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Time Blocking 101

by:

Kevin Achtzener

An OK Productions Book

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin Achtzener

YoureMakingMe.com

All rights reserved. The uses of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted by any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without the prior consent of the publisher is an infringement of the copyright law.

Disclaimer

Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and accurate as possible, but no warranties regarding its contents, whether fact, speculation or opinion, are made. The information provided is on an “as is” basis. The author shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damages arising from the information contained in this book.

I have also made every effort to obtain permission for and to acknowledge copyright material. Should any infringement of copyright have occurred, please contact me and every effort will be made to rectify omissions or errors in the event of a reprint or new edition. You can contact me at [email protected].

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Kevin Achtzener Time Blocking

copyright©2011 YoureMakingMe.com

Table of Contents ABOUT ME, KEVIN ACHTZENER 1

PREFACE 2

Time Blocking Builds on What You Already Know 2

Being Effective is Easy 2

SECTION 1: WHAT IS TIME BLOCKING? 3

What is Time Blocking? 3

Should I Use Time Blocking or a To-Do List? 4

Proactive vs. Reactive 4

The Multitasking Time Drain 5

SECTION 2: WHAT DO I BLOCK? 7

Time Block Whatever Needs to Get Done 7

The Power of the 5 Minute Task List 9

How to do the most important things, most of the time 10

SECTION 3: HOW TO TIME BLOCK 14

Steps to Time Blocking 14

Bundle Your Time Wasters 15

Reducing Daily Distractions 17

Formal vs. Informal Time Blocking 18

SECTION 4: KEEPING WITH IT 19

Celebrate Your Successes 19

14 Easy Ways to Deal with Distractions 21

#1 Productivity Tip 25

THANK YOU 26

APPENDIX 27

Photo credits 27

Kevin Achtzener 1 Time Blocking


About Me, Kevin Achtzener

“I teach companies how to communicate for results”

How you communicate today says a lot about where you will be tomorrow. Good communication skills don’t come naturally for most people, but luckily, those skills can be learned.

Key challenges for many corporations these days are flat sales, lack of repeat business, employee motivation issues, and customer service challenges. I work with organizations to help create exceptional customer interactions and more satisfied employees. We work together to improve interactions skills with clients for sales and service results.

I specialize in persuasion skills and productivity increases.

My training programs deliver concrete techniques that can be used immediately.

The information in this eBook is similar to what I would discuss regarding time blocking during a live event. I’ll try not to hold anything back, but I will say that it’s usually more productive and rewarding to attend a live seminar and go through the exercises in person.

If you’d like to have me speak at your upcoming convention or meeting, please contact me and we can discuss a solution to meet your needs.

I’ll be releasing MegaProductivity, a comprehensive productivity course in August 2011. If you enjoy the information in my Time Blocking teaser book, you’ll love what I’ve got lined up for MegaProductivity.

All the best,

Kevin Achtzener

P.S. If you picked this book up off my site, YoureMakingMe.com, then you’re already set up to learn when MegaProductivity comes out. Otherwise, head over to the web site and sign up so you can stay up to date on its release.

http://youremakingme.com/



Preface I started using time blocking techniques in 1996 when I opened my first business and have continued to use and refine those techniques ever since. Although I can’t promise that you’ll become successful overnight by implementing time blocking, I do feel that it’s an important part of any effective time management strategy.

Over the past few years, I’ve had the opportunity to speak on various aspects of productivity and success. I’ve found that my sessions on time blocking always seem to generate many thought provoking questions, and I constantly hear how people have used these techniques in new ways.

Time Blocking Builds on What You Already Know The reason why time blocking is effective for many people is because it builds on basic time management techniques they already use.

In essence, time blocking is a way to help you make your task list more effective.

I’ve broken the book down into four, easy to follow, sections. My hope is that it won’t take you more than a few hours to learn and apply this material. Spending time to save time; that’s a bit paradoxical perhaps, but if you want to go faster, you often have to slow down at first.

Being Effective is Easy Go ahead and give these techniques a try. Most are simple, but they’re effective.

That’s the goal of time management. It’s a way of taking complex projects and making them simple and easy to complete.

Complex systems end up creating more work than they save, and I’m sure you’ll agree that whenever something needs a lot of effort to maintain, it’s just not feasible over the long term.

I have people coming to my website every month searching for information on productivity and time blocking, so I wanted to create a tool to help get you started and lead you on your way to a more productive life.

If you enjoy this eBook, I’d love it if you refer your friends to YoureMakingMe.com for their own copy.

Also, if there’s something in particular in the material that sticks out for you, feel free to send me an email at [email protected]. I’d love to hear about your success.






