Planning: Time Blocking
Take a deep breath. Breathe in. Breathe out. Now imagine what your ideal day would look like? How would it feel? Ponder it for a bit. Close your eyes.
Now open your eyes and think about how your days are now. Do they resemble anything like the ones you imagined?
Most likely the answer is no. For those that know me, they know that I am a mom of four kiddos- ages (almost) 10, 8, 2 and 11 months. I am a wife. I am a homemaker. I am a public school teacher. I homeschool. We enjoy sports. We travel. We love to be out and about. I am often asked, “How do you do everything? You are always on the go… how do you do it?”
But I have a little secret.
I don’t do it all.
And everything I do, I plan it.
My husband steers the ship, and I keep the ship in working order so that he can. We understand this. And it is with this understanding that I do what I have to do to keep this household running. I’m the thermostat. Like a thermostat, a device that automatically regulates temperature, I regulate the flow of our home.
You may think I have a rigid schedule where every second is planned. But I don’t. I use a system called “time blocking.”
I am a believer in being intentional. I am a believer in doing what brings us joy. I believe in living a life that flows. A life that is easy. A life that is filled with peace.
In today's fast paced world it is easy to over schedule. It is easy to focus on tasks on a checklist. It is easy to do all the things because everyone else is doing it. But you don’t have to.
Here is how I “time block” so that I can live my dream life NOW.
First, I figure out what our priorities are. What things do you have to do every week? What about every day? I make a list. If they are bound by time, then I include that time.
For instance, my son has speech therapy session every week. The boys have certain sports on certain days at certain times. But I also have a list of daily things that need to get done, but not at a certain time, like school, meals, etc.
Second, I get an hourly daily schedule. You can write it out, print one off the internet, use google sheets/excel, or even buy a planner that includes it. Then I start to build my schedule prioritizing scheduled appointments first.
Then I add in blocks of time where I add other rhythms and routines. Things like wake up, breakfast, schooling, my work schedule, etc.
Here is an example of my Monday-
We wake up at 8 am. Between 8-9 we get up, get dressed, the kids play or watch cartoons, and we start breakfast.
At 9 am we are ready at the table having breakfast and starting school.
We do school from 9 to 11 am.
At 11 am the nanny arrives so that I can get to work. They have a list of things they can do, but no concrete schedule. I want their time to flow, too.
At 2 pm I check in with the kids and relieve the nanny.
At 2- 4 pm we play and hang out until dad gets off work.
At 5 pm we start dinner. Try to eat around 6.
At 8 pm we begin our bedtime routine.
We don’t have concrete times to begin tasks. These are just estimates and targets for when we transition.
Having four kids, things happen! Babies sleep in due to growth spurts or middle of the night wakings. Kids get sick. Parents sleep in because of late night work sessions to meet deadlines.
These time blocks allow room for flexibility. If we don’t finish school during “school time,” we may bring out materials during lunch, or maybe in the evening when dad can help. The kids have structure, but they aren’t stressed when breakfast isn’t on the table by 9 am.
You can do this too! If you notice that your days are over scheduled or if they don’t flow, you can make changes. You can maybe change your wake up time, ask for help (delegate, delegate, delegate), say no to events, avoid scheduling appointments on certain days, etc. You can even play around with certain things like work out times or self-care. Move them to the morning and try it out. If you don’t like that, move it to your lunch or even to later in the evening. Find a flow that works for you and your family.
Similarly, I think it is important to create “margin” in your life. This time is unscheduled. Notice after 2 pm until dinner, we don’t have anything scheduled. This allows us breathing room. We use this time to relax or focus on something that brings us joy. For me, this looks like napping with the baby or playing on the floor with my two year old. Other days this allows dad time to take the kids to the park so that I can get extra work done.
Time blocking really helps set a visual for our day, but allows flexibility. I add in rhythms and routines throughout the day and our days just flow.
Try it out. When you have a rough “time blocked” schedule, play with it. Test it. Modify it until it works. While you do that… Check out my next post about rhythms and routines. It goes hand in hand with time blocking. Stay tuned…
