If there’s one thing that most of us enjoyed in 2022 was embrace normalcy. Finally, we were able to meet our friends, travel across borders and see our lives resume to how it was before 2020.
And with just a snap of a finger, 2023 is finally here. Which means, it’s also that time of the year when you’ll be flooded with that question - and you know what’s been referred to here: “What’s your new year resolution?”
But this blog isn’t really about resolutions. In fact far from it.
What we’re really going to focus on in this blog is how you can simply use a productivity method that will help you save 2 hours each day this new year.
So let’s dive right into it.
Welcoming New Year with the Time Blocking Method
No, this blog isn’t going to ask you to have dedicated time slots for each task. I know, the term ‘time blocking’ can be confusing. But really, it’s more than just allotting time slots to your tasks.
First, let’s understand more about what Time Blocking is about.
Primarily, the time blocking method has its roots from project management. The time blocking method was first put forth by James Martin. In essence, the time blocking method suggests that to boost productivity, you can divide your day into various segments that can help you assign tasks for each day.
In the figure below, let me show you my personal weekend time blocked calendar.
Sounds and looks pretty simple, right?
Well, once you know the basics of time blocking, it’s easily executable. Here’s how you can approach time blocking in this new year.
How to do time blocking?
✏️ Start with a list
The first step you ought to do to get started with time blocking is to identify and list down the tasks that need your attention. You can do this by simply noting the task you do each day, but end up consuming a considerable proportion of your day.
✏️ Knowing the time required
Do you know how much time you end up dedicating to typing that essay or perhaps doing your laundry? Well if not, then you need to observe and note this down.
This will further help you in identifying which tasks take the most amount of your day and then you can allot dedicated slots to each of them.
✏️ Finding surplus hours
It’s super important to know which time of the day you get the least work done. This means that these hours are your least productive hours of the day.
So why know this?
That’s because knowing your least productive hours of the day will ensure you don’t end up dedicating time blocks to a task on those hours. As doing so will only add to the task list for each day, and you will end up doing them with less dedication.
Will Time Blocking Help You Make 2023 Productive?
There’s no doubt that the answer to this is a straight ‘yes’. Time blocking is an effective method to organise your day, have dedicated time slots for your tasks of the day and what’s more, you can have hours of the day when you can just relax and enjoy.
Time blocking is effective when you have too much work to be done; but unsure how you can get it all done.
All you need is 10 minutes of focus in outlining the time blocks to your day and voila, you end up saving hours through the day.
So, now that you can have some extra hours to yourself, why not work on your new year resolution, starting today!