Section 1: What Is Time Blocking? “Don’t count every hour in the day, make every hour in the day count.” ~ Anonymous

What is Time Blocking? Time blocking isn’t a secret technique, it’s not even a new technique, but it’s effective. Here’s how I define it: Time blocking is you working on one thing for a set amount of time.

That’s it.

It’s a powerful success strategy

I’m sure you’ll agree that learning how to manage your time is one of the most powerful strategies for success. Time is the only thing in life we can’t manufacture more of… but you can maximize it. Time blocking is an easy way to improve what you are already doing, and get more out of life.

The hardest part of Time Blocking

The actual concept of time blocking is simple and it’s already used informally by many people, maybe even you. The simple act of setting a date, time, and length for your work unit means you’re committing to finishing what you’re working on.

The hardest part of time blocking is following through on your plans, even if little interruptions creep in.

These days, people feel proud to be labelled a ‘multitasker’, and that’s fine to a point, but the real hallmark of a successful person is to be a finisher. Working on tasks isn’t the same as completing them. Time blocking is a way

to help you finish what you start, not just look busy when the boss walks in.

“The hallmark of a successful person is being a finisher.”

- Kevin Achtzener

http://youremakingme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/hourglass.jpg



Should I Use Time Blocking or a To-Do List? For some reason we all like comparing time management solutions to a basic “to-do” list, and that’s fine. In essence, time blocking boils down to making a structured list and then setting aside time to work your way through everything on the list.

What I’m not a fan of is making one giant list, and then doing a couple of the easy tasks from it. Then, the next day you come into work and spend an hour rewriting the entire list. This is a huge waste of time, especially if you’re doing it every day.

A more effective strategy is working from targeted lists during the day.

Here are some common examples:

� Phone calls you need to make.

� Emails to send.

� Activities requiring you to leave the office.

When it’s time for you to “Work the list,” you just take it out and either work from top to bottom, or in order of priority.

As you move down the list, you MUST take action on each item, whether it’s easy or hard. There’s no room for excuses, just action.

The difference between successful people and average people is that successful people do all the things average people avoid doing.

Successful people don’t like doing unpleasant tasks either, but they still finish them, and that’s the key.

Proactive vs. Reactive If you want to be more successful, you need to consistently do the activities that yield the highest rewards. You also need to reduce the number of reactive situations in your day.

Time blocking is definitely proactive. You plan the work and then work the plan.

Answering emails as soon as they arrive is completely reactive, and it can take over your day if you let it.

When you’re in a reactive state, you’re at the mercy of what’s happening during the day. You’re out of control, even though you’re working hard to try and stay on top.

Being reactive

It’s easy to get into a reactive state. There’s probably so much going on in your life



that you can suddenly find yourself struggling to make it through each day.

For instance:

Have you ever found yourself picking the easiest thing from your big to-do list?

Have you ever re-written your to-do list with all the hardest activities at the bottom?

If you have, congratulations, you’re normal, but you have to put this behaviour behind you, if you want to take things to the next level.

Being proactive

When you’re proactive, you dictate what’s going to happen during the day and then follow through no matter what.

For instance, you might say to yourself, “OK, from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM I’ll make phone calls. I’ve got 10 to make and I won’t do anything else until they’re complete.”

When I’m working, I find one of the best things to do is turn off the Wi-Fi on my laptop. That little gesture makes it just hard enough so I won’t check my email.

I also turn off the ringer (and vibration) on my phone. Doesn’t it drive you crazy when you hear your phone vibrate on your desk, and you start wondering who’s calling, texting, emailing, tweeting, or Facebooking. It’s a complete distraction.

Here’s the amazing thing. Over the years I’ve been using and teaching time blocking, I’ve found that there

isn’t anything that can’t wait for 30 minutes.

“Most urgent issues and panic situations are simply a result of someone not doing the right work, at the right time.”

Of course, there’s the odd one-in-a-million disaster situation, but if you let your life be run by fluke circumstances, you’ll go nuts.

The Multitasking Time Drain A common problem that most people aren’t aware of is the fact that whenever you switch from one task to another there are always a few seconds, and in some cases a few minutes, where your productivity drops. For most people, it can take anywhere from 20 seconds to a minute to switch between tasks.

Think about it. When you’re working on your email and



you need to make a phone call, what do you do?

Do you roll your chair back, pull the phone close to you, take a sip of water, and then dial the phone? There’s your 20 seconds.

Now, I realize everybody wants to be known as a multitasker, because it’s the cool thing to be right now. Unfortunately, multitasking can be a time drain that can end up actually costing you valuable time during the day.

It’s all in the transition time

It doesn’t seem like much, but all that transition time adds up during the day, especially if you switch activities a lot.

