As far back as Benjamin Franklin, the most productive leaders have alluded to a time management approach which productivity guru Cal Newport has popularized and called time blocking.
Whereas most people approach their workday by constructing a task list and crossing items off, time blocking requires leaders to figure out in advance how they want to spend each minute of the day.
To create the most effective schedule, leaders who operate from this approach don’t start with tasks. They start with blocks of time.
In the time blocking approach, leaders give every minute of the workday a specific job, then adjust that plan dynamically as the day unfolds.
They protect blocks for strategizing, decision-making, and other deep work and use batched blocks for more shallow tasks.
Processing messages and other response-oriented tasks get their own blocks, so leaders are not reacting to incoming messages all day long.
To begin this process, a leader divides their workday into 15 or 30-minute increments. They then place their tasks and deliverables for the day into the blocks.
The key is to deliberately protect larger chunks of time for more cognitively challenging tasks, such as writing, designing, learning, and coaching.
By focusing exclusively on the work scheduled for any block, leaders don’t let their minds wander or allow distractions to divert their attention.
If they anticipate the need for breaks, they schedule them. Leaders can also incorporate “conditional” blocks to add flexibility.
Each week, the goal is to protect as many deep-work blocks of 2 to 4 hours as is reasonable and to treat them as non-negotiable appointments.
Instead of meetings clogging the daily calendar, the leader pre-decides which blocks they will dedicate to team discussions and which gatherings they can schedule on another day or avoid altogether.
In some cases, leaders can coordinate and align team member time blocks to reduce random interruptions and to allow people to focus exclusively on more important work.
For instance, a leader might set aside a 1-hour block every day (at the same time of day) for the entire team that is dedicated to coaching, mentoring, and relationship tasks.
This means everyone enjoys the same uninterrupted block for completing the conversations they need to.
Newport advises ending each workday with a brief shutdown routine, a ritual that helps leaders to shift their mindset from work mode to non-work.
This might mean taking a last peek at your email inbox or reviewing the remaining week’s calendar. The goal is to set an endpoint where nothing is forgotten or missed, so the shift to non-work can occur without stress.
Leaders generally know what they need to get done. Time blocking helps them find the blocks of time they need to do it.
The goal of time blocking isn’t about rigidly sticking to a schedule no matter what. Instead, leaders begin the day with an intentional plan for how they want to spend their time.
For the best leaders, time isn’t something that happens to them. They turn time into blocks that make them more productive.
