My last video, named "Time Blocking SUCKS!" was received quite well after it was posted.
After Paul Minors saw the video posted he suggested we make a video about the pros and cons for time blocking.
I thought it was a great idea, so here it is!
Check it out and let me (us) know what you think.
The Podcast we refer to can be found here
My time blocking video is here
Pauls time blocking video is here
so last week I released a video called
time blocking sucks now it went down
really well it was on my youtubers on my
website I posted on LinkedIn and I also
posted it on the masters group that I'm
in with Paul - and he replies with
blasphemy I was all in good fun he
actually messaged me and said listen why
don't we make a video with for the pros
and cons of time blocking and not time
blocking it was a great idea so I'm
gonna put the video up now have a watch
of it see what you think it's a great
video we had fun doing it if you have
any questions let me know and I'll talk
to you soon see you after this hey
everyone my name is Paul and joined by K
and today we're actually gonna record a
quick time blocking debate video which
we're both going to be uploading this to
each of our YouTube channels and I guess
I'll give a bit of background this the
idea for this video came about I
recently had K on my podcast and we had
a great conversation but following that
K posted a video about why he doesn't
like time blocking and as a lot of
people watching my channel will know I'm
a big fan of time blocking and so I
thought why don't we why don't we have a
bit of a chat about the pros and cons of
time blocking alternatives to time
blocking why you might choose to or not
do it and so that's what we're that's
what we're doing today yeah that's it's
going to be kind of fun yeah so and km
they said we were talking at the start
maybe you want to explain like there's
no one best approach to it we're not
we're not trying to say one approach is
better here right no exactly I mean the
thing is there are always different ways
of doing the same thing and there are
opposite side of the spectrum so
obviously you know you Paul does the
time blocking thing I tried it many
moons ago and it just doesn't work for
me because of how how I work and what it
is so there's pros and cons for both for
sure the funny thing is when I posted
that video I didn't really think about
what you were doing I just posted a
video saying time blocking sucks because
I know soon as I posted it was like oh
yeah it's kind of funny and then when
you message me and I was like yeah this
is actually a great idea for a video so
when we start then when we start by each
showing our screens and just showing how
we use our calendar so yeah for those
that are like what is time blocking this
is my calendar and basically the
approach here is I'll explain the colors
in a second but what I do is if I have
something I need to do like a task on my
to-do list in asana that task gets a
block of time on my calendar so if we
look at let's look at yesterday Monday
which is just kind of gone and let me
just make this a little bit taller so it
it kind of oh hang on a sec let me just
go like that okay make it a little bit
yeah so Monday like I block out there's
time in the email for email in the
morning do some stuff with some sales
funnels publish a blog post I had to
write a blog post here set up some
Google Adwords change some pages on my
website so each of these blocks here
basically corresponds to a task and my
day didn't start like this with this
plan in fact my plan changed we actually
had a fire drill at the co-working space
where I work at about eleven o'clock so
this took longer than I thought and so
with the time locking even though I'm
saying yep I'm gonna do this task at
changing this calendar stays open on my
computer constantly and as I'm working I
will make this block bigger because it's
now taking longer to do that and so
something I was doing here in fact I
think this task here this was originally
here and I bumped it to make time to
finish this thing and so I'm constantly
revising my plan throughout the day and
I guess my why I like this is it means
that I can take all of my intentions
might ask for things that I want to do
and I can create a clear plan of when
I'm going to do them and it makes me
think about how long they're gonna take
as well so I don't commit to doing too
much so that's that's my account that's
my calendar and kind of basically how
I'm using it and the colors just to
explain it's not that important but the
colors green is basically appointments
with clients like hey and I have this
call right now
Blue is guitars yellow is I block out
time for walk and lunch so I can't be
booked red is kind of going to the gym
and and purpose of shared calendar I
tell Haylee when I'm going to be at home
and stuff yeah so so that's that's my
calendar yeah I mean it does look it
makes sense
I completely understand the reason of
blocking in and you probably saw it in