Let me give you an example. If you make a phone call, followed by sending an e-mail, and then talk to a colleague, send a text message, and finally make another phone call, you’re going to have time gaps. It’s impossible to do all those things with seamless precision.

Even if there’s a 30 second gap between activities, all those little bits of time add up during the day.

You can practice all you want at shortening your transitioning between skills, but no matter how good you get, you’ll still be losing time whenever you shift internal focus to a different task.

It takes less than a second to switch tasks internally, but it’s something you can’t train for or change. Constantly switching internal focus can also prevent you from really immersing yourself in a task and being super-productive.

The multitasking time drain adds up

Looking at the time wasters, you may not think much of them, but they really begin to add up when you look at them on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis.

When you look at things on a large enough scale, you’ll start to see that you’re bleeding time. At the end of a year, you’ll have lost days worth of productivity, just from the small moments when changing tasks that seem insignificant.



Section 2: What Do I Block?

Time Block Whatever Needs to Get Done Time blocking is a tool to help you be more effective, so feel free to block off time for anything you feel is a high-priority item.

Consider time blocking as one of the tools in your productivity tool belt. It’s not a cure-all, but it’s definitely a key tool for success.

For instance, you can block off time for:

Family

Relaxation or exercise

Planning for the upcoming week

Flex time, in case disaster strikes

Set a time to go hang out at the water cooler or in the lunch room. If you plan 15 minutes, stick to it and then get back to work. Although it is not directly related to your job in many instances, chatting with others makes work more enjoyable.

Remember: Plan on activities taking longer than you expect. If you’re done early, just take care of something from your 5 minute list (we’ll get to this shortly).

Is it better to use time blocking for short or long tasks?

Time blocking works well with both short and long tasks.

Long tasks are great, since they’re often ones you’ve been putting off because they’re so complex. You can work towards completion of a long task by simply setting a certain length of time, say one hour, and then working on only that task. You won’t be done that day, but you’ll definitely make progress when you focus on nothing else.

Short tasks work great with this too, because you can combine a number of small tasks together and take care of some of those nagging issues you’ve been putting off. The benefit is that you’ll be productive and will be able to avoid the multitasking time drain we talked about earlier.

For instance, you can take a block of phone calls you need to make (anywhere between 3 and 30 depending on complexity). Now all you do is sit down and make the calls. You won’t get in touch with everyone, but you can leave clear instructions in your messages.



Leaving a clear message performs 3 critical roles:

The message may convey all the relevant details so the other person may not have to return your call.

You’re more likely to get a call back by someone with the information you’re after.

You can suggest a time you’ll be available so they don’t call you during one of your other time blocks.

No matter the length of what you’re working on, the key is to give yourself uninterrupted time to complete the projects.

Successful people spend more time doing important things than unsuccessful people do.

It’s a fact that with our busy lives, we all have important things that should be getting done, but simply aren’t.

If you’re in a reactive state and don’t have important items planned out, you might not get to them. If you want to make sure that the important things are getting done, all you need to do is spend a few minutes at the beginning of the week on

planning and prioritization.

By planning ahead and designing a schedule that incorporates all the critical processes, you’re much more likely to get most or all of your high priority activities done.

Then, and only then, you can begin to complete the lower priority jobs in decreasing order of importance.

Of course, there are always things that come up during the week, so any good planning system will include time to deal with last

minute jobs that need your attention.

The following week, you do the same thing. You review your known goals for the week and reprioritize them.

If something keeps getting pushed down your list, either delegate it, pay someone to do it, or delete it. If you keep putting it off, it’s probably not critical to your business, so stop worrying about it and get rid of it.

Should my planner be set in stone?

The more you stick to your plan, the better.

You don’t want to be like one of those captains of old, and go down with the ship no matter what.

With a little practice you should be able to get through most weeks without having to make major changes.



You need to be careful with making changes because once you start cancelling or postponing time blocks, it can start to become a habit. If you postpone actual work too often, your system is guaranteed to fail.

There will always be things that come up, but if you have a solid framework around your week, you can easily adapt it to emergencies that arise.

I set aside somewhere between 30 minutes and 2 hours every day to take care of “stuff.” Some days I can predict that there will be things coming in that I can’t control. If I’m lucky and I block off too much time, I can easily fill it by working on the next highest priority activity from my list.

My goal is to work only 5-6 days a week and I do my best to have at least one whole day off to spend with my family. I plan most of my week from Monday to Friday, and leave Saturday to finish off things that didn’t get done.

The Power of the 5 Minute Task List Have you ever been in a situation where you've finished an appointment early and had five minutes to spare?

What did you do with your time? Did you go for a coffee or shuffle papers on your desk? Did you find one of your co-workers and start a conversation?

