Time Blocking: The Productivity Method That Actually Works

You’ve probably tried every productivity hack under the sun. From Marie Kondo-ing your desktop to buying that expensive planner you used for exactly three days. Yet here you are, drowning in tasks. Welcome to the chaotic world of reactive productivity, where your schedule controls you rather than the other way around. Let’s try to fix it with time blocking.

From Productivity Purgatory to Time Blocking

It’s 6 pm and you’ve been busy all day, but you can’t quite remember what you’ve actually achieved. Does that sound familiar? You’re not alone. Research shows that knowledge workers check their emails every 11 minutes, spending only an average of 23 minutes working on a task before being interrupted. The result? A productivity paradox, whereby being busy doesn’t necessarily mean being productive. We recommend trying the most common productivity techniques. One of the first of these is time blocking.

Time blocking is deceptively simple: instead of keeping a to-do list that silently judges you from the corner of your desk, you assign specific time slots to specific tasks in your calendar. It’s like making dinner reservations for your work — everything gets its proper time and place.

However, time blocking isn’t just about scheduling. It’s about taking control of your attention — that precious resource that everyone wants a piece of.

How Time Blocking Works

Step 1: Brain Dump Everything

List all your tasks, projects, and responsibilities, including “respond to that email from 2 weeks ago” and “finally organize the shared drive.”

Step 2: Estimate Time Requirements

This is where most people fail. That ‘quick’ client presentation? It’s not 30 minutes; it’s two hours when you factor in research, preparation, and the inevitable technical issues. Be brutally honest about time estimates. If you have previously tracked the time taken for similar tasks, use this data.

Step 3: Block and Assign

Schedule each task in your calendar like it’s a meeting with your most important client. Include: • Deep work blocks for complex projects • Communication blocks for emails and calls • Buffer time between tasks • Even breaks (they’re productive too)

Step 4: Protect your time blocks

Treat these time slots as if they were important appointments. Would you cancel a client meeting to check Instagram? Then don’t sacrifice your focused work time for non-urgent requests.

Below is an example of how a marketer can use time blocking to organise his daily schedule in his calendar.

What Brings Time Blocking to the Next Level

Most productivity advice stops at planning. But planning without measurement is just thinking with extra steps. When you take step 5 combining time blocking with accurate time tracking with tools like Kimai, you unlock superpowers:

Reality Check Your Estimates

Do you remember that “30-minute task” that somehow ate your entire morning? Time tracking reveals these estimation failures, helping you plan more accurately.

Identify Your Productivity Patterns

Maybe you’re a morning person who should tackle complex analysis before 10 AM. Or perhaps your creative work flows better in the afternoon. Time tracking data reveals these patterns, letting you optimize your time blocks accordingly.

Prove Your Worth (Especially for Freelancers)

For freelancers and agencies, time blocking combined with tracking provides detailed records for client billing and project analysis. No more “I think I spent about 3 hours on that” conversations.

Team Optimization

Managers can use time blocking and tracking data to better understand team capacity, identify bottlenecks, and make more informed decisions about resource allocation.

Your First Steps to Better Productivity

Ready to take control of your schedule? Here’s your approach:

1. Choose three important tasks for tomorrow or next week
2. Block specific time slots for each task in your calendar
3. Track your actual time using Kimai as you work on these tasks
4. Compare planned vs. actual at the end of the day or the week