Success Soundbites - Block Timing

Do you control your calendar, or does it control you?

Welcome to Success Soundbites. I'm Sid Meadows, and I'm the founder and principal of EmbarkCCT. I'm really glad you're here with me today for this week's version of Success Soundbites as we talk about controlling your calendar.

As we venture into not just a new year, but a new decade, increased productivity is important for all of us. And my clients, on a regular basis, are asking me, "Hey Sid, what are simple ways that I can improve productivity?" And I always start with the very first question, "Are you controlling your calendar or are you letting other people control it?" And the typical answer is most people agree that other people control their calendar. So how can you really improve your productivity? I believe the answer to this question is simple and a really easy thing for you to implement and it's called block timing.

Block timing is a concept where you make an appointment with yourself. And in making that appointment, you block that time in your calendar in order to get the work done. It can be things from checking emails, writing an article, creating a video, or completing a project or working on your to-do list in a power block of some sort.

Block timing on your calendar and scheduling an appointment with you is going to be critical to your success in 2020. Now I know that this sounds like a hard thing to do, and I've talked to my clients about it and I know that people struggle with this. So, my tip for you is start small. Just take something that's not getting done or something that you're not getting done or you're struggling with getting done because of interruptions and various things and make an appointment with yourself to complete that task.

For me, I write a bi-weekly column for an industry magazine and I block time in my calendar every other week for two hours to write that article. Now when I do that, I turn off my phone, I shut down my email, and I'm totally focused on completing that task. Though I block two hours to actually get it done and to be creative, the reality is, I get it done in about an hour, which leaves me with an extra hour in my day to do something else that I need to that will increase my productivity.

So as you start down the path of 2020 in this new decade, and you're looking for ways to increase your productivity, challenge yourself to start block timing things in your calendar, make an appointment with yourself in order to get things done that are important for your job or for your career or your future.

I hope you enjoyed this week's version of success sound bites. Be sure to comment down below and join the conversation. Let us know what you think about the concept of block timing or other tips that you're doing to increase your productivity, not only in this new year or in this new decade.

Be sure to connect with us and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram, and let us know what we can do to help you crack your journey towards success. Take care. We'll see you next time.