Having a 5 Minute Task List is a great way to help you become more productive in those small gaps of inactivity during your day.

Like the name suggests, your 5 Minute List should be made up of simple tasks that can be done in about five minutes. This could include phone calls you have to make, emails that need to be sent, or planning and consideration for upcoming projects.

What’s the purpose of the list?

The five minute lists gives you a bridge between activities you should be doing immediately and those that should have a block of time set aside in your daily schedule.



I can pretty much guarantee that you already have a list where you do activities like this. The difference here is that the activities I'm asking you to do are short in duration and unrelated to the others on your list.

I don’t recommend longer activities, as they usually work better when you set a time to complete them during the day. If you do put a task that will take 20-30 minutes on your list, you will likely find that it just gets skipped over, because it’s hard to find a spare 20 minutes in most people’s days, but 5 minutes is doable.

How do I make a 5 Minute Task List?

Make the list the same way you would any other. I recommend that once you’re finished writing down all the tasks, that you don’t modify the order. Choose the first item from the 5 Minute Task List and do it.

It’s easy to keep pushing boring activities down the list, but they’ll never get done if they’re constantly avoided. Completing items from top to bottom, without skipping is the most efficient way to get rid of those ugly tasks you’ve been putting off.

How to do the most important things, most of the time

The classic system

The classic way for determining importance is to use the ABC system. You’ve no doubt heard of it, or something very similar before.

What the ABC system does is get you to put an A, B, or C next to each of the tasks on your to-do list.

The A’s are the most important, so you’re supposed to do them first and the C’s are least important, so they only get done if there’s time left at the end of the day. B’s are somewhere in the middle and are usually items that are still important, but not critical at the current time.

A powerful 10 point system

I like using a scale from 1-10. The idea is the same as the ABC method, but it gives you a chance to make finer distinctions between the actions on your to-do list.

To put it into practice, all you need to do is ask yourself, “On a scale of 1-10, 10



being high, and 1 being low, how important is if for me to get this particular job done?”

Comparing this to the classic system, an ‘A’ task from the ABC method would turn into an 8, 9, or 10. Something that was a ‘B’ activity turns into a 4, 5, 6, or 7, and a ‘C’ task from the old system is now a 1, 2, or 3.

I know I always tell people to make things as simple as possible, but I think this little increase in sophistication is a huge help. So often in our day we come across situations that both seem critical. With a ten point system, it makes your job of choosing what’s most important a little easier, but doesn’t add much more strain to your thinking process.

With a 10 point system, you can easily know that anything labelled as a 10 needs to be done immediately. You can also tell that a 10 is more important than an 8, even though they’d both be considered ‘A’ activities under the classic system.

On the other end of the scale, if there’s an activity you decide has a priority of 1, you can decide whether to delegate it, have a virtual assistant do it, or simply delete it from your list.

It’s better to pay someone a few dollars per hour or to decide not to do a low priority activity than have you spend time doing things that won’t get you ahead.

A big plus of this system is that you don’t need to constantly re-order your lists. You still will from time to time, but it’s very easy to look at your tasks and pick the next most important job.

But Kevin, everything’s important. They’re all 10’s

You might find yourself rating a lot of action items as 10’s, but I’d caution you not to over-exaggerate their importance. In reality, you probably have a handful of 10’s, and then a few in the range of 7-9.

Moving forward, it should now be clear what you need to work on. Go through the 10’s, one-by-one, until they’re complete. Then, work your way down the list in order of importance.

It’s always better in the long term to work like crazy and take care of one ‘10’ item on your list, than work just as hard and finish a handful of activities marked ‘3’ or ‘4.’



I know it feels great to check off all the little jobs you’ve done, but at the end of the day, it’s the big activities, done well, that make you successful.

10’s are easier to procrastinate over, so just do them

Let’s face it. The most important activities are often the easiest to procrastinate over.

For example, it’s probably easier for you to organize your desk or send an email, than it is to sit down with an underperforming employee and have a crucial conversation with them.

In the end though, if you want to be successful, you need to focus on your highest priority tasks until they’re done. Then, you move on to the next down the line. That’s the real secret to success.

Everything you do that doesn’t help you complete your top priorities is simply avoidance. ~ Kevin Achtzener

Remember this: If you do the important things, well in advance, the smaller things usually take care of themselves.

In the end, your goal should be to only do activities that only you can do. If someone else can do it, then you’re not being as effective as you could be.

Start off by only blocking a small part of your day

The best way to ease into time blocking, is by starting out with only a few scheduled times during the day. Then, make changes slowly and consistently until you’re where you need to be.

With time blocking, I’d recommend only planning out one or two blocks during the day. Your initial goal is to find times where you won’t be interrupted and when you can get work done.

