Ep. 606: With Great Time Freedom Comes Great Time Responsibility – A Guide To Block Scheduling

After much more trial and error in managing my time efficiently and effectively, I am revisiting Kevin’s advice and combining it with some additional resources from Brian Tracey, Cal Newport and Tim Ferriss. After three solid months of experimentation with block scheduling, I’m ready to report my findings in this marathon solo show. I hope this is helpful for many of you.

Backstory/Problems
Lately on SSP, we’ve been spending a lot of show time discussing the glories of being your own boss. But several times a week, I realize I kind of suck at that. I usually feel busy but not doing things that are really moving the needle for my business.

Time is precious, and with great freedom comes great responsibility.
Especially for unschooled kids, dealing with an abundance of unstructured time. What habits are they forming?

Block Scheduling INFLUENCES
"Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right things. Your ability to plan and organize your work, in advance, so you are always working on your highest value tasks determines your success as much as any other factor." – Brian Tracey

Eat That Frog

* Select Your Most Important Task
* Begin Immediately.
* Work on It Single Handedly.
* Finish It!!

Beware of attention residue. Every time you switch activities you deplete focus.

THE E-MYTH

This book taught me to think of myself as playing three distinct roles inside School Sucks: entrepreneur, manager and technician.
I became more conscious of how I was dividing my time between the three.

Batching
Tim Ferriss talks about group related work together in The Four-Hour Work Week. Don’t make the batch too big if it’s not something you enjoy.

Cal Newport – DEEP WORK
This is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. it’s a skill we build over time. Newport claims that a 40 hour time-blocked work wee can produce the same amount of output as an unstructured 60-hour work week.

Embracing "monk mode morning"
Between when you wake up and noon no meetings, no calls, no texts, no email, no Internet. You instead work deeply on something (or some things) that matter. That’s the ideal, so how close can I get?

Block Scheduling PROCESS
This is MY calendar; I can revise it however I wish.
I use google calendar – everything moves.
Time blocking has four major steps: plan, block, act, and revise.
This is explained in detail in the show.

Block Scheduling Outcomes After Three Months

* specific, well defined time blocks for high-value activities, every day, fail if I must
* done with work by 5pm every day
* Dump low priority stuff off later into the week.

WHAT I’VE LEARNED ABOUT MYSELF
* I prioritize shallow work, production "feel busy" or "feel productive"
* I don’t spend enough time on entrepreneurial thinking
* Management tasks sap my energy, not for the morning
* I manage my time less effectively as the week goes on
* I don’t have clear boundaries between life and work , too much time in the Studio of Champions
* I need to be managed, but I am the only manager I have, and this process solves that problem
* Being busy feels terrible, and so does telling people I’m too busy

Related Shows On Organization, Focus and Block Scheduling
[PODCAST/VIDEO] #404: Brett’s Complete Guide To Evernote with GTD – Tutorial
[PODCAST] #406: Time Mastery – A Conversation With Kevin Kruse

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