I understand this concern, but it’s fundamentally misguided. Sometimes people ask if controlling time will stifle creativity. (Another smart strategy in this context is to give open-ended reactive blocks secondary purposes: e.g., “process client requests if I have downtime during this block, work on project X.”) My answer is again simple: periods of open-ended reactivity can be blocked off like any other type of obligation. Even if you’re blocking most of your day for reactive work, for example, the fact that you are controlling your schedule will allow you to dedicate some small blocks (perhaps at the schedule periphery) to deeper pursuits. Sometimes people ask how time blocking can work for reactive work, where you cannot tell in advance what obligations will enter your life on a given day. A 40 hour time-blocked work week, I estimate, produces the same amount of output as a 60+ hour work week pursued without structure. My answer is simple: it generates a massive amount of productivity. Sometimes people ask why I bother with such a detailed level of planning. This type of planning, to me, is like a chess game, with blocks of work getting spread and sorted in such a way that projects big and small all seem to click into completion with (just enough) time to spare.

My goal is to make sure progress is being made on the right things at the right pace for the relevant deadlines. During this planning process I consult my task lists and calendars, as well as my weekly and quarterly planning notes. I take time blocking seriously, dedicating ten to twenty minutes every evening to building my schedule for the next day. I call this planning method time blocking. This allows me to make corrections as needed if the day unfolds in an unexpected way: Notice that I leave some extra room next to my time blocks. In the right column, I add explanatory notes for these blocks where needed. In the left column, I dedicated two lines to each hour of the day and then divided that time into blocks labeled with specific assignments. My plan was captured on a single sheet of 24 pound paper in a Black n’ Red twin wire notebook. The image above shows my plan for a random Wednesday earlier this month. Study Hacks Blog Deep Habits: The Importance of Planning Every Minute of Your Work Day December 21st, 2013

Nerd 3 we need to go deeper