my video that I do block specific parts
as well for certain things obviously so
if I'm working on something and I need
that time then I will block it what I
don't do is I'll show you my calendar
where so with my calendar I it's so
sparse compared to big yeah and I use D
suite I don't have apps or anything
running if you know it's a cut nothing
running so I have three calendars a
personal business and our work that's it
now what I usually do Green is personal
so I just put personal things in there
blue is work that I've actually got not
work that I've got to do appointments
that have to be with clients
appointments for video calls and so on I
don't always put in my calendar actually
which is weird I guess because it comes
into my project management tool which is
to do this so I kind of know what's
going on it's gonna sell for a
consultant and and somebody that works
with so many clients you aware of all
your appointments exactly right I don't
I don't put them all in here because
most of the work that I do is like for
instance this week I've put focus points
here and focus to me means block it so
it is a form of blocking it's like okay
I got to do something there but I you
know I do a lot of work but I do enough
for what I need I don't overwork myself
you know I you know
the whole point of my work and as we
discussed in my pod in the podcast I was
on life to me is about living and not
working so I try to make my tools for me
in the way I don't want to be dictated
as to what to do so you know orange is
stuff that I'm doing for for business as
it were anything business-related green
is personal stuff and to it I don't need
to write it in here because I live on my
own with my dog so I don't really need
their it and yeah blue is stuff that I
actually need to do with the client so
I've got to be with the client or
whatever yeah but the rest of it is in
my project management tool the point is
to have like inboxes if you have too
many inboxes you just go crazy
so my inbox is my team my email
obviously my agenda and my to-do list
and I just like you who lives in a sauna
I live in my to do it yeah
and the appointments thing is kind of a
secondary things that I need to do I
know you have two screens I just have
one screen so your calendars open on one
and then Sun is open on the main one I
just work on one thing at a time
basically yeah I think there's a guy
called Karl Pauline who in the phrase
hard borders and it just made a lot of
sense to me as soon as he said it was
like well yeah actually that's just how
I'm working that's kind of cool yeah
and I get that the time blocking that I
do is like the harder more manual route
people ask me like do you sync your
asana to your calendar is that how
you've done it and I'm like no it's very
manual and I'd like to give you an idea
like it on a Friday I can't look at what
I've got coming up over the next week
and I go right I need to do this on this
day and this on this day and I have some
white space open so later in the week
you know you might have seen I had some
white space which
flexible I don't know what I'm going to
do yet but the point is I try and get
the big the big bricks in there and each
day like so at the end of today I'll
kind of look at what I have coming up
tomorrow check that all my tasks are on
there so it's and it's very manual like
I said you have to think about how long
is this gonna take when am I going to do
it and and having the calendar open
helps with that but it is a lot of work
and with that it's quite a hard habit to
for money and I've been doing it for
years now it's just second nature yeah I
can't imagine not doing it another way
but when people see this method they're
like oh well that seems quite intense
and it and it is but that's I think one
of the reasons it works because you're
used to it it's worked for you over a
period of time for someone to kind of
come into any one of these not just mine
or yours but any one of these systems
it's kind of difficult it's like well
how the hell you what the point is and I
think you were talking about it in one
of your podcasts don't copy someone
else's system yeah let the bits from it
that you think works you and then adapt
it to yourself yeah basically and don't
throw away the system that you have and
kind of this tool hopping thing which
again you spoke about before I've heard
about and I do I mean it's my business
it's our business to don't find tool so
we do it so we know what's going on but
it is do as do as I say not as I do
because this is our job any doodle stuff
this is the stuff but when you're
consulting with a client and they see
how you work you're like they're like
it's crazy so you have to you know what
posting what I'm doing what you're doing
what I'm doing is a complete opposite of
yeah and you know what's interesting is
something you said which is you you're
you're all about it's just life there's
no work-life balance you just want to
