Time blocking: A Helpful ADHD Time Management Tool

Time blocking is a time management technique that makes both your tasks and time visible.

You divide your day into blocks of time (e.g., 30 minutes or 1 hour) and dedicate each block to a specific task or batch of tasks.

Why is Time blocking a helpful ADHD time management tool?

Time blocking is an especially helpful technique for people with ADHD, as understanding the passage of time and estimating how long tasks take don’t come naturally.

To-do lists are a great tool to support your memory. When you think of a task, you jot it down on the list. This way, you feel reassured that it’s captured, and you don’t have to worry about forgetting it.

The problem with do-to lists is that each item looks the same size. The task could take 3 minutes or 3 hours, but when it’s just words, it’s hard to conceptualize how long it will take.

Estimating how long a task will take is helpful (even though it can feel hard), but there can be a disconnect between the task and when you’ll actually do it in your day or week.

That’s where time blocking comes in.

You block out a time in your calendar for when you will do the task.

For example, if you have an important email to write and want your brain to be fresh when you do, you could block out 30 minutes at 10 am to think, write, and send that email.

When you look at your calendar, you can see the task and how it fits into your day.

Time blocking also helps you have a realistic idea of how much you can get done in a day.

It means you can’t overbook yourself.

On one hand, this can feel frustrating because there is so much you’d like to accomplish, and time blocking forces you to realize you can’t get as much done as you’d hoped.

On the other hand, it’s helpful because you won’t feel bad about not completing everything on your list at the end of the day.

Thanks to time blocking, you have a realistic understanding of what is humanly possible 🙂

Before you get started.

Time blocking sounds great (and it is!), but!

While the concept is simple, implementing it can be a bit more challenging than it first appears

It’s not that you can’t do it—you absolutely can—but there are some things to know ahead of time that will set you up for success.

Time blocking might feel uncomfortable at first

Because you’ll be doing things that feel hard for the ADHD brain.

Timing blocking involves

Planning your day
Prioritizing your tasks (deciding which tasks you are going to make time for)
Estimating how long something will take.
Schedule time for things you wish you didn’t have to spend doing, like traveling to an appointment. It would be so much more convenient if you could simply press a teleport button and arrive instantly.
Doing the task at the time you blocked out to do it. You might have said to yourself in the past, ‘Just because I have an appointment with myself to do a task doesn’t mean I’ll do it’
Staying focused on the task for the time you blocked out (not jumping to other tasks)
Stopping doing the task when it’s time to switch to your next time block.

You might already be good at some of these things, or you might be completely new to everything.

Time blocking is like a muscle.

The more you do it, the easier and more natural it feels.

But if it feels hard at first, it doesn’t mean you can’t do it; it just means you are doing a lot of hard things at once.

Don’t try to do it perfectly.

Ease into time block blocking slowly.

Don’t time block your whole week.

Start by going day by day. That way, you can take into account what you learned from day 1 into day 2.

If time blocking feels alien to you, you could start by doing it for half a day until it becomes easier.

Start where you are currently at.

Time blocking can enhance your productivity and focus while reducing stress and overwhelm.

However, don’t expect overnight miracles.

Instead of trying to have your most aspirational day ever, the first day you use Time blocking, gradually work up to that goal.

For example, if you currently wake up at 10 am (even though you’d like to get up at 6 am), when you time block your day, let your plan reflect your current 10 am reality.

This will lead to long-term success with time blocking and avoid disappointment.

Time blocking isn’t just for ‘worky’ tasks. You can time block all your activities, including sleep, meal prep, washing the kitchen floor, your hobbies, and spending time with your friends and family.

What tool are you going to use?

There are different tools you can use to time block.

Paper

If you like paper, you could use your bullet journal, the printable at the bottom of this article, or a planner like Michael Hyatt’s Full Focus Planner.

Apps

If you prefer digital, you could use your favorite app or check out Sunsama.

(I haven’t used Sunsama myself but some of my ADHD coaching clients have and they find it helpful +++)

As you begin using time blocking, I recommend keeping your existing calendar system (especially if it reminds you of your appointments with other people) and experiment with time blocking alongside it. This allows you to test time blocking, make adjustments, and fine-tune it before making any big overhauls to your time management system.

The 4 steps to Time Blocking your Day.

Step 1. Write a list

Write a list of your tasks.

You might not have time to do them all in one day but jot them down so they are out of your head.

Step 2. Prioritize

Write an A next to the task on your list that needs to be done first, write B by the task that you’ll do second and so on.

I know prioritizing can feel hard or scary, but do your best. It doesn’t need to be perfect.

Step 3. Estimate.

Now estimate or guesstimate how long you think each task will take.

This also might feel hard, and you might even feel like time blocking isn’t for you.

But do your best.

Step 4. Time blocks.

Now it’s time to create time blocks.

There are different types of time blocks.

Self care.

Not fancy self-care, like spa days, but your morning routine (e.g., getting up, eating breakfast, showering).

You might not have written those on your to-do list, but they still need time blocks.

Appointments with other people.

This could be a dentist appointment, work meetings, coffee with a friend, etc.

Travel time.

Be sure to include travel time to those appointments, including finding parking and walking from your car or train stop to the appointment.

You might feel resentful that you have to schedule this time, it would be much more convenient if you pressed a teleport button and arrived instantly. But still, allow time for it in your day.

Transition Time

Transition time is also important. for example, if you come back from an appointment, you’ll need to take your coat off and use the bathroom.

You might also want to mentally transition from one thing to the next.

Perhaps you will make a cup of tea, write down any actions from that appointment, meditate, do some adult coloring, or do whatever activities you usually do to decompress and prepare for your next task.

Some people with ADHD feel resentful of these things because it means there is less time to do ‘real’ work, like crossing things off the list.

Other people feel relieved once they have that written out because now they understand why they weren’t able to get as much done as they wanted to.

Batch similar tasks.

If you batch similar tasks together in a one-time chunk, you can reduce the number of transitions you have to make in the day.

For example, you can have a time block for making phone calls, and a time block for emails, so that they aren’t sprinkled throughout the day.

Schedule buffer time.

Unexpected things will crop up; meetings run longer than expected, traffic jams, etc.

Scheduling buffer time will help you stay on track with your day.

Review your day.

How did it go?

Were there some tasks you enjoyed doing at a certain time of day? If so, you can dedicate those specific blocks of time to those tasks again in the future.

Were there some tasks that were hard to do? How could you make that easier for yourself next time?

How to stick with your time blocks?

Time blocking is a supportive guide for your day, helping you feel accomplished at the end of every day because you focus on things that matter to you. When you enjoy the process of time blocking, it easier to maintain the habit.

If time blocking makes you feel miserable or feels like a punishment, reassess how you plan your day. You might need to add buffer time or adjust your schedule. If your time-blocked days aren’t enjoyable, it’s natural to rebel against the plan.

Time blocking helps you focus on one task at a time.

Because you have already taken time to prioritize tasks, you aren’t working on one thing but questioning whether it’s the right task to be working on.
It gives you peace of mind that this specific time block is dedicated to this one task, or a set of specific tasks if you have batched similar tasks together.