Do It Today: Overcome Procrastination, Improve Productivity, and Achieve More Meaningful Things

Some people love Time Blocking. Some people
hate it.
Computer science professor and author of Deep Work, Cal
Newport, also uses time blocking. He says:
“I take time blocking seriously, dedicating ten to twenty
minutes every evening to building my schedule for the next
day. During this planning process I consult my task lists and
calendars, as well as my weekly and quarterly planning
notes. My goal is to make sure progress is being made on
the right things at the right pace for the relevant deadlines.”
The last sentence is exactly why I schedule everything I
want to do. 
Working
is not the same thing as 
making
progress
. And Time Blocking helps me to improve my focus
so I can get 
meaningful
things done. Things that have an
actual impact on my life.
I know there are a lot of successful people who work with
empty calendars. I’ve read the articles. They simply work
two, three or four hours per day.
And to be honest, that sounds very attractive to me too.
However, one must look at his/her own life situation. What
are you trying to achieve? And more importantly: What
resources do you have? Often, people who don’t have a lot

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of money, 
do
have a lot of time. So why not use it wisely?
Either way, I think that planning serves a purpose.
I plan my days and weeks in advance because I want to
make sure I’m working on the RIGHT things. Too often, I get
lost in completing daily tasks. Think about it this way. I’m
pretty organized already. And I only work on one big thing
per area of my life. But there are many different areas of my
life: My family business, my blog, podcast, online courses,
relationship, friends, investments, etc.
It might sound like I’m doing many different things. But it
depends on how you look at it. Everything I do leads to one
thing: Living a meaningful and independent life.
But let’s not get philosophical here. If you’re lacking focus,
not making progress, and want to work in a more organized
way, give time blocking a try. Here are some things I’ve
learned that may help:
Take 10 minutes every evening and plan your next
day. Rearrange blocks if you must create time for
other important things.
Use recurring blocks for recurring tasks. For
instance, I’ve scheduled two hours to write my new
book every Tuesday and Thursday.
Don’t over-schedule. Realistically, you can’t be
productive 10 hours straight. Give yourself some
time between tasks.
And always schedule more time than you think you
need.