A Step By Step Guide To Timeblocking

Everyone has something they currently do or have in their lives that when they look back, they don't know how they ever lived without.

For some people, it’s their morning cup of coffee.

For others, it’s their noise cancelling headphones.

For me, it's time blocking.

Properly planning and boxing off my calendar has been a total game-changer for my productivity, focus, and time management.

If you’re new here, welcome!

I’m Tayla, and I juggle a lot of different buckets in my life.

Time blocking is what has allowed me to

Build a business
Write my newsletter
Work 2 part time jobs
Study efficiently for uni
Create YouTube videos
Exercise each day

And still have open chunks for new opportunities - all without feeling overwhelmed or burnt out.

My aim in this newsletter is to take you from a complete time blocking beginner.

To knowing and understanding how to successfully time block your days and weeks.

So, grab your master task list and your favourite calendar app.

And let's get started!

Part 1: What is time blocking

First up, what actually is time blocking?

Time blocking is purposely planning out periods of time in your day or week to work on specific tasks or priorities.

Why? To eliminate distractions and multitasking.

Instead of just reactively going from one thing to the next, you proactively schedule out your day in "blocks" dedicated to certain activities or projects.

It's the complete opposite of the conventional to-do list mentality of just mindlessly checking off tasks.

With time blocking, you decide in advance what you'll work on and when.

So you can go 100% focused into that activity during its scheduled block.

Some of the most successful people in the world are avid time blockers.

Elon Musk is religiously scheduled to avoid context switching
Barack Obama always scheduled tough decisions for after 11am to leverage his peak focus
Bill Gates (co-founder of Microsoft) reportedly time blocked his entire calendar down to the minute

For people who struggle with procrastination or staying focused, which let’s be honest, is most of us, time blocking is genuinely life changing.

Part 2: Why time blocking works

There are three major benefits I've experienced since I've started time blocking consistently:

1. It eliminates distraction and allows longer stretches of focused work.

One of the most common productivity killers is constant context switching between different tasks and apps.

This massively impacts your focus and momentum.

Time blocking dedicates specific blocks solely to certain tasks, allowing you to go 100% distraction-free and into a flow state.

You'll be amazed at how much more you can crank out in 2-3 hours of intense, singular focus.

2. It ensures your priorities actually get done.

We all have goals, priorities, and important tasks.

But they always end up on the back-burner in favour of the urgent emails, meetings, and requests by others.

With time blocking, you can make sure you action your top priorities first by proactively scheduling chunks for those items.

The tasks that we schedule in are going to be the most important activities you can do to get closer to your goals.

This ensures they get the dedicated time they require, rather than constantly being delayed.

3. It provides a framework for your day so you're intentional, not scattered.

How often do you spend the first couple hours of the morning stumbling around doing things that don’t really matter, because you haven’t known what to start with?

Or hit 5pm feeling like you were so busy all day, but having no idea what you actually did?

Time blocking eliminates these issues by giving you a clear, planned schedule to follow each day.

You wake up knowing exactly when you'll work on what, allowing you to stay intentional and purposeful.

Part 3: My Time Blocking Process

Now, let's dive into my full time blocking process, so you can start leveraging this for yourself.

Don't worry, it's much simpler than you might think.

I've written this so you can follow along, a bit like a checklist for us to work through together.

Step 1: Weekly Time Blocking

1. Schedule unmovable tasks.

Unmovable tasks: tasks with a set time that you typically cannot change.

For me, these are things like work hours, uni classes, meetings or calls, netball games and social events.

These tasks are entered in first because they can't change - we have to work around them.

2. Block off chunks of time for top priorities

Hopefully, if you've been following my guides for a while, you will have a list of 'Q2 tasks'.

These are the tasks that are directly related to your current goals, plus tasks you know need to be done in the next week.

For me, this typically involves items like big projects, writing, filming my YouTube videos, workouts and doing my morning and night routines.

If you don't have a list of these top priorities, ask yourself these two questions:

What are my goals?

What actions do I need to take each day or week to achieve those goals?

Your answers to the second question are your Q2 tasks.

3. Don't over-block

By this point, you can clearly see that all your essentials, top priorities and the important areas of your life are scheduled in.

There should still be quite a bit of white space.

This is good - if it was all filled at the start of the week, there would be no time for all the urgent tasks that do need to get done.

Now that we have a good outline for our week, our daily time blocking will become much easier.

Step 2: Daily Time Blocking

1. Choose Your Time

I always time block my following day the night before, during my 'shutdown' routine.

I find so much peace and clarity going to bed already prepped for the following day.

Alternatively, you could plan at the beginning of the day

If your day is less predictable, or you like starting your day with a planning session, this could be a good option!

It doesn't matter which one you decide, but pick one now.

