Time-blocking my week

[Andy Black]

I'm so busy I need to get a better grip on my week.

• Below is a screenshot of a standard week I've setup in Google Calendar.
• Work tasks will be scheduled into the white spaces between 9:00 and 14:30 Mon-Fri.
• The yellow "Morning Call?" and "Evening Call?" is where people can book into my calendar using my Calendly meeting link.

What's your takeaways and thoughts?

 

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[ZF Lee]

I'm so busy I need to get a better grip on my week.

• Below is a screenshot of a standard week I've setup in Google Calendar.
• If I get any work tasks I schedule them into the white spaces between 9:00 and 14:30 Mon-Fri.
• The yellow "Morning Call?" and "Evening Call?" is where people can book into my calendar using my Calendly meeting.

What's your takeaways and thoughts?

View attachment 28119

I'm pleasantly surprised.

There's A LOT of time for family here (much respect!).

The work hours are kept up to an hour-plus. And they aren't cramped together all at once.
Quite well-spaced out.

It's a concept I'm trying out myself for my accountability thread, with some promising results, but I made a big boo-boo on a recent project that threw everything off the axis (will talk about it when I post my update to @458's accountability thread)

Speaking of a better grip, I supposed there's opportunity for more time, judging from the white spaces?

 

[Suzanne Bazemore]

I like how you are in charge of family time, which you scheduled in. In the past, you have commented about that being why you enjoy the Fastlane pathway, because you are in control of your life and to have the freedom to spend time with your kids. Too often, families just get what is left over.

 

[Andy Black]

I like how you are in charge of family time, which you scheduled in. In the past, you have commented about that being why you enjoy the Fastlane pathway, because you are in control of your life and to have the freedom to spend time with your kids. Too often, families just get what is left over.

Thanks.

What’s missing is a date night every fortnight with my wife. Only because I haven’t figured out how to schedule it in yet.

 

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[Andy Black]

I supposed there's opportunity for more time, judging from the white spaces?

That’s where I’ll schedule in tasks for the week.

 

[Rawseed]

You definitely have your priorities in order.

 

[Andy Black]

You definitely have your priorities in order.

Thanks. I've created this because the priorities were starting to slip.

I've shared it with my wife and we're trying to figure out when to add a fortnightly date night where we go for a meal and a few drinks. Maybe the first and third Friday of each month. (If I can figure out how to do that with Google Calendar.)

 

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[Vairavan]

Hey, you left out the time for surfing the Fastlane forum.

 

[Andy Black]

Hey, you left out time for surfing the Fastlane forum.

That's the sand between the rocks in my day. : )


In all seriousness. I'm in and out. I don't surf or browse.

 

[Suzanne Bazemore]

Thanks. I've created this because the priorities were starting to slip.

I've shared it with my wife and we're trying to figure out when we put in a fortnightly date night where we go for a meal and a few drinks. Maybe the first and third Friday of each month. (If I can figure out how to do that with Google Calendar.)

Well you both have to eat, so if you set up a routine with a caregiver for your kids, that can help automate it. If you know you are going to pay someone anyway, maybe that will force the issue.

 

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[CaptainAmerica]

YES! It's all about putting those big rocks in first. For those that don't know:

View: https://www.youtube.com/embed/SqGRnlXplx0


You have to know what you value before you do it, otherwise your calendar fills up with things that are important, but not necessarily valuable to you. It's important that I work in a clean office, but spending time cleaning is not valuable to me, so I hire someone.

What happens is that the lower value stuff falls off, and sometimes that's painful. OTOH, you can easily free up 5 - 10 hours a week doing this.

 

[Andy Black]

YES! It's all about putting those big rocks in first. For those that don't know:

View: https://www.youtube.com/embed/SqGRnlXplx0


You have to know what you value before you do it, otherwise your calendar fills up with things that are important, but not necessarily valuable to you. It's important that I work in a clean office, but spending time cleaning is not valuable to me, so I hire someone.

What happens is that the lower value stuff falls off, and sometimes that's painful. OTOH, you can easily free up 5 - 10 hours a week doing this.

“Kill a rock every day.” (Blaise Brosnan)

(No rocks were harmed in the making of this thread.)

 

[Contrarian]

I love that you now have to laser focus in on exactly what to accomplish with those four hours a day. I wager it's going to be much more than the typical person does in an eight hour day.

 

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[Andy Black]

I love that you now have to laser focus in on exactly what to accomplish with those four hours a day. I wager it's going to be much more than the typical person does in an eight hour day.

