Getting Good At This Time Block Thing

We all know with our work to focus and prioritize what we need to get done in a day and in a week doing time blocking allocates time to a task. But we need to

   Get Good At This Time Block Thing.

A few ideas to work on it --

Change your setting - instead of doing your heads down project at the office, go somewhere else, the coffee shop, a home office, an unused conference room. Somewhere with less rather than more distractions. I thought once a coffee shop was better but the music in the background was AWFUL

Visualize what you are doing - be prepared in advance with your materials, notes, clean desk, files. It will make your concentrating and getting going easier

Phone calls all on hold - this goes if you are in an office, alert whomever it is you are NOT taking your land line calls, or on your cell phone, they go to voice mail and the phone is turned off

Early is better - I have found the first part of the day for heads down time blocking seems to work better than mid to late day. Get something unpleasant and prioritized out of the way first thing

The calendar has YOUR NAME on it - schedule this block of time as YOUR time, and don't deviate off it. With YOUR NAME on the calendar it reminds you how you have scheduled this window of time to get this important task done

The Pre- Time Block Window you don't check email or voice mail messages - Messages checked the night before are ok, but if your time block starts at 10 a.m. DO NOT check email or voice messages prior. It is another distraction and you will lose concentration

Be tough with your rules - if someone intrudes to connect with you during your ZONE, be nice and tell them you will connect with them LATER

Door Signs - At home or office, put up a do not disturb sign, to let people know you are serious and BUSY with a task at hand

Commitment - with your TOUGHEST needed time blocked assignments, work, fitness, personal needs, stay with it and GET THEM DONE.

You will be amazed how good you feel each day, or weekly when you knock those toughest assignments out of the ball park with your productive TIME BLOCKING self.