Today I am going to share with you (step by step!!) how I manage my time using the time-blocking method. This is an effective time management technique for students and freshmen in school or studying online. If you struggle to balance your studies, work, and social life, continue reading!
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What Is Time-blocking?
Time blocking is a time management technique where you group similar tasks into a “block” and assign a time slot to work on each block. This method helps you stay productive on days you are not feeling motivated to work and is great for busy individuals who have to deal with different types of tasks every day.
Why Time-blocking?
- Helps avoid multi-task
Time blocking helps you avoid multi-tasking. As you have already scheduled a time for all your tasks, you do not have to worry about running out of time. - Improve your focus
Context switching can affect your focus. Time blocking helps you get into deep focus by preventing you from constantly switching between tasks. Instead of creating a simple to-do list, you schedule your work tasks and allocate time for them. It makes sure that you have the time to complete your to-do list and helps you focus on doing a task at a time.
The picture below shows a schedule that is NOT time blocked (12th May) and a time-blocked schedule (13th May). I categorize “organize lecture notes” and “do readings” as Revision; “do maths homework” and “write an essay” as Assignments.
As you can see, you do not have to switch between tasks when you time block your day.
- Increase productivity
It may boost your productivity when you know that you are going to fall behind your schedule. You will think of more efficient ways to complete your tasks when you spend too much time on them.
- Stop procrastination
You have created a timetable for yourself. It helps you stay productive even on days you are not feeling motivated to work. It also prevents you from taking super long breaks or constantly thinking about what to do next.
- Track and review your schedule
It tracks the time you spend on each task. You can review and reflect on your time spent and adjust your plan for the next week or day.
Disadvantages of Time-blocking
The time-blocking method can help you stay productive and get things done, but it also has some limitations.
- Unplanned events can ruin your schedule;
- Time estimation for each task can be inaccurate, especially when your energy level differs every day;
- It requires some effort to plan every week and morning.
How To Time Block As a Student In College
I am going to show you how I time block my day in College-
- Prepare a time-blocking planner
There are different types of hourly planners. I will use the half-hour weekly planner to show you how I time block my day. I also like to add a motivational quote to my spread to encourage myself. - List out your weekly to-dos at the start of the week
Your weekly to-dos are the tasks that have to be completed by the end of the week. List out all the things you have to do this week on the planner at the beginning of the week. This could be your assignments or the habits you want to develop. For example, “Do essay research”, book study room for weekend group study session”. I may add tasks to the weekly to-do lists during the week.
- Prioritize your tasks
I like to prioritize my tasks using the Eisenhower Matrix. It determines the priority of my to-dos according to their urgency and importance. Here I block out the time for my meals, lectures, medical appointments, work, and meetings. These are the events I must attend or things that I must do. You can choose to block out the time for important events weekly or daily. I prefer blocking my time daily because it is more flexible. I can also take into account my energy level that day.
- List your daily tasks
The next step is to list your daily tasks according to the weekly priority (urgency and importance). If the weekly task is a task that requires a lot of time to complete, you may break it into smaller daily tasks. For example, if you need 10 hours a week to do your essay research, you may break it down to “research cases on Topic X”, “make case notes and summaries for Topic Y”, “research journal articles for argument 1”.
- Estimate the time you need for each task and determine your “peak hours”
Estimate the time you need for each daily task. For example, I need 2 hours to research cases on Topic X. Overestimate the time you need so that your schedule will not be affected if you fail to get your work done within the planned time.
After that, determine your own “peak hours”. If you are a morning person, your energy level may be higher in the morning.
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- Schedule a time for each task
Assign a time slot for each task according to its priority and your energy level. Schedule the high-priority tasks first. I am a morning person. I want to do my research in the morning because I need to be very focused when I read. As mentioned above, I always overestimate time. I leave time for travelling, urgent phone calls that may interrupt my work. Remember to schedule breaks too!
Then schedule the lower priority tasks, such as the important but not urgent tasks. I sometimes schedule small tasks between 2 tasks. For example, I always feel tired after lunch. Instead of studying right after lunch, I will wrap my friend’s birthday gift or book a room for the weekend group study session.
- Save some time as free time
I like to save some time as “free time” for unplanned events. 7-11 pm is my free time today. I can hang out with my friends, work on the tasks I have not completed in the morning, finish some other important weekly to-dos, such as apply for my internship or relax!
- Track and review
Track and review your schedule at the end of the day or week. You may adjust your time estimation for each task next day or week if you need more time/less time to finish it.
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Other time blocking methods
- Morning-Afternoon-Evening time blocking
This time blocking method is more flexible as you only group your tasks into morning to-dos, afternoon to-dos, and evening/night to-dos. It gives you greater flexibility. For example,
Morning-to-do:
- Breakfast
- Workout
- Water Plant
- Research Topic Y
- Research Topic X
Afternoon to-dos
- Reply emails
- Wrap gifts
- Study Tort law ch.4 readings
- Do ch.4 practice papers
Evening to-dos:
- Laundry
- Video call Mom
- Read a book
- The Pomodoro Technique
Decide on the main task you want to work on, and break them into smaller tasks. The Pomodoro Technique suggests that you work for 25 minutes and rest for 5 minutes. After 4 Pomodoro sessions, take a 10-minute break. Focus on completing a small task during the 25-minute work session. You can apply this to your time blocking planner to make sure that you take breaks.
I hope this helps you manage your time effectively in college. If you’re interested in more college organization, time management, and study tips-related posts, follow my blog, Pinterest, and Instagram!
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