Calendar Blocking Basics | 6 “Must Have” Blocks of Time Every Calendar Should Have

Calendar Blocking Basics

6 “Must Have” Blocks of Time Every Calendar Should Have

People are struggling to be productive but these calendar blocking basics will make getting things done much easier. Productivity seems like an insurmountable task. I don’t care which way you spin it, we only have 24 hours in a day but we feel like we need more time to get done all the things that need to get done. Believe me.. I understand. That’s why I’m going to share six different types of time you need to make sure are on your calendar. You’ll see why I believe in creating a zero-sum batched calendar. When you use this method all of your time and all of your day will be spent. Not in an exhausting way, but in a way that ensures you get everything that needs to get done and you give yourself plenty of time to do it. I teach about productivity inside Project CEO so I know it can be challenging. I also know that when you are very clear about who you are, what you want, how you operate, and what you need to do and be your best, you can create a calendar system that will work for you. The struggle is real!! I know!!

You may have watched countless videos on how to manage your time or be more productive, and if you’re like me, you tried all of them. What I’ve found is they don’t really work if I don’t value the same activities or function better at a different time. That’s why these six times that I’m going to share with you are so important. As long as you have them you can manipulate them on your calendar as you see fit. It’s the best way, in my opinion, to manage your time better.

Hey Sis.. Where Have You Been | Personal Time

The first time type is your personal time. I’ve talked about this time block before. I wake up every morning and I have a good hour to an hour and a half for things that are important to me. Things like taking my medicine, drinking my coffee, watching Good Morning America, talking to my best friend on the phone and lounging. It’s important to me to get my days started slowly, when I can. I don’t like to hit the ground running if I don’t have to. It’s not that I can’t get up early, I can, I just don’t like to. I like to ease into my day.

Making personal time one of the time blocks on my calendar also helps me make room for exercise, whether I like it or not… lol! Taking care of me also includes my devotion, gratitude and prayer practices. Of Americans 25 years of age and older, 6.6% are engaged in health-related self-care each day. By adding a personal time block to your calendar, you would be among them.

Are We There Yet? | Family Time

The next type of time you should have on your calendar is family time. As a parent, your mornings may be filled with getting the kids breakfast, packing lunches and taking them to school. In the evening, you’re making dinner, helping with homework, and getting kids ready for bed. This is what I would consider family time. It could also be the weekend, where you’re going to soccer games and you’re going out to eat with your husband and your kids as a family unit. It’s going to church… These are things that make family memories and contribute to the loving home you’re creating.

When my husband and I started having children, we made it a point to prioritize our relationship first. We knew that by doing this, we would be intentionally setting our children up with an example of commitment and family bonding. It worked out well because the older the children got, the more hectic things became. Having a designated block of time on our calendar for family time ensured we didn’t miss bonding moments with our children.

As an entrepreneur, I’m familiar with the struggle between growing a business and raising a family. My advice is to make sure you have family time on your calendar. There is no such thing as work/life balance. Being intentional about developing a harmonious mindset will benefit you greatly.

Time To Make The Donuts | Work Time

The next type of time is your work time. This, if you’re like me, is where productivity is the goal. I want to make the most of the time in this time block. The idea is to check off those to do items on my list that get me closer to achieving my overall goals for the year. So far you’ve already morning self-care, the kids are off to school or at least situated, and you’ve got a dedicated block of time to knock out those important tasks that tether to your year end goals. Knowing your PERSONAL PRIME TIME is going to be key here. Are you a morning person? Are you a night owl? When are you most productive? When are you most creative? Your personal prime time is determined by your personal framework. It’s the lens through which you can see what you need to do and be your best in most circumstances. Self-awareness is important to the way you arrange your time blocks. A good way to be intentional with this time is to use a project management tool. I use Asana with my business and it works beautifully.

Making A Love Connection | Boo Time

The next type of time is one of my favorites.. It’s BOO TIME. I put this on my calendar to make sure that my husband and I are staying connected. Whether it’s going on a date, or whether it’s sitting in front of the television enjoying each other’s company. The point is, it’s just he and I, being in each other’s presence and enjoying one another. I make sure this time is on my calendar. PERIOD. My friends even know not to intrude on this time. You have to set boundaries with people and teach them how to treat you. I’ve definitely done this with my Boo time. The relationship with my husband is my number one priority. I love my kids, but even when they were growing up, I felt like our marital relationship was the most important. The number of couples separating and/or divorcing after their kids leave is crazy. I made sure that we spent that quality time together to avoid that fate. According to the University of Louisville at Kentucky, the empty nest divorce rate is REAL! It has increased from 10% to 25% of marriages.

Get In Where You Fit It | Miscellaneous Time

The final type of time that I think is very important for you to have on your calendar is Miscellaneous Time. This is time you have on your calendar to fill in miscellaneous tasks. Things that come up on an irregular basis. Things like doctor’s appointments, lunch with a girlfriend or a lunch meeting. When you need a place on your schedule to do something that’s outside of the ordinary of your day. These pockets of time give you an open space on your calendar to be spontaneous without completely wrecking your planned day.

Listen, when it comes to managing your time, I suggest that you take my advice and use these calendar blocking basics to fill your calendar. I call it a zero sum, blocked calendar. You are allotting all of your time, but still achieving spontaneity in the process.

