Time Blocking 101 – How well do you know where your time goes in a day?

Time Blocking:

If your relationship with time is restrictive & frustrating, maybe it's time to take a real look at where your time is going & how you can take some time back for you!

As someone who manages time and energy closely because of ME/CFS, how I use time became a huge focus in my day-to-day life. 

Living for years with an ultra-limited amount of energy, I had to get very good at being productive in the time that I had, whilst making sure that I didn't over-do it and slip into a boom / bust cycle. 

In this post I explore how time blocking has helped me remain on task and effective with my work, whilst having the flexibility needed to manage my health and my very busy mind!

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How I Manage Time

Back when I was extremely unwell and bedridden for weeks at a time with viruses and extreme fatigue, it was more about observing the times when I did have some level of improvement throughout the day.

Gaining an understanding of what was happening helped me identify patterns in these moments so that I could build upon what helped, and what cost me more energy.

As I began to gradually improve towards the end of 2016, after 5 years of acute illness, I used a form of time auditing to work out how I could get more done in the time that I had enough energy without triggering Post Exertion Malaise (PEM) and burning myself out again.

As someone who was always busy with a tonne of energy it was like learning how to live again, with only around 30-50% of a ‘normal’ person's energy stores every day.

Time Auditing and Pacing helped me learn how to manage both my time and energy more effectively, and meant I could return to studying.

As I slowly began to build my energy back up, and other aspects of my health began to improve just a little, I was able to not only study one day a week, but I could also return part time to my tutoring role – I was so happy!

However, I had to approach things completely differently. Prior to my illnesses I was full time, buzzing around the county, training all day, assessing all evening, and full of life. That’s how my colleagues knew me, so it was a new version of me who returned.

But I was functioning and after 5 years of barely being able to – it was a gift!

As I set up my counselling practice and worked solely from home, I noticed that I could get easily distracted and spend far too much time focusing on tasks that weren’t actually getting me to where I wanted to be in my business.

I also took over the admin and payroll side of my partner's construction company, supported university students as an online specialist mentor, and then began to set up my coaching business. I knew I needed to get a grip on how I spent my time before I headed back into another ME/CFS crash!

I was still consciously managing my energy and trying to rest when I needed to, but I’d been a bit lax on this. I had begun getting unwell more frequently again, losing concentration, and feeling stuck in my work; all signs that I wasn’t coping as well as I thought…

Managing Time With Multiple Projects

Managing multi businesses, and all of the admin, creation and work that each involves, meant I was pushing my energy limits too often. This all resulted in an increase in low energy days and more acute illnesses.

I knew I had to take more control of where my energy was being spent and also have a good back up plan (Plan ME) for the times when my energy dipped very low. This would enable me to keep each area of my work ticking over and moving forward.

I came across another entrepreneur who manages chronic illness and also has multiple sides to her business. She spoke about using time blocking and how much it had helped her. 

As I read more it made perfect sense to me, and it was pretty much what I'd been doing for several years (along with Pacing) to manage my own commitments.

I spent a week recording exactly where my time went. Honestly, if you’ve ever had to record your calorie intake when you’re in complete denial that you’re overeating – you’ll understand how embarrassed I felt when I realised how much time I wasted every single day… And this is despite being very aware of time / energy 😂.

I used a planner, filled it in for 5 days, and was mortified at how little time was spent actually doing work. There was a lot of ‘doing’ across the 5 days, just not the things that really needed to get looked at at that time.

Working With Your Energy

No this isn't woo or aimed only at women, it's the one thing that totally changed how I worked, and increased my energy rather than used it all.

Our bodies and minds have its own natural rhythm. Some people are early birds, and others are night owls. Learning to plan in a way that compliments these fluctuations, and periods of higher or lower energy, will make the difference in achieving success or hitting burn out.

I've always been much more awake, focused and productive early in the morning. I've woken early since I was a child, learning to love the quietness of the early mornings.

As the afternoon hits, I am significantly less productive. Things take much longer, and it's when mistakes tend to happen. In my therapy work I do not book any afternoon calls because I know I will not be able to be as present with my clients.

For others it's the complete opposite – they're a slow burner in the mornings, and can focus much better late morning / afternoons.

Whichever is your preference, use this to inform how you set your day out. It can make a huge difference and help you work more efficiently, using the ebb and flow of your own energy to your advantage.

Audit Your Time

Time auditing is another way to learn how to work with your energy and plan more effectively with time blocking.

I could never work out where all of my time ‘disappeared‘ Or, why tasks that should take 30 minutes took me hours…

Procrastination was always my nemesis. Whether it was from doubting my ability, or being neurodivergent with ‘brain fog' from ME/CFS; getting distracted easily, wasting time on things, or spending too much time perfecting what I was working on; added to the time things took.