Does It Matter When I Block Certain Things?

The best time to work is whatever time works best for you.

For me, the earlier in the morning I start working, the better. I’m actually a night owl, but I know from experience that waking up early and getting important work done, can give me a lift for the rest of the day.

The first thing I do each morning is work on my highest priority activity. Then, I have my normal



phone call block from 9-10 A.M. because it works well with my schedule. I feel like I’m usually at a peak energy level around 9 A.M., so I take that opportunity to make phone calls when my voice is at a high.

Naturally, I keep my schedule flexible to accommodate my speaking and coaching appointments, as well as any urgent things that I have to handle personally.

I think most people would agree that there could sometimes be a drop in productivity during the afternoon. It’s when that feeling a fatigue can descend over you.

I like taking a short break for a snack and exercise so that I can get back to work, refreshed and recharged. I find that the mid-afternoon is also a good time for me to do some of my mid-level tasks.



Section 3: How to Time Block

Steps to Time Blocking

Make a list

The first step in creating an effective time blocking system is to get all the things you need to do out of your head and onto either paper or an electronic document.

You can start out with a basic list, or you can use something slightly more exotic, like a mind mapping program.

The benefit of a basic list is that you probably already have one set up, so this should be fairly easy.

Spend some time making sure the list includes all the phone calls you need to make, reports that need to be written, and any other relevant information.

Group similar tasks

The next step is to take that list you have and group similar items together. What I prefer doing is making several specific lists so that I don’t need to be worrying about copying things over to a new list.

� Phone calls to make

� Emails to send

� Actions at the office

� Actions that require roaming around town

� Family

It may seem redundant to write down the task of emailing someone, but you don’t want to have to stop making phone calls just to email someone. Just give it a try. It works.

My list is huge, now what?

If you’re like most people, you’ll find that the list of things you want to get done is much larger than what you could possibly do in the next few weeks.

That’s why one of your most vital tasks is to prioritize tasks. If your list is electronic, you can just drag and drop the items to put the highest priority tasks first.

http://youremakingme.com/the-best-free-mind-mapping-tools/



Otherwise, I suggest using one of the systems we’ve already discussed - the ABC method, or my 10 point scale. If neither of these feel right, you can simply put a 1 next to the item you’ll do first and count up from there.

When to plan out your week

I’ll normally spend about 30 minutes each Sunday evening looking over the week ahead and slotting in my highest priority items.

I recommend that you do your planning on the same day each week. I feel I have more clarity when I do it on Sundays, but you can feel free to do it whenever it works best for you.

What do I do when I’ve finished my task and still have time on the clock?

Sometimes you’ll find that you’ve completed what you were working on well ahead of time scheduled.

For example, say you wanted to call 20 people. Unfortunately, 15 were unavailable, so you’re waiting for them to call back. The other calls were quick, and now you have 30 minutes left until your next scheduled activity. Do you find something else to do or do you keep making other, low priority calls?

I usually recommend doing something from your 5 Minute Task List if you only have a few minutes, but if there’s a lot of time left over, things get a little more complicated.

For me, the answer depends on what I’m doing. If I’m making phone calls, I usually get into a zone. After I’ve make 20 calls, I’m ready to keep going. During my phone call block, I’ll rarely set the receiver down, so I’d rather just keep making more calls until I’ve completely exhausted all of my options. In most circumstances, I’d prefer to go down the list and make every single call possible.

Of course there are times when I want to get back to something important, so I’ll use the time to complete a high priority action instead.

You’ll need to see what works best for you and go with it.

Bundle Your Time Wasters A big time waster for me used to be making phone calls. Cold calls in particular were really troublesome.



Sometimes I would take two or three minutes to get ready to make the calls and other times it would take me at lest ten minutes. I hated making cold calls, so taking extra time to prepare was avoidance behaviour.

I still usually take at least two minutes to get into the right frame of mind when I make calls these day, but once I start, I keep going until all my calls are made. I call it bundling.

I find that I can be much more effective if I make a number of calls, one after the other. It’s productive because I don’t have to get up to walk over to the phone, and then go back to something else.

When making calls, I sit there until I’ve gone through my list. I’ll take the odd break, but once I pick up the receiver, I rarely set it down. I just press the release button to hang up and start dialling immediately.

But Kevin, I can’t work all the time

It’s true that you can’t be going all the time and that you need multiple breaks during the day or you’ll burn yourself out.

The key is to add down time into your daily plan and then force yourself to shift to a lower gear when the time comes. As you raise the importance of short breaks during the day, you’ll probably find yourself feeling more effective when you get back into productivity mode.

