How to Set Up a Simple Daily Schedule Using Time Blocks + Podcast #45

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Over the years, as I have experimented with different ways to set up my daily schedule, the one method that I keep coming back to is using time blocks. This method not only gives you freedom within boundaries, but flexibility that still allows you to get things done! Intrigued? Good! Let’s dig in!

What are Time Blocks?

Time Blocks are simply blocks of time that you can arrange in your day, with specific tasks that you want to accomplish in each. Let me give you some examples of some of my Time Blocks:

My Morning Routine Block
Breakfast Block
Chores Block
Homeschool Table Time Block
Lunch Block
Read-Aloud Block
Free-Time Block
Dinner & Family Time Block
Home Business Block

What do I include in each Time Block?

This is where it gets fun, because you can really make this your own! Above I listed some of the Time Blocks that I have used over the years. Now I am going to list those again, with details of what I include in each:

My Morning Routine Block (fix breakfasts & lunches for husband and daughter, Bible reading & prayer, go over calendar for the day, exercise)
Breakfast Block (breakfast, Bible, history)
Chores Block (breakfast clean up, bedroom/bathroom chores)
Homeschool Table Time Block (math, reading, writing)
Lunch Block (lunch, outside play time)
Read-Aloud Block (reading aloud to the kids)
Free-Time Block (free time for kids and me!)
Dinner & Family Time Block (dinner, personal reading, movies, games)
Home Business Block (work on my blog/business)

As you can see, there are quite a few blocks here, but you don’t have to have this many. You can simply have a Morning Block and Afternoon Block, and maybe even an Evening Block. Then in each block, write out what you want to accomplish during each block of time.

How do I schedule Time Blocks in my day?

Most of the time you will usually know what “time” of the day you want to put these Time Blocks in. But don’t be afraid to mix it up sometimes. The focus is on getting to all your blocks and completing the tasks. It doesn’t matter what order you do them in, or what time of day.

One of the true beauties of this method is that you are not tied to a strict time schedule, where you have every task scheduled into 1/2 hour or 15 minutes increments. When I have tried to set up my schedule like that, it is so easy to get behind and then I ended up just ditching the whole thing because I felt defeated.

Using Time Blocks allows you to list out the tasks you want to accomplish, assign those to a specific block of time, and then lets you work through those tasks in the order you choose.

What happens if my day doesn’t go as planned?

We are going to have days when things come up like doctor’s appointments, or unexpected emergencies. That is when you have to take a look at your Time Blocks and determine what needs to go, what needs to stay, and/or what needs to just be rearranged.

Let me give you an example. Let’s say that I have a Morning Block and Afternoon Block. My Morning Block includes our homeschool work at the table. My Afternoon Block includes our read-aloud time. One of the kids gets really sick and I need to get them in to see the doctor. But the only time they have is in the morning.

I look at my schedule and see that I usually do our homeschool work at the table in the mornings and it is going to take way too much time since we have to go to the doctor. So I decided to swap my Morning and Afternoon Blocks and do our read-aloud time in the morning before heading to the doctor, then do our homeschool work at the table in the afternoon when we will have more time.

OR…let’s say that I could only get into the doctor in the afternoon, so I decide to just do our regular Morning Block (our homeschool work at the table), and then skip the Afternoon Block (reading aloud), allowing the kids to have some free time (Free Time Block) after we get home instead.

See how easy that is? I know this was a very simplified example, but I hope it helps you understand how you can swap things around. This works whether you homeschool or not.

I hope that I have encouraged you to give Time Blocks a try! Keep it simple and start with just 3-4 Time Blocks and see how it goes. Arrange your daily tasks into those blocks and get started!

Having the flexibility of Time Blocks gives you freedom to make the schedule work for you!