I hope the introduction to these calendar blocking basics will help you make better use of the 24 hours you’ve been given. If mindset is the issue and you can’t seem to wrap your mind around blocking every hour of time in your day, you’re a great candidate for our community. Mindsets are our jam. The CEO Circle community specializes in adjusting the attitudes around mindsets that could be holding us back. Knowing is growing, you know!

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Finally, If you’re ready to be a C.E.O and work ON your business, not IN your business… you should join my community. Inside the C.E.O. Circle we’re working on Mindsets of executive leadership. There are monthly opportunity to change a mindset that could be holding you back.

10 Questions To Ask Yourself Before Planning The New Year

Before Planning the New Year

Take a little time to answer some questions

There are 10 questions you need to ask yourself before planning the new year. I’m sure there are more but for the sake of this blog post, we’ll be looking at these 10.

As you may or may not know, I host a workshop every January called “A Focused Vision”. Recently, while listening to a podcast, I heard this profound statement: “Site is what you see with your eyes, vision is what you see with your heart.” I can’t tell you how those words filled me. You can point to the things you see and others can see it too but when it comes to the vision you have for your life, business, career… it’s more of a, “I can show’em better than I can tell’em”, situation.

Before you start your planning the new year…

I suggest being a little reflective. I don’t know about you, but there was a lot of growth this year for me. Progress was made in some areas and I had to do a little pruning in others. Sometimes we outgrow things and that’s our growth. Maybe you’ve outgrown certain things, situations OR maybe you’ve outgrown people. Pruning could be what you need too. Don’t look at this as something negative though. It’s commonly done in nature to target & remove diseased, damaged, dead, non-productive, or otherwise unwanted plant material from crop and landscape plants. In my experience, it makes your plants/life HEALTHIER!

Watch this…

video to see learn more about getting a more focused vision. Join my community if you’re interested in attending our 2023 workshop.

Let’s go ahead and get into these questions, shall we?

Before you sit down with your fresh new 2023 calendar, answer them to ensure you’re not carrying bad habits and limiting beliefs with you into the new year:

Are you the person you want to be yet? It’s so hard to fake the funk for long periods of time so it’s just a good rule of thumb to figure out who you REALLY & TRULY want to be in this life and work towards being that person.

Are you around the right people to help you get there and hold you accountable? It’s been said that we are “the average of our closest friends”. If you want to improve your emotional quotient score, get better friends.

Are there any activities you need to eliminate from your routine? Any Habits that need breaking? Habits are made up of 3 basic elements:

1. 1. Cues
  2. Routines
  3. Rewards

To get closer to achieving your goals next year, you may need to make some adjustments to the way you react to the cues/triggers. If the routine that follows those cues is unhelpful or detrimental to reaching your goals CHANGE THE ROUTINE! Additionally, you can adjust the reward to make changing the routine easier. I love desserts. I love especially love desserts when I’m stressed or having a bad day. The sugar comforts me. My cue was the bad day, my routine is was to eat sweets and the reward was a relaxed feeling. I had to change my routine or I wouldn’t fit into my jeans. When I felt the stressors of the day, instead of reaching for the sweet treat, I took up yoga and other forms of physical activity. My reward wasn’t quite the same, but I felt proud of myself instead of disappointed in myself.

Do you need to do something different to get a different result? If so, What? & Why? You can’t continue to expect amazing different results when you continue doing the same thing over and over. Once you’ve recognized & acknowledged (acknowledgement is SOO important), decide what part of your plan needs to change and make sure you understand WHY it needs to change to be sure the change will make a difference.

Did you notice anything new about yourself this year that could improve your efforts next year? Sometimes you don’t know things need to be done a certain way until you’ve tried them for a while. I realized that, though digital calendars are great for telling me WHEN something needs to be done, I prefer to WRITE DOWN the things that actually need to get done in the time block I designate.

What are your triggers (things that could derail your focus)? Don’t just identify the triggers, it’s also important to have a plan to overcome them. It’s easy to lose focus or procrastinate. The key is having a plan of action to get back on track.

How will you stay motivated? What makes you want to keep going when it would be so easy to stop and give up? When I think about giving up I’m always faced with the possibility that success is just around the next corner. I would hate to miss out after all my hard work. I also want my daughters to see what hard work gets you. Find what makes you feel like quitting would be a huge mistake.
What DO you want to accomplish in this new year (8 TOPS) Don’t just look at what you want NEXT YEAR but how that plays into an overall 5-10 year plan. Think about it like a piece to a bigger puzzle.
How will you keep track of your progress?

I love HAPPY PLANNER, ASANA, and I’m going to try POWERSHEETS this year (I’ll let you know how it works out). I’ve been planning the new year FOR YEARS… One thing for sure, it’s easy to wonder off your path if you don’t keep track of where you’re going. The numbers matter so look at your analytics and monitor your weekly activity.

Are there any personal events to consider in your planning? Last week I published a video about 6 blocks of time EVERY calendar should have. Don’t forget to populate your calendar with important family/personal activities before you start planning your new year.

Okay, that does it. Once you answer these questions, you’ll be ready to start planning the new year!

For more CEO MINDSET inspiration, listen to my podcast!! The C.E.O. Mindset!!!