Time blocking is an alternative to stress, what is it?

Whether you have worked, are currently studying, or are staying at home taking care of the needs of the house and the children, you will feel confused when all the work piles up at the same time as if scrambling to ask for a job.

Indeed, one of the best keys to doing it all is good time management. To start with, try to do it time blocking.

What is that time blocking ?

Source: Diary of a Journal Planner

When you are hunted for a lot of work, you may often panic and not think clearly. Not finished one job, your mind suddenly drifts to the next task.

The drive to do your job perfectly plus the demand to get everything done in a timely manner gets you to end up doing it multi-tasking, namely doing several jobs at once.

In fact, there has been research that proves that doing multitasking is not an effective way. In fact, if done too often, this will actually reduce the cognitive ability of the brain to control motivation and emotions.

In addition, it will also make you easier to get distracted and forget what to do. As a result, you are less focused on paying attention to the details that are needed in the work. Of course this also has an impact on the results of your work.

In order not to keep getting stuck in the same situation, good time management is certainly needed to help you get out of the stress zone due to a never-ending burden. One way to start is by doing time blocking.

Time blocking is a time management technique which helps to schedule work plans or things to do by blocking certain time slots to complete certain activities with the aim of increasing your productivity.

For example, if you are accustomed to opening your cellphone every time you receive an email or social media notification, this time you set a separate time specifically dedicated to doing it.

Say you set a time from 3 to 4 in the afternoon, use that time to check your cell phone. Once an hour is over, continue the day with another activity.

What are the benefits that can be obtained from time blocking ?

When composing time blocking, usually you will give a time indicating when you started and finished something.

This can also be a reference for how long you will be working on the assignment. Like setting a target, you will concentrate more and try to actually finish the job at the time you have set.

The time specified is also limited. If you really try to stick to everything that has been arranged, you will be motivated to do the job faster.

So that if there is still plenty of time left, you can use it to do more work for the next time. In other words, you have increased your productivity.

Schedule with time blocking indirectly also can train you in planning something and living life more regularly.

When you are really doing well, hopefully this method can lighten your load. Sometimes some unfinished work often takes up your mind and the effect can lead to stress.

This way of getting started with time management will make you calmer and help you save more energy for other things.

How do I get started?

When doing time blocking, You must really focus on one activity without being distracted by other activities. At first glance this may seem difficult, but it never hurts to try to start doing it with the following steps.

1. Set priorities

Try to remember and review again, is there one important work that must be completed early. Divide into jobs. For example, there are three most important tasks you have to do, so prioritize them first.

2. Arrange a schedule for the week

After determining the priority work, start making a table of activities. Try to arrange in advance the main activities that will be carried out, how long you will work on them, and the estimated time to finish.

Typically, the time spent on an important job is 90 minutes. The reason is, according to ultradian rhythm science, the human brain can operate at its best capacity to be fully focused for a maximum of 90 minutes.

However, there are some jobs that require more time than that. To fix this, divide the time into two or three parts interspersed with rest periods.

You can spend the first half of 90 minutes, alternate with 30 minutes of rest, then do the second half at the same time as the first.

Also make sure you leave time for other activities after all the priority work is done.

3. Do it slowly

The next step, of course, is to carry out activities accordingly time blocking which has been made. In the first few moments, you may feel that time is limited because you are not used to it.

Therefore, do it slowly. Set the first target to complete all priority work on time.

Regarding additional activities, do according to your ability. You don't need to schedule exactly what time you have to do all the activities.

Indeed, the main factor of success time blocking is a commitment. The important thing is to always try to do the task according to what has been scheduled. Remind your mind that this will keep you from feeling tired and overwhelming stress.