First- know there are lots of “how tos” that aren’t in this post. Time blocking is just one time management tool. You can learn ways to manage interruptions, to prioritize, to delegate, etc. I’ve coached a 4-month time management program and I’m currently offering a 4 hour one. Implementing time management techniques requires commitment and consistent reinforcement.

There are 5 key requirements to making time blocks work for you.

1.  You gotta know what you really want. (& want it badly!)

• What’s your ideal vision of how you spend your time? What % on work, what % on family, what % on your great novel, what % on relationships, on health, on personal development? It’s a pie that you can’t make bigger. You can only choose how you slice it up. If you don’t know what you want, it’s hard to make tough choices and prioritize interruptions.
• How much income do you really want to create? When you think about your ideal life- are you living in a small house with plenty of time to work on your garden each day? Are you working hard and playing hard? Do you do a lot of pro bono? Go to every Olympics? Send 4 kids to private schools? What do you really want? (not what you or anyone else thinks you should want!)

2.  You need to believe.

• Time management is self management. You are almost ALWAYS at choice. (you guys know how hard it was to put the “almost” in that sentence)
• You are an incredibly smart and accomplished person. You control your calendar; you are capable of setting goals and reaching them. You’ve proven it over and over. You know how to do what it takes.
• Work exists to fund you the free time and money that you need to meet your big-picture, whole-life goals.  Spend a minute on that. How your practice runs determines your free time and income. That determines the range of choices you have in spending your time and income.
• You deserve to have what you want. You deserve to be extremely successful in your professional life and still have a satisfying personal life. Whether you want to donate your income to charity or spend it on boats or shoes.

3.  You need to create routines and processes.

• Keep your priorities front & center. Create a vision board. Write a description of your vision and keep it where you’ll see it daily.
• Set boundaries around time & days in the office.  Does your practice support the boundaries you’d like? (eg lots of client appointments might mean less flexibility with days off; lots of elderly clients may mean you offer in-home appointments which means more time per appointment and fewer clients per any period of time; a global or bi-coastal practice might require coverage on weekends and at extreme times of the day…)
• Stay in synch with your calendar. Note deadlines as soon as you know them. Estimate the time it will take to do the work, and make appointments with yourself to focus on the work. Break work into chunks and then track to those self-determined deadlines. If you choose to change a priority, you’ll be able to juggle your schedule and see what needs to move. You’ll make better choices.
• Get your personal priorities on your calendar. Gym time. Soccer practice. Date night. If it’s important to you, it needs to be solidly in place as a regular part of your day. You made the choice that it’s important. Respect that.
• Put a weekly planning appointment on your calendar. Use it to update and reality-check your week. Fridays or Mondays are best.
• Prioritize everything. Do it, delay it (reschedule), delegate it or drop it.
• Review how your day went vs. what you planned every day. Know where the time goes. Good, bad or ugly!
• Schedule a big picture planning appointment monthly. Check in with the big picture. Are you trending towards your vision? What new considerations need to be handled? Do you still want what you thought you did? Look at financials, pipeline, staffing and client pipeline. Is it time to add staff or new technology? Do you need to exit certain clients? Review as informally or formally as you need to make decisions based on a reasonable assessment.
• If it ain’t working, change something.

4.  You need an accountability structure.

• Go public. Make a commitment. Ask for support.
• Create your own personal advisory board.
• Buddy up and check in with someone.
• Join a mastermind group and meet 6 people or so who are going to want to know why you aren’t doing what you said you were going to do so you could reach your goal!
• Get a coach. (accountability is what coaching is really all about, we want you to get what you want and we inspire and hold you to it!)
• Offer a time management training class. (it works for me)

5.  You have to know it’s possible.

• If you don’t think it will work for you, you’re right.
• If you see a whole new exciting possibility, you’re right.

I’m redundant, but there really isn’t much to write. It’s in the doing. YOU and your commitment to getting what you want is what makes time blocking work. Hold a strong intention and make it part of your job. Did you ever use that phrase “you aren’t the boss of me” when you were a little kid? You were right. You are the boss of you, make sure you’re a good one.