Yep. As they say: “If you want something done, give it to a busy person.”

 

[FullTimePreneur]

Maybe the first and third Friday of each month. (If I can figure out how to do that with Google Calendar.)

You can do this by selecting November 1st and setting up the date night, then just select "Monthly on the first Friday" in the recurring dropdown. Then just repeat this for the 3rd Friday of the month by setting up another date night on November 15th and doing the same thing. Then you'll have your 1st and 3rd Friday date nights on your google calendar!

 

[Andy Black]

You can do this by selecting November 1st and setting up the date night, then just select "Monthly on the first Friday" in the recurring dropdown. Then just repeat this for the 3rd Friday of the month by setting up another date night on November 15th and doing the same thing. Then you'll have your 1st and 3rd Friday date nights on your google calendar!View attachment 28140

Thanks @FullTimePreneur.

Here's the schedule for this week.

• Date night is now the 1st and 3rd Friday of each month. It's not rigid of course, but it's there unless we move it about. My wife is also happier knowing we're planning on going out at least twice a month.
• Note that I've calls every evening this week from 22:00 to about 23:00. That's more than normal, but much better than when my calendar was open and I ended up with four calls in a day once. I was punch drunk by the end of that day.
• I'm also meeting a friend for a coffee on Tuesday morning so moved the gym to 11:00. I want to exercise each day during the week, so going for a coffee when I'd like to go to the gym meant I had to move it to somewhere else in my day.

 

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[LittleWolfie]

I'm so busy I need to get a better grip on my week.


What's your takeaways

Hire people to do some work for you. If your unable or unwilling then you value the € more than the time.

I'd also say a time diary in less than 20 minute blocks is worthless.

Try out rescuetime software and then you can see if your wasting the time and what can be dumped,delayed,automated or outsourced.

 

[WJK]

I'm so busy I need to get a better grip on my week.

• Below is a screenshot of a standard week I've setup in Google Calendar.
• Work tasks will be scheduled into the white spaces between 9:00 and 14:30 Mon-Fri.
• The yellow "Morning Call?" and "Evening Call?" is where people can book into my calendar using my Calendly meeting link.

What's your takeaways and thoughts?

View attachment 28119

Andy, what's interesting about your schedule is that people, like you and me, are still fully engaged in our lives and businesses. I've been thinking about the nature and stages of success. We're playing the "long game" rather than trying to sprint. That decision comes with having a sustainable plan coupled with good work habits. Congrats on a good plan.

 

[Andy Black]

Andy, what's interesting about your schedule is that people, like you and me, are still fully engaged in our lives and businesses. I've been thinking about the nature and stages of success. We're playing the "long game" rather than trying to sprint. That decision comes with having a sustainable plan coupled with good work habits. Congrats on a good plan.

Yes. “Start how you mean to continue.” If I want a business where I work 20 hours a week, then I’m kidding myself saying I’ll work 80 hours a week and will reduce the hours later.

I also refuse to spend less time with my kids now so I can spend more time with them later.

Reducing the resources we put into something also means we have to be more *resourceful*. Aka work smarter. By reducing the time allocated to a task we force ourselves to work smarter.

 

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[WJK]

Yes. “Start how you mean to continue.” If I want a business where I work 20 hours a week, then I’m kidding myself saying I’ll work 80 hours a week and will reduce the hours later.

I also refuse to spend less time with my kids now so I can spend more time with them later.

Reducing the resources we put into something also means we have to be more *resourceful*. Aka work smarter. By reducing the time allocated to a task we force ourselves to work smarter.

Your right about the kids. Both of the families that I raised are grown -- all 4 of my kids now have adult lives. It happened so fast. One day they were little kids. The next day they were saying, "Yo Mom, there's this girl..." You're right to take care of today. It never comes again.

 

[Ing]

Andy, your plan shows much good.
But for me :
there would be too little sport for me.
And the only reason, that I would have not had two dates a week with my wife, would be the kids!
Wifes will grow like you and the kids! In 20 years you will wonder, why you only had 2 dates for dinner or what else with her!

 

[Andy Black]

Andy, your plan shows much good.
But for me :
there would be too little sport for me.
And the only reason, that I would have not had two dates a week with my wife, would be the kids!
Wifes will grow like you and the kids! In 20 years you will wonder, why you only had 2 dates for dinner or what else with her!