When you feel you deserve a break, you can head over to the water cooler and chat with a clear conscience, and you can feel free to enjoy your time, instead of thinking about rushing back to your desk to do all the work you’ve put off.

Narrowing your focus can help your creativity

Focusing on one task for an extended period of time can also help you become more creative.

One of the best ways to come up with new ideas is to think intensely about something for an extended period of time and then take a break. It’s strange how well this works.



If you’re multitasking and constantly changing activities, your concentration gets broken up. You might be busy, but you’re not as effective as you could be.

Reducing Daily Distractions You can be more effective by simply learning how to reduce the distractions in your day.

Instead of having your e-mail program pop-up or ring a bell every time an email comes in, you can take charge by modifying the settings so it doesn’t distract you.

How often should you check email?

Have you ever tried checking your emails only once per hour…or less?

OK, I know you’re probably ready to jump through the computer screen at me for this, because you think I don’t know how busy and important you are.

Let me ask you something.

Do you feel like you have to respond instantly to every single e-mail you receive?

Probably.

Is it necessary?

Nope.

The reality of the situation, and I’ll be very honest here (I’m not trying to be mean), is that you’re not as important as you think you are.

Let me clarify…

You’re very important and we care about you tremendously, but the chances are incredibly good that the e-mails you get on a daily basis are rarely so time sensitive that they have to be responded to immediately.

Phew, I said it.

Most of the time, a delay of 30-40 minutes, even an hour, won’t make any difference to the person on the other end of the email.

If the timing matters that much, it’s probably because you screwed up before and didn’t do something you were supposed to.

Time blocking task

So here’s a task for you. Take one week to try this out. Stop checking your emails immediately when you get them (unless you work at a nuclear power plant ☺).



I know it’s hard. I still like checking e-mails frequently too.

Some days that’s fine, but other days, when you really want to be productive, turn off your phone, email, close your social networking tools, and even turn off the Wi-Fi on your laptop.

If you remove as many distractions as possible, you can then focus completely on your work, and get it done quickly.

Formal vs. Informal Time Blocking Formal Time Blocking and Informal Time Blocking are terms I created to describe the different ways you can organize your time.

Informal Time Blocking is when you describe time in a general way. You might say to yourself, “OK, on Wednesday, I'll spend two hours on project X.”

Formal Time Blocking is all about being specific. It’s when you use a scheduling tool to plan and achieve a particular goal. You’d probably say something like, “On Wednesday at 9 A.M. I’ll sit down and make 20 phone calls (from the phone call list) in order of importance, or for one hour, whichever comes first.

Most people use a system that involves informal time blocking. That works alright for average results, but if you want to amp up your productivity and take things to the next level, a shift to formal time blocking is needed.

I want to help you simplify the process and magnify the results.

Sometimes the simple ability to name a process you already use can make it more powerful.



Section 4: Keeping With It

Celebrate Your Successes

Why rewarding yourself with ‘stuff’ can damage your success

When most people reach a small goal, they feel like they need to buy or get themselves something. Unfortunately, that’s a mistake. I think rewarding good behaviour and success with stuff is the worst thing you can do.

Using ‘stuff’ doesn’t work

By ‘stuff',’ I’m talking about things like clothing, electronics, trips, or even something that seems harmless – like a coffee.

Let me give you an example.

Say you make a deal with yourself that every time you follow through on making calls during the day, then you go for coffee (or whatever beverage you enjoy). It’s nice to splurge every so often, but if done too often, you start building an association that every time you make calls, you have to end with coffee, or it’s not complete.

Now you’re relying on an outside influence to make yourself feel good.

You might reward yourself with coffee one day, and then food the next, or perhaps a trip if you have a good month. Bribing yourself with food or items isn’t a healthy or sustainable motivational model.

You also run into the potential that you’ll start over-rewarding yourself.

What if one day, you don’t finish all your calls? That should clearly mean you don’t deserve a coffee, but you’ve conditioned yourself to go for coffee every day, and you’re body is probably craving a caffeine hit.

You’re not supposed to have the coffee, but maybe you do anyway, because you tell yourself you need it to stay awake for the afternoon.

You just took the reward, but didn’t do the work.

If you do this once, it gets much easier to do again and again. It sounds like a little



thing, but that’s how small problems get big… little by little.

The other obvious downside is the fact that it will cost you a lot of money to keep up these habits. This isn’t what I’m focusing on today, but the costs can definitely add up.

Tap into your most powerful reward system

I agree that rewards in general can work, and I’m OK with them for larger goals, but I’ve seen the downside they can bring when they’re too frequent and too big.

If you want to have true lasting success, there’s a better, long-term solution. It involves using your emotions.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to get too touch feely here today, but it’s true that using emotions to influence your behaviour is a both a sustainable and long-term solution to motivation. It’s also free.

