Calendar app on tablet computer with planning of the week with appointments, events, tasks, and meeting. Hands holding device, time management concept, organization of working hours planner, schedule

There are many proponents of the time-blocking methodology of getting life organized and making sure that things get done. I tried using this method to block every minute of my day with the hope that my productivity and focus will increase.

IT WAS AN EPIC FAIL FOR ME.

Here’s why time blocking didn’t work for me and may not work for you either:

  1. The day may never go as planned. Tasks may take longer and while I know I could move around my schedule, this was efficient. I ended up spending more time postponing tasks or moving things around.
  2. I constantly felt like I was playing catch up. Every time a task took longer than planned, I had a feeling of falling behind and that is a very unsatisfying feeling.
  3. The schedule blocking interfered with my calendar. Since I blocked my calendar with tasks and other events, meetings or reminders (which I normally put on my calendar) didn’t stand out. I ended up getting confused.
  4. I had to use my phone or computer all the time. I’m a paper girl and this drove me a little crazy.
  5. Just the view of my calendar being so full was completely overwhelming. 

Not every method has to work for everyone and the time-blocking didn’t work for me. I decided to go back to my own system of meeting and reminders in my digital calendar while to-lists and tasks go in my paper planner.

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