HOW TO TIME BLOCK WITH GOOGLE CALENDAR
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As a working mom, I know that time management is key to keeping my sanity. I have to be able to balance work, home life, and everything in between.
That's why I was so excited when I learned about time blocking. Time blocking is a great way to increase your productivity by batching similar tasks together and scheduling them in advance.
The best part about time blocking is that it can be easily done with Google Calendar. Google Calendar is a free online calendar that you can access from anywhere.
In this post, I'm going to show you how to time block with Google Calendar so that you can take control of your time and get more done!
ONE || Create a new calendar.
On the right hand side of your Google Calendar, you’ll see all your calendars you have already. You can have an unlimited number of calendars (I think I have maybe 20 at this point).
You’ll see a section titled “Other Calendars.” Click the plus sign and then “create a new calendar.”
I like to title mine “Ideal Schedule” since I know that this is the GOAL and that it’s not going to be perfect every single day, but it gives me something to shoot for.
TWO|| Create categories or themes for your tasks
I am ALL about batching my work and keeping like things together. That’s really the key to time blocking. Each day of the week has a theme:
Monday = working ON my business (writing emails, blogging, creating sales pages + courses, etc.)
Tuesday = client work + calls
Wednesday = content writing (I am the Chief Content Officer for The Biz Runners, so I do a lot of copywriting on these days)
Thursday = client work + calls
Friday = catch-up
If you can’t theme your days, give your tasks categories. One client I helped create a weekly plan with recently had different categories throughout his day that we blocked.
It really depends on what works best for YOU and YOUR schedule.
THREE || Set up recurring events for the things you do every day.
This is why I LOVE doing this in Google Calendar. Anything that I do every day or even every week, I can set up as a recurring task.
For example, every day at 9AM is my Daily Do List (the things I do every day like checking my email, writing my personal content, checking in with clients, etc.). I can make that a recurring event Monday through Friday so I’m not scheduling it every day.
This is also why step 2 is really important - it’ll make it easier for you to see the things you do on a regular basis and create a schedule that is ideal for you.
FOUR || Add in one-time events as they come
I have several different calendars for each category of my day: my personal things, family things, kids activities, business/work, etc. My ideal schedule is separate from these because it’s the goal, not the reality.
When events come up, like client calls or soccer games, I am able to easily adjust these things around my ideal schedule and figure out where I can get my work done.
FIVE || Color code that sh*t!
This is my FAVORITE part because it makes it so easy to see! Because I have separate calendars for all the different categories, I can make each one a different color. I personally use my brand colors, but you can use any color you like for each calendar!
Time blocking has helped me become much more productive both at work and at home. If you're looking for a way to increase your productivity, I highly recommend giving it a try! And using Google Calendar is a great way to get started because it's free and easy to use.
Need help figuring out time blocking and how to create your ideal schedule? Grab my Time Blocking Mini-Course and in less than an hour, we will have the PERFECT schedule set up for you to get more checked off your to-do list each and every day!
