wagon. 

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Embracing Entrepreneurship with Time-Blocking

Time-blocking allowed me to honour the fact that I... hate chores but they have to get done & that I deserve time to care for myself so I can be present with my husband and kids as a happy, well-adjusted person. A few years later once I decided to take the plunge as an entrepreneur, I knew I could rely on my Block Schedule to help me “find” the time I wanted to devote to growing my business.

Navigating Life's Interruptions with Flexibility

Since deciding to jump into entrepreneurship, I’ve had to rely on time-blocking more than ever. I don’t have unlimited un-interrupted time in my day to devote to research, content creation, engagement etc, but knowing I have 1-2 hours dedicated each day, I can make thoughtful choices on what I need to be working on next, instead of reacting in a panic to everything I might need to get done. I can also re-organize my blocks when ‘life’ (aka kids!) interrupts my plans.

For example my family was hit by a stomach-bug over the holidays, so not only were all the kids already home, they each had their turn being sick and needing their mom to help feel better. Plus I had four bathrooms to disinfect at least twice a day to try and stop the transmission of this nasty bug! So it was easier for me to switch my ‘working’ block to the evenings once the kids were settled in bed because I was no longer on high-alert for every rumble or groan from my kids.

The Liberating Benefits of Time-Blocking

The benefit I appreciate the most since adopting a time-blocking approach is I can let go of any guilt of ‘doing it all’.  I have always loved lists, but had a hard time following through, or even prioritizing what to get done first. With time-blocking, I have honed my ability to discern what needs to get done first, and I get more done in a shorter period of time. Since time-blocking means focusing solely on the tasks for that block, I find it easier to jump in and make every minute count, knowing that when the ‘time’s up’, I’ll be moving on to my next block. Let me reiterate: when your block is over, you move on to the next block's tasks! This is the secret. If you don't honour the boundaries of the block, then you're just back on the same hamster wheel.

This has been great for work-life balance because when you work from home, well, life can get in the way! When everything is just an endless to-do list, it’s hard to enforce boundaries and protect your time. You sit down to start on your day’s work, but your toddler wants you to play, your phone’s buzzing with notifications to pay your bills etc etc. If you time-block efficiently, your morning block is when you get to play with your toddler, and your afternoon block is when you work (when the toddler is asleep).

Practical Tips for Effective Time-Blocking

Decide how many blocks are in your day... 2-3 hour blocks work best. Define what your blocks are and what they mean. For example, 6-9am is my Morning Routine (wake up, shower/get dressed, breakfast, get kids to school, unload/load dishwasher, start a load of laundry). 

Take one day at the start of your week (I like Sunday afternoon or evening) to dump out all the tasks coming up for the week ahead. For the family, for work, for yourself... get it all out onto the page. Then, every night, choose from your list what you’ll get done the next day and plug those things in for each block as appropriate (and cross it off the list!). Whatever doesn’t get done can be moved ahead to the next week (or you can re-evaluate if it's still a priority). 

Honouring Boundaries and Superimposing Themes

Honour the boundaries of your block! Think of the days when you were in high school. When you were in Math class, you were doing Math. When the bell rang, you closed up your books and moved on to the next subject. 

Once you have mastered the concept of time-blocking your schedule, you can superimpose other ‘themes’ to your days and blocks to further clarify your work efforts. For example, within your Working block, Mondays are for Content Ideation, Tuesdays are for Hashtags and Keywords, Wednesdays for Creating the Content, Thursday for Editing, Fridays for Scheduling. And perhaps there is 20 minutes every day for emails, and 20 minutes every day for social media engagement, and Tuesdays are the days you take your meetings.

Conclusion

Embracing the power of time-blocking has been a game-changer in my life, allowing me to navigate the challenges of being a stay-at-home mom turned entrepreneur. Originally inspired by the productivity guru Jordan Page, I discovered the liberating benefits of this approach. It not only helped me juggle household chores but also provided dedicated time for self-care and quality moments with my family. As an entrepreneur, time-blocking has become my secret weapon, offering a structured way to prioritize tasks, stay focused, and adapt to life's unexpected interruptions. By mastering this method, guilt fades away, productivity soars, and achieving work-life balance becomes a tangible reality. Jordan Page's insights continue to resonate in my daily life, a testament to the transformative influence of effective time management.

Try Time-Blocking Your Schedule Today

Click Here To Download Your Free Block Schedule Template Today

Here is a quick checklist to get you started with creating your own Block Schedule.

• Break up your day into four or five blocks of time. 2-3 hours work best.

• List out all the things you usually do from day to day, and take note of when you usually take care of that task.

• Group together similar tasks and organize them by time of day.

• Start planning your blocks around these themes. For example, "Morning Block", "Errands and Outings", "Working Block", "Afternoon Block", "Evening Block", "Family Block", etc.

• Once you have your 4-5 Blocks mapped out, you're ready to implement!

• Write out every single thing you can think of that you need to get done in the week ahead.

• The night before or the morning of, plot out your tasks for the day by choosing items off of your To Do list, and inputing them in the appropriate block (and crossing them off your To Do List!)

• As you go through your week, adjust your blocks as needed with the tasks you need to get done. For example, if your child calls home sick, you might need to switch your Working Block with your Evening Block if the tasks cannot be pushed off to the next day.

• Always remember the purpose of the Block Schedule is to have the flexibility to get your work done based on the demands of your busy life, and when one block is finished, you'll always have tomorrow to get the rest of that block's tasks done.