The Myth of Time-Blocking as the One Size Fits All Solution
Instead, discover your ideal work structure by figuring out your scheduling mindset.
Finding the best way to structure work is a key ingredient to productivity. However, this entirely depends on your scheduling mindset.
This is why time-blocking might not work for you.
Time blocking is a productivity technique where you create segments in your daily schedule and assign tasks to 30 to 90-minute blocks.
The reason time-blocking has risen in popularity is in part due to our normal work structure disappearing. Flexible hours and working from home have given us more control over our schedules, but it’s come at a cost.
We have lost the traditional 9–5 workday and the social interaction of working alongside colleagues. Now we have to mold our own work environment and find our own unique work structure.
More than ever, everyone’s work needs a system to find a few hours a day to put their head down and stay focused.
For some, time-blocking’s rigid scheduling works. It gives them precisely what to work on based on time. It takes decision-making away if you build a schedule and have sufficient motivation.
However, time-blocking never felt right to me. It wasn’t an inability to focus or concentrate but letting the external force of time dictate my schedule.
Instead, I found an alternative method that is compatible with my scheduling mindset.
Two Different Scheduling Styles
Research shows we all fall into two different styles of organizing our day.
A time-focused person looks to the clock to dictate start and end times. The task or activity is secondary to time. This makes creating a schedule and sticking to it easier.
On the other hand, a task-focused person uses internal feelings to dictate when and if they should move on to another task. Time is secondary to the task.
There is no difference in motivation, flow states, intensity, or quality of work. It’s simply a preference on when to move on to other activities.
Our external environment can also impact our style.
The world runs on time. A task-focused person will stop to be on time for a meeting. This is necessary to be seen as reliable.
A time-focused person will be flexible and won’t abruptly leave a get-together because the clock strikes 10 pm unless they want to be seen as uptight.
But when external forces are not dictated, we all fall into a preferred style.
What Scheduling Style Are You?
Imagine your ideal work day. How does it flow? Is it dictated by watching the clock or does time disappear in the background?
Let’s look at two schedules in action to help figure out which one is your natural inclination.
Jennifer is task-focused. She prefers a blank calendar with few appointments. She wakes up and looks at her task list and takes on the biggest project first and doesn’t stop working until progress is made or she reaches a feeling of satisfaction.
Jennifer keeps options open to work on other tasks but doesn’t get discouraged if they fall by the wayside.
Laura is time-focused and prefers a busy calendar. She plugs in her most important tasks into a daily planner every morning, so she stays on track. This allows her to move from task to task without thinking too much.
If Laura is working on a project, she can easily shift her focus when it’s time and stick to her schedule.
Are you more like Jennifer or Laura?
I am definitely Jennifer. My tendency is to go with my feeling and be less rigid with my schedule once I start working on something.
This is what the advocates of time-blocking get wrong. They believe hyper-scheduling is the only way. But Jennifer shows the alternative can be as effective.
This advice is not only misguided but makes task-based types feel inferior. We have a desire to follow a set plan but our natural tendency prevents us.
Personality & Scheduling Style
Conscientiousness is one of the big 5 personality traits. One characteristic of the trait is being orderly and having a tendency to plan ahead.
This facet of consciousness interacts with our scheduling style.
It puts us into three types:
Type 1: Conscientious and Time-focused: This person is orderly in planning and execution.
Type 2: Not Conscientious and Task-focused: This person is messy both in planning and execution.
Type 3: Conscientious but Task-focused: This person is orderly in planning but messy in execution.
If you are a type 3, you might be feeling a constant tension between two different modes of work — how you plan the work and how you do it.
This type of person tends to have a pristine to-do list and detailed calendar like most organized people. But the minute they start an event their mind rebels at any thought of using time as a way to keep plans in order.
Despite this, a complete void of any sense of time isn’t practical. We need a bridge between rigid time blocking and having no structure. This is where rough scheduling can be an alternative.
The Alternative Strategy For Task-Focused People
Unlike hyper-scheduling everything into hour blocks, break down your day into 2 chunks. I like thinking of them as 1st and 2nd shifts.
This style of rough scheduling doesn’t necessarily need to be written but it does give you an approximation of when work will get done. The key is not attaching timeframes to activities. You are letting yourself flow without restrictions.
On most days, I tackle my most important or creative task first (i.e., eating the frog) and give myself enough runway before the day gets busy.
Here is a breakdown of a recent day using rough scheduling:
1st Shift: 7 am to 12 pm
Edit Article
Make progress on PowerPoint
Analyze Data
2nd Shift: 12 pm — 5 pm
Workout
Finish PowerPoint
These days, I never schedule exact start and finish times for work. My brain can’t work that way, and I don’t fight it anymore.
I also don’t write out my meetings or admin tasks. I’ll be alerted 15 minutes before meetings start and I’ll check messages and email between breaks.
Flow-Based Planning
Rogue scheduling is one framework to add structure but the power of having a task mentality is focusing with relentless momentum.
When you have the opportunity, pick one thing to focus on and let everything else go. I find myself surrendering to my flow when I can put those urgent but not important things on the back burner and sprint something more important to the finish line.
This approach of making progress on the most important item ends up giving you more satisfaction at the end of the day than sticking to a schedule.
The Trap of Meta Productivity
Sometimes finding what works has to be earned. I fooled myself for years, thinking time-blocking was the solution. Now I lean into my natural task-scheduling preference.
Time block scheduling works for some but it isn’t a silver bullet. Energy and creativity don’t work that way. That being said, don’t wait for motivation or inspiration to strike either.
No matter which scheduling style you prefer, keep in mind productivity means producing.
Don’t get too focused on structure and process. It falls under what I call Meta Productive. Meta-productive is everything except doing the work. It’s part of the planning mindset that wastes time.
Instead, put most of your effort towards hard work and concentration and you will turn into the best version of yourself.
Thanks for reading!
Irfan
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