8 Things in Life to Time Block to Increase Productivity

1. Exercise – I absolutely believe in starting each day in a healthy and strong way. I believe in blocking out time for health and fitness each day. For about 20 years now I have committed to do it first thing in the morning. For me, it kicks my day off strong and then I’ve got it done. After my exercise for the day is done, I can handle everything else I need to get accomplished.
2. Social Media – I believe we all know this by now, but it’s a great reminder for all of us that social media can be a big distraction. If you don’t watch the time, the entire day can fly by and you can waste a lot of time. I absolutely put a time limit for how long I will be on social media. What that means for me is that I time block time that I am posting on social media as well as the time that I am replying to people. It’s very important to keep a tight timeline on this! 
3. Client Calls – It is not always possible to schedule calls all at one time, but when I can, I block out a chunk of time to focus in on calls. It’s helps me to positively push forward to get them done effectively when I know I’ve got a number of them to do. 
4. Paperwork – Another area that I time block is getting paperwork done. That includes getting bills paid, doing business paperwork, going through mail etc. It really is helpful for me to get that paperwork all together at one time and focus on getting it done.
5. Writing – I don’t know about you, but there are certain times in the day that are creative times for me. For me, I absolutely have to do my writing earlier in the day. That is when I am the most effective in getting it done. Find that creative time for yourself, then be sure to block out time for it.
6. White Space – I had to learn to do this one.  I schedule ‘white space’ time which is time just for me to dream and plan out future projects. I put it down on the calendar, because otherwise I likely would never get it done. 
7. Networking – In order for me to be most effective for my business, I need to make sure that I only attend high quality networking events that are going to add value to my business. I have to make sure that I am not wasting time on events that are not going to add value. So I have a few, set blocked-out networking events that I attend on a regular basis.
8. Family Time – I absolutely make sure to shut down from work at a certain time in the day. Being an entrepreneur, you could work 24 hours a day but it’s so important to realize that work is not everything. You must take great care of your relationships.

Time blocking these 8 areas of my life has worked very effectively for me as I believe I am working smarter not harder and as a result I am getting more accomplished.

[bctt tweet=”If you want to be more productive, time block tasks and stay laser focused on them!”]