kind of have freedom in your life and
not be kind of told what to do and it's
funny because I'm basically the same
like I'm one the reasons I want to work
for myself and why I want to be more
productive and efficient is to create
that freedom my way of going about it is
just different and
now I even though the there's the plan
on the calendar I move things around all
the time and and that's how I know I can
get things done and in a sense create
freedom so even though we're very
similar in our end goals are very much
the same like it's just two different
ways of going about it it's really
interesting some ways going about it
again it's it's the end goal is exactly
the same work for yourself working your
own time be happy make enough money and
that's basically what I'm doing but my
method is again the complete opposites a
complete opposite but if if you put me
in your office and said work I think
it'll be the same the other way around
as well if you came in here and started
doing this totally your method it seems
I don't know if you've read getting
things done well but I think David Allen
he says that's your I think what he's
saying to do with the calendar which is
it's really I guess the time sensitive
stuff like you have that meeting with me
today you had a haircut for worth like
the stuff that is like yeah that's the
GTD approach of using calendar because
using GTD he's like no you don't you
only do it for time sensitive things the
other tasks and projects are on your
task list so I'd say you're probably
closer to GTD than I am I'm closer to
that the GTD method is a bit too rigid
as well for me for certain things we're
not going to get into that but for the
task part of it I don't do but yeah I
guess it is kind of the same it's kind
of similar to that I mean my assistant
is is todoist
my to-do list is my assistant and reason
Weiss my assistant is that I tell my
assistant to remind me to do something
whenever it was and it will tell me he
or she I don't know who it is will tell
me what to do so and it works insanely
well for me and if I show people how I
work some people like I want this and
other people like how the hell do you
live I mean like what I'm doing with
your time blocking sucks so there's so
many different kind of paths to get to
that end goal and you just basically
gotta find it and that's
the whole point of this video they
wanted to create for ya you guys yeah
but yeah it's interesting we do the same
work but we approach it completely
differently yeah
well this has been good um I need
anything else you want to add I think
I've kind of said all I need to but um
you know I think I think that's pretty
much it
again it's the tool isn't the thing the
system is the thing the principle once
you have the system figured out you can
you can if you want to bounce between
tools which is not the right way of
doing but the point is the system is the
issue is the thing not the tools itself
once you have the system in place live
your life yeah no I completely agree I
mean I very rarely switch tools I've
been operating on the same things like
Apple calendar Apple Mail asana but yeah
it's like it's funny actually with mail
just a bit of Sun I often you see all
these new male clients come out and they
look really cool you try them nothing
seems to work as well as Apple may also
end up going back so it like it's much
better for search more reliable just
funny is there you wind up trying what
you were doing anyway absolutely I mean
I am a mad guy Mac junkie and I've been
with Mac's since oh wow I don't know
grown up with these Mac apps I moved
over to the cloud apps because I just
wanted it to be simpler yeah no other
reason so Apple Mail is the best client
forget Thunderbird forget forget
anything however I would say right now
Gmail is better client but then if
you're not in that ecosystem you don't
move
stick with your Apple Mail because it is
the best scene there is yeah this has
been great it's kind of cool to make a
little video like this maybe we should
do more yeah we could do a curl our
panels like yeah this is cool
all right thanks Kay thanks for see you
later Joe so what did you think
do you go for time blocking or do you
not go for time blocking now the point
of
as I said in the video the point of this
isn't one's better than the other there
are two ways there are many ways of
doing the same thing but this is just
how we do it the thing is with me and
Paul we get on really well and we kind
of do things at the end goal is it is
actually exactly the same but just how
we get there is different so what did
you think
do you ty blach or do you not time block
which one's the best for you figure out
the system don't copy someone's system
as I said in the video it's best to
actually have your own system and just
take things from what you see in here
online if you have any questions contact
Paul or contact me and I'm sure we'll be
able to help you talk to you soon and
remember keep it simple chap