How to start
- List what matters this week. Pull from your to-do list and the “schedule” box of an Eisenhower matrix.
- Put the fixed things in first: meetings, school runs, appointments.
- Block your best hours for your hardest work. If you think best in the morning, protect it.
- Batch the small stuff. Email, messages and admin get one or two blocks, not the whole day.
- Leave buffer. Things run long. An empty block in the afternoon absorbs it.
A sample day
| Time | Block |
|---|---|
| 8:30 to 9:00 | Plan the day, quick email check |
| 9:00 to 11:00 | Deep work on the main project |
| 11:00 to 11:30 | Messages and admin |
| 11:30 to 12:30 | Meetings |
| 12:30 to 1:15 | Lunch, away from the desk |
| 1:15 to 2:45 | Second focus block |
| 2:45 to 3:30 | Buffer |
| 3:30 to 4:30 | Calls and follow-ups |
| 4:30 to 5:00 | Wrap up, plan tomorrow |
When the plan breaks
It will. Move the block rather than delete it, and look at the end of the week at where time actually went. Short focus blocks work well with a Pomodoro timer inside them.
