What Is Calendar Blocking?

It’s nearly 6 p.m., and your to-do list is still several bullet points long. Somehow, even making lists isn’t helping you manage your time any better. If this sounds like you, there’s another method that might help.

Calendar blocking could be the planning method you need to stay on track with your goals and to-dos for the day.

You might have heard calendar blocking referred to as time blocking, and it’s an incredibly easy productivity method to use. In the evenings or when your workday is finished, you’ll lay out all of the tasks you need to get done the next day. From running to the grocery store to finishing a project at work, if it needs to happen, write it down.

Then, you’ll create blocks of time for each task in a calendar. You can do this using a digital calendar (like Google Calendar or Apple Calendar) or a traditional paper planner that’s organized by the hour (or a bullet journal). For example, if you need an hour to complete a work project, schedule it into your day at whatever time works best. Need 45 minutes to work out? Place that on your calendar at the appropriate time as well. Once done, your day should be scheduled down to the hour.

While this might seem like an extreme form of planning, the idea is to have established tasks and when they need to be done scheduled ahead of this. When you do this, you’ll be able to focus completely on the task at hand and not have to prioritize during the day. Plus, the process allows you to see times when your concentration or productivity might wane and allows you to adjust accordingly.

If your to-do list just isn’t cutting it any more, calendar blocking might be the productivity solution you’ve been searching for.