Family time includes time with my wife, but we scheduled in a couple of date nights a month so we know to get a childminder, book the restaurant, etc. We’ve plans this weekend but it’s not scheduled into the calendar... it’s just in the family time this weekend.

As for sport... I get a bit more than is shown because I’m out the front playing hurling or soccer with the kids after they’ve done their homework many afternoons. It‘s getting harder now with the wet weather but it’s one of my blessings that we have to come in when the estate gets busy with cars coming home from work.

 

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[WJK]

Family time includes time with my wife, but we scheduled in a couple of date nights a month so we know to get a childminder, book the restaurant, etc. We’ve plans this weekend but it’s not scheduled into the calendar... it’s just in the family time this weekend.

As for sport... I get a bit more than is shown because I’m out the front playing hurling or soccer with the kids after they’ve done their homework many afternoons. It‘s getting harder now with the wet weather but it’s one of my blessings that we have to come in when the estate gets busy with cars coming home from work.

You right to keep up with your date nights with your wife. We do that too even though the kids are grown and gone. So many people we know have divorced after the kids left. There was nothing left of their marriages without the kids.

 

[Andy Black]

You right to keep up with your date nights with your wife. We do that too even though the kids are grown and gone. So many people we know have divorced after the kids left. There was nothing left of their marriages without the kids.

I've had to put these things in because things were slipping. My life wasn't how I wanted it to be so I've created this calendar to make sure I dedicate time to all the things that are important to me.

I've not put down that I do a quick Facetime with my mum every morning and evening, and have a quick chat in the afternoon. That's important to me too.

 

[WJK]

I've had to put these things in because things were slipping. My life wasn't how I wanted it to be so I've created this calendar to make sure I dedicate time to all the things that are important to me.

I've not put down that I do a quick Facetime with my mum every morning and evening, and have a quick chat in the afternoon. That's important to me too.

Good for you. I'm proud of my education and successes. What I'm most proud of is: I took care of my mom for the last 10 years of her life. I'm proud of my kids -- they've turned into wonderful adults. I'm proud of having a husband who really loves me. We still walk around holding hands. I've worked hard to provide for all the people I love. There have been great conflicts in my scheduling over the years. I glad I kept my head on straight and remembered what is important.

 

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[srodrigo]

I've had to put these things in because things were slipping. My life wasn't how I wanted it to be so I've created this calendar to make sure I dedicate time to all the things that are important to me.

I've not put down that I do a quick Facetime with my mum every morning and evening, and have a quick chat in the afternoon. That's important to me too.

This is awesome. You've created a life for yourself where you can spend most of your time on the important things, not on work. Congratulations!

 

[Andy Black]

So the calendar is evolving as I try out different things.

I noticed I kept missing the evening run, partly because it’s getting cold, wet, and dark in the evening, and partly because my running buddy keeps bailing on me. I could go a particular evening but wait to go with him, then he cancels.

So I’m trying a new schedule where 9am-10am Mon-Fri is either a run or the gym. Now it should be a habit and not require any thinking each morning. Each morning I won’t grab a shower first thing, and will don running gear and shoes. As soon as I’ve done the school run I go for a run or head to the gym. It’s worked this morning, so that’s one in a row. (BTW... I’ve not been to the gym at all yet. I want to nail the three runs a week first, and see a physio about my shoulder before doing any weights again.)

I’ll post a screenshot of my calendar when back at my computer.

 

[Andy Black]

Good for you. I'm proud of my education and successes. What I'm most proud of is: I took care of my mom for the last 10 years of her life. I'm proud of my kids -- they've turned into wonderful adults. I'm proud of having a husband who really loves me. We still walk around holding hands. I've worked hard to provide for all the people I love. There have been great conflicts in my scheduling over the years. I glad I kept my head on straight and remembered what is important.

You should be super proud of those achievements @WJK. My goal is to achieve the same.

 

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[business_man]

I was not a big fan of blocking time in calendar other than meeting and important "places to be" things. But now I start using it more and more, even bigger tasks I block as an event in calendar and then scale it down to smaller tasks in my to do list.

 

[BellaPippin]

I do the same, on my planner because I'm a pen and paper lady.

Fun activity for getting slapped in the face: Grab a sharpie and time-block (color in) your 9-5, what's left blank is your YOU time.

DEPRESSIVE AF ISN'T IT???????????? EVERYTHING IS COLORED BLACK! Rip the page and onto the corkboard for permanent motivation.

The difference here is Andy's sharpie block is actually family time and we all want to be Andy rignt now.