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January 31 · 18 Comments

Time Blocking: How to Successfully Increase Your Productivity

Growth· Self Development

During my college years of working with special needs kids I learned how important it was for kids to have a routine. So naturally once I became a mom I tried to implement that same concept for my kiddos.

Cue the never-ending journey (or at least that’s what it felt like) of making a schedule and never being able to stick to it.

A strict schedule that planned out every minute of my day down to half hour increments was too much for me to handle but on the other hand a daily checklist didn’t have quite enough structure to make me feel productive and organize. I quickly realized I, as well as my kids, needed something with a little structure but would also allow room for flexibility because, Hello toddlers.

Don’t get me wrong, a daily routine checklist is still a great way to see your week as an overview. For me it helps to see what areas I need to work on and what areas I’m doing great in, but I needed something more to help manage my time and get a little more organized.

After searching for different schedules I stumbled upon the idea of Time Blocking.

What is Time Blocking?

Time Blocking is a way of scheduling your day into time blocked off sections. Each section has specific tasks assigned to it and they are only done in that time block. This kind of time management was orgionally created by Francesco Cirillo while he was in college and he used a kitchen tomatoe timer.

So the whole idea behind Time Blocking is to break your day up into sections and have specific tasks to do in each section. We’ll touch more on that below.

How does Time Blocking make you more productive?

Have you ever had a day like this? You wake up and decided today is the day you are going to start working out but then remember you have to take a package to the post office, so you pack up the kiddos and head out. On your way home, you pass the grocery store only to remember you are running low on eggs so you decided to stop and just grab a few things. You head home with 10 bags full of groceries. Remember you were only going for eggs. By now the kiddos are screaming for food so you decided to just go out for lunch. It’s so much easier and means no dishes for you to clean up. You finally get home and get the kids put down for nap and now start putting away all the groceries. This ends with you getting distracted by all the old leftovers in your fridge so you spend the next two hours throwing away old food and cleaning the entire fridge. Next thing you know the kids are awake from nap, you are clueless as to what’s for dinner, you spent all your alone time cleaning instead of working out like you planned, and you are left wondering how in the world your day has gone so array.

This was me regularly. I would get to the end of the week and realize so much of what I really wanted to accomplish was left untouched and most of the time I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off.

Time blocking completely eliminates distractions by making you put all your focus on only the tasks listed for that time block. No more getting distracted by every little thing or wasting time on frivolous tasks.

ways to lower your stress

Block Schedule

I have seen people time block every hour of the day but for me that’s just too much. Remember I have toddler and there has to be some room for grace to move or it will just make me a stressed-out mess. After looking around I found a video by Jordan Page of Fun Cheap or Free about her version of time blocking and it was the God send of all schedules for me. I decided to make our schedule and try it for a couple weeks to see how it went and alas it worked!

How It Works

Start by dividing your day into 2-3-hour sections. Each section will be named something different. For my block schedule I have a Morning, Outing, Lunch, Evening, Night, and Sleep section. Everyone and every family are different, so your day may look similar to mine while some of you, maybe the moms who work outside the home, will have vastly different schedules. Adapt it to fit you and your family.

Under each section list off the tasks or activities that you will do during that time frame. Think of your week as a whole. If you have a regular meeting at a specific time one day a week list it in that section. It’s not about doing all the tasks and activities under each section every day, it’s about giving your day and week structure. If something doesn’t get done during its designated time block, then it waits till tomorrow.

For example, my section titled ‘Outing’ is when we go to the Library once a week for story time, when I go to mom groups, when I plan play dates, and even when I schedule my doctors’ appointments. It allows me to have a time frame to schedule all my miscellaneous stuff so that it doesn’t interfere with my work or consume my day.

Here is an example of my block schedule a couple years ago. You can use this as a reference and guide to help you design your own for you are your family.

An important thing to remember is that this type of schedule is designed to be used for the whole week, or at least Monday through Friday. Weekends are always very different so its ok to not follow your block schedule during that time, you just don’t want a different block schedule for every day of the week if you can help it. All that will do is be overwhelming and will make it hard to keep track of.

For more information or a more detailed ‘How To’ on this specific kind of block scheduling system, you can check out Jordan Page’s video tutorial!

So, if you’re anything like me and have tried implementing schedule after schedule only to be defeated by every single one, then I highly suggest trying the Block Schedule system. It’s the only way I’m able to stay on track and feel highly productive each day. I promise you that this system is the answer for you taking control of your day instead of letting it control you.

To access the editable Block Schedule Template, fill out the form below. This template is designed in Canva. In order to download and edit you have to have a FREE Canva account. So go to Canva.com and create an account before clicking the template link in your email. Once you are signed into your account and click the link in the email, it will automatically make a copy of the template to your account. Next you can start editing to fit your schedule.