Use Mini Celebrations to maximize your productivity

The best way to maintain any success system is to take time whenever you complete both small and significant tasks to feel proud of yourself.

Rewarding good behaviour is the only way to perpetuate it.

I recommend you learn how to throw yourself a Mini Celebration whenever you can, since it will reinforce the successes in your life.

In a nutshell, a Mini Celebration is taking about a minute to feel good about what you’ve just accomplished. Much of what we do in life is directed by our emotions, and by consciously directing how you feel, you put yourself in a better position to control how you will act going forward.

Here’s instructions on how perform a Mini Celebration.

Like I always say, “It’s the little things you do each day that make you great.” Doing Mini Celebrations won’t change your life overnight, but if you use them, I can pretty much guarantee you’ll raise the level of your achievement.

Go strutting

Another simple solution to put into place is using walks as a reward. I’m not talking about regular walks, which are great too, but what I advocate is going walking with swagger, like you’re the most important person in the world.

As you walk, take the time to feel great. Something you can do while on your success walk is to think to yourself that everyone you walk by is whispering, “It’s Him,” or “It’s Her.”

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When you feel like a success, you act like a success.

I couldn’t resist adding this clip of John Travolta from the movie Staying Alive. After he nails his performance at the end of the movie, he goes out strutting, another way of saying walking proudly. Check it out.

Small, frequent internal rewards are the key to long-term success

Some days you work hard, but nobody seems to recognize all the effort you put in. When you make it OK to feel good about what you do, it will allow you to feel good about your accomplishments and enjoy the moment, without having to rely on the coffee being just right, or about what someone else thinks.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going strutting…

14 Easy Ways to Deal with Distractions A big part of the coaching I do revolves around teaching people how to deal with, and tune out distractions. These days, everyone wants to be a multitasker, but in reality, dividing your focus won’t make you more successful. Remember that you need to be able to choose the most important task, complete it, and then move on to the next important task.

Being able to do 10 things at once is counter productive if little gets done or done right. If you can effectively deal with distraction and complete your most important piece of work, you’ll be well on your way to success in any role you have.

Here are 14 ways to reduce or eliminate distractions:

1. Set a deadline

Give yourself a deadline and stick to it. When someone comes in you can say, “I have to get this report out by 2 P.M... Can this wait until then?” You’d be surprised how well setting an artificial deadline can work.

It’s like the old saying goes:

“If it weren’t for the last minute, nothing would ever get done.”

2. Use a timer

Some people find their productivity jumps when they start using a timer. This works because you’re setting a short-term deadline, but also because you are committing to doing your best work for a short period of time. Typical lengths of time would be 15, 30, or 60 minute blocks, but you can choose any length of time that

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suits your needs.

I use this technique with my primary mastermind group. We each have ten minutes to discuss our results and projections and look for suggestions. If anything more is needed, we book another time or do 1-on-1’s. It helps us get through a ton of information in a short amount of time.

A countdown timer can be found online, as a small program for your computer, or as a built-in feature on many cell phones.

3. Close your door

I’m a proponent of having an open door policy for management, but like any rule, there are times when it’s beneficial to close the door and eliminate distractions.

I suggest setting aside a 30 minute to an hour block of time where you can completely focus on any situations that need your personal attention.

Once everyone realizes that you’re not to be disturbed during these periods, they will either take care of the situation themselves, or make a list of things to talk to you about after you’re done your closed-door session.

4. Use a private office

This is a technique I’ve used and love. It goes beyond simply closing your door. You actually find an office somewhere in a back corner, so you’re not distracted by your phone and people don’t really know where you are. This puts you out of the hustle and bustle of the everyday life and it’s quiet too, so you’re forced to work.

I’ll usually take my laptop, turn off the Wi-Fi, mute the ringer on the phone (if there is one), and just start solving problems.

Sometimes I’ll take a huge sheet of flip chart paper with me, so that I can plan and prepare for any important activity that I’m working on. I love it.

5. Turn off email

I don’t want you to freak out on me when I suggest this. I know you’ve probably already heard this tip a million times, but you’ve probably ignored it…..until now.

If you turn off your e-mail for an hour or two at a time (that's right…a whole hour), you will find a nice bump to your productivity. You won’t be distracted by minimally important emails, and you’ll soon realize that much of what you thought



was URGENT, can probably wait an hour before being worked on.

6. Create an “Always Answer” list

Create an Always Answer list and then resolve to only take phone calls from those people when you’re doing some focused work. You can call everyone else back in 20 minutes when you're done.

