What Is the Problem With Calendar Blocking?

Have you ever tried a productivity method that promised to solve all your time management problems, only to leave you feeling more stressed than before? You might have tried calendar blocking, a popular time management technique for visualizing your schedule. But while it can be a powerful tool, it’s not without its pitfalls. Let’s explore what calendar blocking is and how to avoid the common problems that can turn it from a helpful tool into a source of stress.

What is Calendar Blocking?

At its core, calendar blocking is a time management technique where you divide your day into blocks of time, with each block dedicated to a specific task or type of activity. You can do this with a paper planner or a digital calendar like Google Calendar or Outlook.

Possible Pitfalls When Using Calendar Blocking

When you first try out a new method, it can be exciting, overwhelming, or a combination thereof. Speaking from my own experience, there are some things to watch out for if you wish to try calendar blocking. Resist the temptation to add in all the things! If you didn’t feel overwhelmed before, chances are you will! 

The Trap of a Jam-Packed Schedule

The biggest mistake people make with calendar blocking is trying to fill every single minute. The white space on your calendar is not your enemy—it’s a necessary part of a healthy schedule. If you fill up your ENTIRE calendar, this is an easy way to feel overwhelmed. This does not put you in the best headspace. The goal is to make you have clarity, not to make you feel anxious before the week has even started, by seeing your calendar overcrowded with blocks.

It is easy to get carried away and create different blocks for everything you want to plan. But do you need to categorize every hour of your day? If not, it may be better to just use blocks when you need to and let the rest of your day have more white space. Create blocks that help you see when you have meetings or work, and what time you have for other tasks.

You Are Not a Productivity Robot!

It is fairly easy to create what looks like an optimized schedule on paper. But we are not machines! You are human, not a robot, and humans are more complex. We have good days and bad days. Days full of energy and days when just getting out of bed was a huge win! Keeping an overview of what needs to happen during a week is fine. Stressing yourself out or inviting negative self-talk from missed tasks during a day is not! Sometimes we need to change our plans according to the energy we have, not by the things we think we need to do. 

Watch out for creating a schedule that feels too rigid. If you feel like you need to do exactly what your calendar says during the assigned block, and it feels all right, then it’s all good. But what do you do when you have a day where your energy is nowhere near what it needs to be to match the blocks in your calendar?

What Can You Do Instead?

If you know you want to try calendar blocking, but want to avoid overplanning, what can you do?

Making Calendar Blocking Work for You

Here are some suggestions to try:

• Only add appointments and work to your calendar.
• Keep tasks separate from your calendar blocks.
• Use recurring blocks for things you know you always do on certain days.

If you want more structure instead of a block just saying ”morning routine,” you can add a note inside the block. This is something I do when using blocks in Google Calendar. It’s very useful if you plan your week out at the end of the previous week. 

By adding a short note, or a very short bullet list inside your block, it is easier to remember what you had set your mind to the previous week. If possible, keep the list short and stick to only three items. This forces you to focus on what matters most to you. 

An Alternative to Calendar Blocking

Another thing you can try is something I stumbled upon inside the bullet journal community – the Alastair method. This method uses what is called a rolling weekly, meaning you list the tasks or projects you have, and only indicate the day when you intend to do them. This can be done with a dot, an X, or whatever you prefer. This is something I think is easiest to do on paper, but if you use a digital bullet journal, this could be used as well.

Finding a System That Works for You

Calendar Blocking can be a useful tool to plan your week. It can help you see your time effectively, but make sure not to over-exert yourself! If used right, it can be a tool to help you create more balance between work and spare time. Ultimately, the best productivity system is one that works for you, not one that makes you feel like a slave to your schedule.

Have you tried calendar blocking? What are your best tips to get this to work for you? Share in the comments!