BEFORE YOU SUBSCRIBE!!!

Please note that you will get an email asking you to confirm your subscription. Once you hit confirm in that 1st email give it about 5 -10 minutes and then  you will get the follow up email with the download link for the editable template! Sorry for the delay in time but for some reason it does it on this email more than all the others. Thanks for understanding.

Download Your FREE 'Block Schedule Template' Below! 

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Comments

  1. nikki storey says

    January 24 at 9:36 am

    i subscribed but didnt get access to the template

    Reply
    • TheDeeplyRootedMom says

      June 12 at 10:39 am

      It takes a few minutes after you subscribe to get it. If you still didn’t receive it please email me!

      Reply
    • Michelle says

      January 13 at 9:23 pm

      I am a stay home mom/own my business but i really get loss in time and i go to bed regretting my whole day but since i found this i can say my days have been more productive i feel very accomplished with my self

      Reply
      • TheDeeplyRootedMom says

        January 28 at 2:10 pm

        I’m so glad this is helping you! When I found this scheduling method it was so helpful!

        Reply
  2. Nancy Louise Thomson says

    April 26 at 4:59 pm

    I subscribed but didn’t get access to the template

    Nancy

    Reply
    • TheDeeplyRootedMom says

      June 12 at 10:37 am

      I emailed you!! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Brenda says

    June 22 at 6:12 pm

    Hello i also suscribed and did not get the template!

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • TheDeeplyRootedMom says

      August 10 at 6:04 am

      I looked and it says it sent at the same time you commented. I will go ahead and send you another link just incase!

      Reply
  4. Brandee says

    July 7 at 8:58 pm

    Hi! I also registered but didn’t get a download.

    Reply
    • TheDeeplyRootedMom says

      August 10 at 6:05 am

      I looked and it says it sent at the same time you commented. I will go ahead and send you another link just incase!

      Reply
  5. Deecelly says

    August 9 at 10:25 pm

    Great article! Thanks for share, my life is si hectic and I only have one child, am a stay at home mom and have my grandson living with me and his mom who needs a lot of help. How am I going to manage homeschooling I wonder.

    Reply
  6. Brittany Minix says

    August 27 at 9:17 am

    Hello, I’ve been waiting on the download for about 40m. Would you be able to send it to me directly?

    Reply
    • Brittany says

      August 27 at 9:24 am

      Nevermind it was in my junk folder, thank you!!

      Reply
  7. Anne Marie says

    September 28 at 3:10 pm

    I subscribed but didnt get access to the template.

    Reply
    • TheDeeplyRootedMom says

      October 1 at 7:36 am

      Hi Anne,
      I looked up your email and I noticed you didn’t confirm your subscription. Make sure you confirm your subscription through the first email. It may have been sent to your spam or junk folder so I’d check there. I re-sent it again this morning just incase. Let me know if you still have issues.

      Reply
  8. Lori Timpone says

    December 2 at 12:44 pm

    Hi! I also subscribed but didn’t get the template after waiting a bit. Thanks!

    Reply
  9. Raven says

    July 4 at 10:34 am

    Hi I accidently deleted the template and I can’t seem to find a way to retrieve it. Is there any way to have it sent again?

    Reply
    • Laci Bean says

      July 16 at 2:34 pm

      I emailed you the link.

      Reply

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Hello! I’m Laci…

Hi my name is Laci & I’m a deconstructing exvangelical who’s passionate about helping others heal from religious trauma and find what spirituality means to them. Read More….

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On our way to go grocery shopping today the kids a On our way to go grocery shopping today the kids asked for music. So my husband turned on a local Christian radio station. As I sat in the car listening to the lyrics I couldn’t help but think about the parts of the Bible they just didn’t tell us about in childhood. 🤔🫠
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Where everyone knows everyone and somehow we are all inter-connected.

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The Uvalde house was the last place my mom, dad, and all my siblings and I spent Christmas together.

Uvalde is another one of those small Texas towns, but unfortunately everyone now knows this town.

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It hits different.

Small towns people are inter-connected in a deep way.

Uvalde citizens are mourning the loss of their child, their child’s best friend(s), their child’s teacher whom they may have known for years or even grew up with. Teens and adults are mourning the loss of the child they babysat.

Some may be mourning all of the above at the same time.

I’m mourning for them. For complete strangers.

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They asked why but I didn’t tell them. I just said that there was something on the news that made me sad.

I know she will probably hear about it at school tomorrow and come home with questions.

I won’t know what to say. Just like I didn’t know what to say or how to explain the fact that we didn’t have ‘active shooter drills’ growing up like she does.

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