I created the concept of the Always Answer list because I hear from my client’s that there are still some calls they absolutely have to take. For instance, I’ll always answer calls from my wife, even if it’s during one of my time blocks. She knows how important my blocks of time are to me, so she’ll keep the call short, make fun of me for being a productivity geek, and then say goodbye.

A list like this ensures that the people who need to get hold of you for something crucial are able to. Everyone else will just go to voice mail. You can return their phone calls at a later time.

7. Have a scheduled break to do “stuff”

Have a pre-made time to go around and take care of all the “not so important things” you’d like to do. This includes activities that aren’t productive, but might be fun. You could go and chat with coworkers or head over to the coffee shop next door.

Ideally, you would put one of these “stuff” sessions after an important block of work. You can use it like a carrot to encourage yourself to work hard, since the fun will come as soon as you’re done.

8. White noise machine

Some people use white noise machines very effectively. They’re the little machines (or programs on your computer/smart phone) that create a variety of sounds including waves, streams, thunder storms.

My wife and I use one when we have people over in the evenings. You see, my two year old daughter is a light sleeper so we often turn on

the white noise machine in the hallway so it produces the sound of a babbling brook. The background noise helps disguise distracting noises from us talking and helps keep her dreaming sweet dreams.

My friend Veronica swears by the “chirping birds” selection she listens to while she



works.

9. Find out what distracts you

Different people are distracted by different things. Some stare out at the clouds; others keep checking Facebook status updates. Whatever it is, see what types of things distract you and simply eliminate them from your work environment.

10. Make a list

If you’re working and you suddenly remember an activity that has to be completed, simply add it to a list (computerized or pen and paper).

Writing down a task accomplishes two things. First, it acknowledges the thought and clears your mind so you can back to work quickly. Secondly, it creates a list of important actions that you can work on later.

11. Get up earlier

I’ve been getting up at 5 A.M. lately (that’s early for me) and find it gives me extra time to get important jobs accomplished. The house is quiet and there’s nothing going on to distract me.

I’m really more of an evening person, but I’ve found a lot of value in creating personal time in the morning. I remember when I used to work at 6 A.M. It was nice to know that my day was officially over at 2 P.M. and then I could do whatever I wanted.

This isn’t for everyone, but you might want to give it a try. Believe me when I say it’s hard at first, but if you can get used to it, you’ll definitely get results.

12. Stay hydrated and properly fuelled

Eat and drink before you go to work so your brain and body are ready to go. Visit the little boys'/girls’ room to make sure you don’t have any personal emergencies once you begin. If you’ll be making phone calls, you might want to have some water handy, in case your throat gets dry.

13. Get off email/RSS mailing lists

I regularly go through my RSS feeds (an alternative way of receiving blog updates) and trim any extra feeds that are no longer sending me relevant info. I’ve completely removed myself from any email newsletters. They are more reactionary and they clog up my inbox. Years ago I switched everything to RSS feeds. I still check them multiple times per day, but I can better control the content I’m



viewing, as opposed to having new emails come in and buzz my phone. Of course, Heaven forbid that you would ever leave the YoureMakingMe.com list.

14. Write out a plan

Having a written list is an excellent way to avoid distractions. When you know exactly what you’re going to do, it is much easier to do it. Besides, as you complete the various activities, you get to put a check mark beside it. That alone might keep you energized, because one of the most satisfying things a person can do is tick off a completed task.

Feel free to add any other easy ways to deal with distractions that aren’t on this list.

#1 Productivity Tip Focused planning leads to specific results.

The best way to be productive when you work is to be focused on what you’re doing, and to do specific actions that move you towards your goals.

If you remember nothing else, following this simple formula will get you places. Specificity in anything you do is what separates the successes from the failures.

Remember: It’s the little things you do each day, that make you great - Kevin Achtzener

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Thank You

I hope you enjoyed this introduction to time blocking and the MegaProductivity system. If you’d like more information on my system or would like to book me for a speaking engagement, you can visit my website at YoureMakingMe.com, email me ([email protected]), or reach me by phone (780.932.7702).

You can also visit my website for more tips on productivity, persuasion, and achievement.

If you’ve enjoyed this book, I highly recommend that you pass it on to anyone else who might benefit from it.

I simply ask that you forward the eBook intact, as I’ve spent a lot of time and energy creating it.

I sincerely thank you for reading Time Blocking 101.

Kevin Achtzener





Appendix

Photo credits Cover: Clock hand

Section 1: Question mark, Reactive

Section 2: Cards, Planner, Calendar, To do list, Groups, Hands, Wooden 10, Man using phone

Section 3: Power plant, Hourglass, Bundling, Shift down, @ symbol, Tuxedo

Section 4: Fireworks, Cupcake, Timer, Closed door, Answering phone, Productivity tip

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