How to Time Block Effectively in 5 Steps
Do you know how to make the most out of the time you have? Time management can be one of the most challenging parts of being an artist. The vast majority of artists are working an additional job outside of their studios and artists must do a huge variety of tasks to keep a studio going. Add other life responsibilities into the mix and what you get is a huge time crunch!
Our answer to the problem is…TIME BLOCKING!
Instead of wading through your day wondering what to prioritize and what to do when, planning out what to do in certain blocks of time gives you structure and provides a flow to your day. This way of working can open up your creativity and allows for freedom and space to enter your studio.
We have 5 steps to share on how to time block effectively. Follow this path to get your time under control!
#1- Schedule and Assess
This seems obvious, but the KEY to getting anything done effectively is the time you put into thinking through what needs to get done and then planning for it to happen. This could happen on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Have a set time to take a look at your schedule and make adjustments. This could be five minutes at the start of each day or a 30 minute planning session at the start of each week.
#2- Prioritize
This step is really rolled into the first step, but identifying what is most important or urgent is such a crucial part of time management that we want to highlight it as its own aspect of time blocking. We recommend scheduling these top priority tasks at times when you feel the most energized, so you know you’ll be ready to go and eager to tackle your work.
#3- Prepare
Once you know what you want to do when, it’s time to prepare everything you can for those upcoming blocks of work time! Get your materials or items lined up in advance so you can make the most of your time blocks. Build an “on-ramp” to that chunk of time so you can maximize your efficiency.
#4- Buffer
Good time management does not mean packing as much work as possible into as many hours as possible. Build in extra time around your blocks, when you are able, to give yourself grace if things take longer than you expect or to give yourself space to relax between tasks.
#5- Reassess
Pause to reflect and reassess how your time blocks went, what you miscalculated, and what went smoothly in order to help you learn and grow from the knowledge of how you are spending your time. Time blocking should be a dynamic process that constantly adapts. Build in that time to reassess and you will keep things running smoothly.
Implementing this time blocking flow can help you make the most of the precious time you have, which hopefully results in an easier pace to your busy artist life and supports more enjoyable days! We are all about practicing good time management as a community. Every week at our live Art & Tea sessions we devote some time to taking a look at the tasks we need to complete for the week. Sign up to join us on the Thrive Together Network and get a free 2 week trial to see what we are all about.
We would love to have you join our community dedicated to building our artist lives together!