2. Schedule specific tasks for your day

The last thing I want to see at the start of a workday is 8 hours of ‘work’.

So each night, I’ll spend around 10 minutes adding specific tasks to different times across my workday.

Same thing goes for the start of a focused work block on my business or uni.

What will those work blocks involve?

When will you create time for deep, focused work?

When will you spend time on shallow tasks like emails, calls or admin?

Are your top priorities scheduled in?

This is where having a resource like a master task list or Notion Digital Home Base will really come in handy.

I keep track of all my tasks, for work, business, uni and personal items in my Notion DHB.

Having a list of all your outstanding tasks to complete makes it much easier to know how to allocate your time, especially when they're sorted by categories like energy, context and priority level.

You can learn more and create your own master task list in the free Notion101 course.

I've now started using Notion calendar, which has been a game-changer for my daily planning.

I can set action dates for tasks in my master task list.

Go to Notion calendar.

And directly drag them into time slots throughout my day.

You can also keep this separate however, and simply add tasks to your chosen calendar by referencing your task list.

I don't necessarily schedule every tiny task, but I aim to have about 70% of my work day planned out in time blocks.

3. Schedule in the extras

There's some common things most people miss throughout their day

Travel
Cooking and eating
Morning and evening routines
Mental breaks

Don't forget to add these in, or you'll be spending the whole day running way behind your schedule!

4. Decide what to do with the white space

You may or may not have additional space left over now.

What you choose to do with this is up to you!

You can leave it empty and decide what to do when the time comes.

But, if you're like me, you may end up spending this 'white space' unintentionally.

Scrolling social media or working on a task that really isn't important.

If so, scheduling in a specific activity here, even if that activity is 'reading' or 'watching Netflix', could be a good idea to keep you on track.

Part 4: Bonus Tips

It's as simple as that!

Weekly planning to:

Create a rough guide
Ensure your important tasks are scheduled in
Gain a solid view of the non-negotiables in your week

Then daily planning, to:

Work out exactly what you'll do when
Help you use your time intentionally
Ensure your urgent tasks are completed and deadlines are met

There 4 bonus tips I want to leave you with to give you the best chance of successfully timeblocking your week.

1. Build in buffer times

You cannot control your day down to the minute.

Meetings and activities will run over.

Unexpected items that will inevitably pop up.

You'll need brain breaks and time to get up and move your body.

Don't forget about these as you're planning your day

2. Use time batching

Cluster similar tasks like email, calls, etc., together into batched time blocks to avoid constant context switching.

You'll get through the tasks quicker, and avoid them disrupting other tasks throughout your day.

3. Protect and prioritise deep work time

Every day should have some time allocated for deep, focused work on your most important tasks.

Once time is blocked off for deep work, protect that time fiercely from meetings or interruptions.

Communicate your intention to focus for the next 90 minutes to your team, manager or family, and follow through.

4. Don’t be a slave to the time blocks

If you're in a flow state on something, let it ride out rather than arbitrarily stopping.

Just yesterday morning, I was working on a uni task.

I had time blocked this from 6am-7am, with the gym scheduled for 7am.

But when 7am hit, I was still so in the zone that I kept going, and re-adjusted my day.

I got more done in that next 30 minutes than I would have in an hour later in the day.

The point of time blocking isn't to lock you into a set structure.

It's to help you spend your day intentionally, and make the most out of your time.

Time blocking has been one of the biggest drivers of my success.

It is truly one of the best tools for anyone to be more focused and productive than they ever thought possible.

It seems simple in theory, but actually implementing it properly is what makes the real difference.

So start time blocking out your days and weeks.

Stick to the scheduled blocks.

And watch your output go through the roof while finally feeling in control of your time.

It's life-changing.

I need your help!

I'm working on a new project (*cough* business concept *cough* 👀).

If you are a founder or owner of a growing business (ideally an SME), or know anyone who is, I would absolutely love to hear from you.

Please reply to this email with 'business owner' and I'll get in touch!

Thank you for being here.

If you have any questions about this newsletter, just hit reply and let me know.

See you next week!

Tayla

Looking for more resources?

You'll find all my Notion templates, courses and other free resources here.

Want to become a peak performer?

If you're an ambitious and driven individual, find out more and inquire about a free discovery call here, so you can excel in your career, without sacrificing your personal ambitions or wellbeing.

This is productivity & performance coaching from someone who has done years of research and experimentation, developing a series of simple, evidence-backed habits, routines and systems that unlock the path to taking back control over your time, energy, focus and mind, and reaching your full potential.

Are you a creator, solopreneur or small business looking to upgrade your digital organisation?

After harnessing Notion to run my entire life and business, I'm here to help you do it too.

Inquire about a free discovery call here to explore how you can streamline your processes to save time, money and mental energy with simple Notion systems.

More ways to connect