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Time: To block or not to block
Last week I was working with a client on time management. She is a CEO, and like most in that position, has more coming at her than she can attend to. As Peter Drucker often said, effective executives know how to manage their time well. Here is what she already had in play:
- Clear, specific, time- related goals
- Specific tasks and activities to support goals
- She had categorized and prioritized her goals.
The next step was to plan her week. The first thing she did was put in what had already been scheduled. That is non-discretionary time and needs to be entered first. Next she went to her discretionary time. She wisely planned only 70% of it. If we plan 100% percent of it, it just doesn’t work. There are always legitimate interruptions and the unexpected.
Sounds pretty good so far huh? Now is when we came to the snag: Do we block time, or simply do things in order of their priority (A-1, A-2, etc.) What’s the answer? It depends!
If we are pretty sure of the amount of time a task or activity will take, we can block time. If we really do not know how long the job will take, we may want to forget about blocking time, and just work on the project single-handedly until it is done. Forget email and distractions of a lower priority.
Here is an example: yesterday I had a very high priority project that needed to be done. It was my A-1. I didn’t want to do it. I had four choices: Escape, avoid, procrastinate, or do it. I did it. I thought it would take me about 2 hours. He took me four hours. After I was through, I rewarded myself with a walk in the fresh air, and went on to my A-2. I also got that done. I had hoped to get three things done, but only got two. I also felt good about the day. Because I wasn’t sure of how long it would take, I took the pressure of blocked time off, and it allowed me to be more relaxed and creative. So, do we block time, or not block time? (I love saying this) IT DEPENDS!