The worst time wasters for me were:

• Canva creation – oh the fun on here is deadly for time!
• Scrolling on Instagram / Facebook looking for inspiration or joining more groups / breadcrumbing.
• Having another AMAZING idea and spending too much time planning it out.
• Researching other coaches then being totally sucked into their amazing offers that I felt I couldn't do without…Spending so long justifying why I should do it instead of just sitting and writing my captions out as planned…
• Responding to every message / email as they landed in my inbox – when working on other things.
• Trying to decide which project management tool I wanted to use, setting it up, getting irritated if I didn’t like it, and then repeat. I finally found Trello and Sunsama and these have been instrumental in my productivity.
• Choosing a brand then changing my mind about the colours and spending more time re-editing the website and all areas of my business time and time again…

I could go on, but you get the picture! My neurodiverse brain makes me a box jumper, so it can be very hard to stay focused at the best of times, and I knew I needed to do something about it or I’d never get anywhere.

The time audit was a real eye opener, and I cannot recommend this enough if it’s something you need to think about as well. 

Once I’d finished the time audit, I looked at all of my current projects, prioritised, put things on the back burner, and estimated the time each task (that needed to be worked on) would take me.

Have you ever audited your time? Download the free workbook below:

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Discover where your time is actually spent!

Use this simple time management tool to increase productivity & overcome procrastination.

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What is Time Blocking?

Time blocking is a great productivity method that simply involves blocking out time (whether it’s 15, 30, 60+ minutes), to focus only on specific tasks in your weekly & daily calendar.

It's a brilliantly effective method of managing your time, especially when you work in batches, or you have a schedule that means you only have short amount of time to focus on your project / business goals. It’s also great if you’re a procrastinator or a perfectionist, where time can disappear on tasks that you tend to spend too much time on (e.g. the fun stuff!).

How Time Blocking Helps

Time blocking helps you streamline your working practices, saving you time and energy. It also helps you become as efficient as possible in the time that you have.

Using time blocking helps you to visually plan for your week or day ahead. It doesn't have to be too rigid or inflexible, but when you use it as a guide, you can quickly see what you're doing and when.

You completely remove the need to be constantly deciding what you should be working on, which decreases the risk of decision fatigue before you even begin!

Practical Steps:

You may prefer to just give your hour blocks a general theme.

For example:

9am-12pm – Admin tasks

12pm-12.30pm – Break

12.30pm-3pm – Client work

Time Blocking is effective in guiding your focus so you're not just sat at your desk wondering “What could I do today? ”

If you're looking for more structure, your time blocking calendar can be based on 30 minute sessions, and can be more rigid in terms of what you'll be focusing on.

For example:

8am-8.30am – Email checking, responding & deleting.

8.30am-9am – Check overnight stats, respond to queries, check morning schedule.

9am-9.30am – Social media networking, commenting, lives, responding to DMs.

9.30am-10am – Resource prep / reading notes for today's client calls.

When you do time blocking in your planner it looks great, and makes it very clear at a glance because you can colour code it. See the example below:

Time Blocking & Energy Management

Time blocking enables you to plan in a way that recognises your energy levels and working preferences. When you plan around your energy as well as your tasks, you will find that you can balance higher and lower energy tasks, which will lessen the impact on your energy each day.

The traffic light system is great for implementing this. You allocate different tasks a colour on the traffic light based upon how much energy they take.

• Red Energy Tasks – Tasks that require a higher level energy / are more difficult where you needed a break afterwards or you're less able to focus on anything else after working on it.

• Orange Energy Tasks – less than red energy, but still requires quite a bit of focus and can leave you feeling a little drained afterwards. A break between tasks is needed to refocus.

• Green Energy Tasks – Lower energy tasks that don't leave you needing to take a break to recharge.

When you have a clear understanding of the impact that each task has, you can create a plan that caters to your energy levels and ability to focus.

Final Thoughts

Time blocking, especially when you colour code according to the energy needed, gives you a clear, visual plan to refer to.

You can plan your weeks / days in a way that provides you with the breaks needed to ensure that you don't burn yourself out working solely on red energy activities.

I have been able to manage multiple projects alongside my fluctuating energy quote successfully, and it's down to this flexibility and awareness.

Finding something that works for you is key, and time blocking is a great one to try out. You can link it with other methods like The Pomodoro Technique, where you work in small increments of time.

Let me know what you noticed with your time audit – comment below ⬇️

Lynsey

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Meet Lynsey

Hey there! I'm Lynsey, a coach, counsellor, and mentor for low energy, introverted or low confident female coaches & small business owners. With over 5 years’ experience of running businesses, and over a decade as a tutor and trainer, I've learned the value of effective time management that energises you through working with your energy.

I've lived with chronic illness – ME/CFS since 2011 and since then I re-trained as a counsellor, and achieved a distinction for my MA in Counselling and Psychotherapy Practice; all while running 4 businesses! I want that for you as well & it is possible with the right support and pathway to success.

Improving your mindset, finding acceptance and developing a solution-focused approach to achieving your goals is my passion. Blending mental health support where needed, as well as a supportive space and methods to manage your work more effectively.

If you'd like to know more about working with me, you can email [email protected] or find me on socials (links in the menu)

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