Blocking Time For More Productivity

There's never enough time in the day. But with an age-old technique, you certainly can get a LOT more accomplished. Just format it according to YOUR personality and see the results. Remember, it takes three weeks for anything to become a habit. So, if you only try it for a few days, you might not experience the benefits.

After my first day I had completed all of my tasks and rewarded myself by going out with the family to see a movie (Pirates Of the Caribbean if you’re curious). It was a FUN night. I even splurged on the $10 popcorn and soda deal. WOW what a deal. HA!

After only my 5th day of consistently using this method, I am experiencing great results. For the purpose of this article we’re going to give examples based on using two planner pages per day, appointment and daily.

I understand you may not be comfortable using two pages per day. In that case you have several other options, such as using the back of the weekly pages with appointment pages or using only monthly and appointment pages. BE CREATIVE! It has to feel right for you or it’s not right for you.

1. Block your time on the appointment page the night before. When you work on this the night before, you’re lessening the chance of having to change your schedule as well as committing it to memory. This is quite helpful when you start out the next morning. Instead of feeling rushed to do your schedule as the day's priorities are waiting, you will have the opportunity to plan your day without that pressure.
    
2. If you have a lot of simple things to accomplish that won’t take more than a few minutes each, try blocking them into the same time frame. I did this with return phone calls that I KNEW I could keep down to a minimum. And if you know me you’d know how difficult that is. But it worked so well! When you remind yourself that this will free up more of your time, you’ll be able to just tackle it and move on.
    
3. 3.Use one of our methods shown in our pictures here:
   (click on an image to enlarge)
   
   
   
   or how to code on the website here: http://www.thebusywoman.com/articles/planner-coding.php to see our recommendations. Putting a line through or around the time frame you block off will give you a visual to focus on. Then writing short details will give you reminders of what you’re to do during that time. Look over at your daily page. You’ll write more details when needed for specific tasks or appointments on your daily page. A picture is worth a thousand words, so we have included graphics of the various visual blocking methods.
    
4. If your new schedule doesn’t work well one day, try something different the next. When I first started, I would give myself 1/2 hour for something that would take an hour. There’s a learning curve and adjustment period, so change the time around a bit to find what works. Another example: I scheduled phone calls and emails first. Then workers came in to pack orders and they weren’t input into the database yet. Therefore time was wasted waiting for me to finish. Now I input orders first.
    
5. When you have a long list of calls to be made and you’ve blocked out that time frame for them, list the names, phone numbers, and possibly a note to remind you of what the call was about. Again, this will save you much time in searching for the numbers and why you need to call. Our example on the website is from a technology company. Therefore, there are codes that only they know of. But you’ll see their in house references, the first name of the contact person, and their time zone. And because they have files for everyone, the files are laid out on the desk for further reference when calling.
    
6. I personally schedule in breaks. If I don’t, I’ll work until I drop. That increases burn out. So if you were to see my schedule, you’d see all capital letters saying, “EAT!” When I schedule in a break, you’ll see, “BREAK!” Otherwise I forget the importance.
    
7. Keep appointments on monthly tabs, but definitely try to put them in the appointments section of your daily page so you have a second reference. Make sure to block off time for outside appointments on your actual appointment page as well. Just draw a diagonal line through or draw a line around that time. Otherwise you might be like me where in the beginning, I saw a lot of unblocked time and assumed it was my FREE TIME because I forgot to check my monthly. It was disasterous!
    
8. Last, don’t forget about gathering your things and travel time to appointments. It takes me about 5 minutes to clean up from what I’m doing; get my purse/planner in order and head out the door with a water bottle in hand. Then there’s the driving time. If you need details, write down travel time or you might leave too late to arrive at your appointment on time. If you need directions, put them in the notes section of your appointment or daily page.

From this we hope you can see that there are possibilities to combat your scheduling problems and fit most everything into your day. Now if you’re trying to fit in more than can possibly be done in any one day, you’re going to run into problems.

So learn to:
Prioritize
Say No
Take time to plan out your day in advance
Schedule in FREE TIME
Change things around if they don’t work at first

Copyright © 2003 - 2009 Susie Glennan - The Busy Woman, Inc.

Bio: Susie Glennan is the President of The Busy Woman, Inc. - DBA: The Busy Woman's Daily Planner®. She has been featured in Smart Money Magazine, The Washington Post, and others. Her products have been featured in Real Simple and Parenting Magazines, CBS Early Show, San Antonio Living Show and many more!

Susie has been happily married since 1982. She is mom to 3, Homeschool Teacher, Toastmaster, Speaker and is Author of numerous articles that have been published in magazines, across the web and at www.thebusywoman.com