I have a draft of a blog post in my Dropbox. It was created the 18th of October 2022, and for some reason I can’t get it done. So now I’m trying another approach – write my thoughts around the post – and post it.
The idea behind the post is related to time blocking. A method of productivity that Cal Newport has written about in great extent – he even has published a physical book to support your daily time blocking. The idea of time blocking is that you should be intentional on how you spend your day, and not just react but actively decide how to spend your day.
Give every minute of your day a job
Cal Newport
The method is simple and is explained brilliantly by Cal himself on timeblockplanner.com.
But even though the method is simple, I have not ended up in a state where it got a lasting habit. I believe there a pre-requisite, that is not laid out enough. At least not for me.
Show of the things I struggle with are:
- Early meetings – I normally start my day around 8, which also is the time for the first meeting. This means I don’t get the day planned first thing.
- Being available – The primary part of my job is being available to help and support my co-workers. This I feel make it hard for me to be unavailable in large part of the day.
- Snowballing day – some days runs fast, and I’m able to set aside the time to pause a re-arrange the day to make to most of it.
When I’m writing it is seems like excuses, but from my perspective it is practical issues that I encounter when I try to timeblock my day.
Do you struggle with make time blocking a lasting part of your day?