Stop Timeboxing, do Time Blocking

Time Blocking vs Timeboxing

I am a true believer in managing my time in a structured way. The tool of my choice is - time blocking. In this article, I would like to briefly introduce time blocking and ask you, my favorite community, to share how you structure your precious time.

There are hundreds of productivity influencers, writers, and podcasters out there. Most of them have shared their view on time blocking. You would be surprised how many variations are there!

Mainly, two terms are used - "time blocking" and "timeboxing". Most people use them interchangeably, but there is a nuance.
In both practices, you would assign time chunks of your day to specific activities, and follow this schedule, but the intent is different.
When doing time blocking one's intent is to create uninterrupted blocks of time, where only one specific activity is performed. Timeboxing on the other hand is used to put a time boundary on the activity, creating a feeling of having a deadline.

Timeboxing problem

Time boxing is often used in the context of tasks, not activities. Instead of "Working on project MyProfitableSaaS", a time box would be "Complete payment page". The reason is obvious - you need to estimate the task to fit it in a time box and plan it in your calendar.

This is the main problem with timeboxing in my opinion. As a manager with years of experience, and as a human being with tens of years of experience, I know how bad we are with task estimations. Research supports it as well.

With timeboxing, we put boundaries, lose flexibility, and inevitably bring a lot of stress from exploded time boxes.

Time blocking for the win

One of the biggest advocates of Time Blocking - Cal Newport, even wrote several books on the topic. Let me give you a quick overview of the process.

Our days consist of many moving parts, roughly divided into two categories.

• Uncontrolled
  • Day job, shift work, and other obligations, where time is controlled by external actors (your boss).
  • Events - scheduled obligations, that have determined start time, and somewhat determined durations.
  • Sleep, and other physiological needs.
• Controlled
  • Chores
  • Personal projects
  • Hobbies
  • Self-development

Both controlled and uncontrolled time can be time blocked. I start with uncontrolled blocks and then build controlled blocks around them.
Most of the time blocks I use, are activities, not tasks. "Development of XXX", "Marketing of XXX", "Morning routine", "Family", "Rest", etc.
Some blocks are more like events, I set for myself, like "Running", and "Gym".
And, even though I just criticized it, I do have few task blocks, mostly ones that take long enough to fill the whole time block.

Tools, and what is wrong with them

Oh, there are so many! The number one tool is still Google Calendar. Some people, especially Cal Newport followers, even use paper day planners.

Most of the dedicated tools are built around the concept of task time boxing - Sunsama, Akiflow, Amie, Heydai, and many others. Don't get me wrong, some of these tools are convenient and beautiful, but they don't do time blocking.
Akiflow's concept of time slots comes closer than others, but it is just one of the features hidden in UI, not the tool's purpose.

What am I building

I need a different tool, namely:

• I want to quickly plan weeks and days from the set of predefined activities while seeing all the events and obligations in my calendar. Planning should take minutes.
• I want to set goals and see progress for each activity.
• I want to look back a week, month, and year and understand what have I been doing, and how my life has changed.
• I am building this tool, and I need your help.

Your Feedback Needed

Most likely, you, a founder, freelancer, side hustler, or knowledge worker are already using some form of time blocking. With all the distractions we get today, it is almost impossible to complete meaningful work without dedicating and protecting time for it.

• How do you plan your days?
• What tools are you using?
• What is missing?

If, similarly to me, you are someone struggling with time boxing or time blocking tools, let's talk! I am building time blocking solution for you, and your opinion matters.

Feel free to join the waitlist here https://yuzutime.com/
And if you have a couple of minutes, please fill in this survey https://tally.so/r/waBo4v

Thank you!