Freelance Amy

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Time Blocking with Google Calendar (Part 2)

2021-02-05
A screenshot of one week in January using time blocking with Google Calendar. Days are blocked off with color-coded time blocks for specific tasks with long projects listed at the top.
A snapshot of my system for time blocking with Google Calendar

In my previous post, I discussed the daily task checklist as a tool for organizing freelancer schedules. In this post, I’ll take a look at the pros and cons of time blocking with Google Calendar.

At the end, I’ll provide a brief conclusion about both systems. Then, you’ll get my final verdict based on this way super-duper deep and exciting examination!

Quick heads-up:
This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission should you decide to purchase items I recommend via affiliate links.

PRO
Time Blocking with Google Calendar

You can allocate time to different-size tasks.

When you are time blocking with Google Calendar, you set aside time for a specific task or project at a specific time of day and focus only on that during that time slot.

If the task takes several hours, you can allocate time, say 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., then take lunch, answer emails, and complete some other task that also needs to be done that day (also time blocked), and then carry on with the original task from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

CON
Time Blocking with Google Calendar

You have to be able to identify how long a task will take.

It can be difficult to determine how long a task will take, and it can be challenging to figure out how to complete other tasks around it that also need to be done that day.

Solution?

Keep track of how long tasks take you using a spreadsheet or other tracking medium you prefer. I use Microsoft Excel* to log my start and end times and then note what project I worked on. Over time, I’ve built up a record of how long different types of tasks take me. And I use that to determine my time blocks for each task.

*To learn more about my tracking system, check out my course “Complete Time Management for Freelancers” on Udemy and LearnDesk.

PRO
Time Blocking with Google Calendar

You can schedule priorities according to your daily rhythms.

When you’re time blocking, you can schedule your most important tasks and most demanding tasks strategically throughout the day. For example, I know that I do my best copyediting and writing work in the mornings, so I block off that time of day for those types of tasks.

However, I also have to balance deadlines, so sometimes I have to compromise a little and maybe push some writing to the early afternoon if a client is waiting on a design project first thing.

CON
Time Blocking with Google Calendar

It can be hard to identify high and low priorities.

With so much on your plate, that ever-growing list can be overwhelming. Which one is the most important, the most urgent, or both? For example:

  • Your most demanding client needs you to turn in a couple mockups by noon.
  • Your dog is barking and needs to go out.
  • Your tooth is throbbing and you need to make time for an urgent dental appointment.
  • You still haven’t been able to get started on building your new website.

Solution?

Take time to think about what’s really important. I’d recommend reading Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. In it, Covey provides sage advice on how to identify what’s important, urgent, not important, and not urgent.

The key is to work toward living most of your life in the quadrant of “important and not urgent.” Once you’ve done that, you can handle whenever those “important and urgent” things arise. As you start time blocking with Google Calendar, you’ll find that the more you time block, the more seamless identifying priorities will become.

PRO
Time Blocking with Google Calendar

You can plan out your day carefully and precisely.

When you’re time blocking with Google Calendar, you can plan out your day and even your week down to the half hour or even the quarter hour. You can feel assured that what you’ve set out to do that week has its place and will get done.

And if tasks end up taking longer than anticipated or deadlines shift, you can easily just move those blocks around, especially if you’re using an online calendar. Just drag and drop!

CON
Time Blocking with Google Calendar

You have constant interruptions that disrupt your carefully planned schedule.

Unfortunately, interruptions will strike eventually, and sometimes they can be substantial. And maybe that’s even just the nature of your type of freelance gigs.

You can have good intentions, set up all your tasks when time blocking with Google calendar, and know exactly how long each will take you … Then a client calls you to discuss some urgent issue for what was supposed to be 5 minutes that turned into 2 hours.

Solution?

Consider a combination of time blocking with Google Calendar and daily task checklist! Use time blocking for meetings and non-negotiable tasks or make time blocks flexible.

If your clients are less active in the mornings, plan your most demanding tasks for that time. Then leave the afternoon free for less urgent and less demanding tasks that are laid out on an organized, prioritized to-do list. You can use a combination of Google Keep checklists and Google Tasks or some other app or web-based tool.

Conclusion

In sum, and in my determination to prove that time blocking with Google Calendar is the best system, I somehow managed to state that both are pretty great. And used in conjunction, they are a force to be reckoned with.

And to keep up to date on my blog posts, courses, and other offerings, don’t forget to subscribe to Freelance Amy!

To learn more about how to manage your time and priorities effectively, check out my online course. In “Complete Time Management for Freelancers” you’ll learn to identify priorities, organize them, and get them done. In addition, you’ll learn to keep focused and maintain good habits. Your enrollment includes access to resources like the time tracker I mentioned above, worksheets, and book recommendations. The course is available on Udemy and LearnDesk.

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Daily Task Checklist vs. Time Blocking (Part 1)

2021-01-29
Daily task checklist on paper with pen
Image by StockSnap from Pixabay 

There’s a war going in the time management field over the best tools for organizing freelancer schedules. One camp favors the daily task checklist, or to-do list. And the other advocates for the time blocking calendar, or as I sometimes refer to it, extreme scheduling.

I would staunchly identify with the time blocking calendar as you would learn from my online courses. However, I have many friends and colleagues who are determined to hold onto their daily task checklist as if any other system were morally impossible.

Some of them even swear by piles and piles of Post-it notes, and I shudder at the thought. If they are getting things done with this system, though, more power to them!

But in the next breath, some may complain that they never can get to that one project on their list. Its presence instills guilt and remorse each time they see it or think about it.

Is my bias too obvious here?

So, to be completely fair and forthright, I’m going to examine that bias by taking a deeper look at each system. For this first post, I’ll discuss the pros and cons of the daily task checklist.

PRO
Daily Task Checklist

It’s a quick way to jot down tasks and projects.

Back when I used a daily task checklist, I had a big legal pad next to my keyboard. Each time a new task came in via email, phone, or conversation at the entry of my cubicle—this was before I was a freelancer—I would diligently write that down even before I finished reading or talking.

It was out of my head, so I knew it would eventually get done. No need to fret because it was right there on the piece of paper as an hourly physical reminder.

CON
Daily Task Checklist

It can be unorganized and ever growing.

The physical legal pad can quickly become unorganized as more tasks come in. Which one needs to be done first and how much time do I need to complete each one?

And as the list keeps growing, the self-assurance I once felt about getting it out of my head is quickly replaced with the overwhelm I was trying to avoid by using a daily task checklist to begin with. I start to run out of paper and need to either flip to the other side or start a new page.

Solution?

Back in the day, I had a simple way to overcome the overwhelm of an ever-growing and unorganized to-do list. I labeled some tasks by order of priority. In other words, I just numbered them.

Over time, though, some tasks seemed to be at the same level of priority. So then I started to label them with letters. All tasks considered #1, for example, got a letter to drill down their priority even more. I ended up with tasks labeled #1a, #1b, and so on.

This daily task checklist seemed to work for me back then. But now, as a freelancer, I juggle multiple personal and business priorities. And they all depend on several factors: deadlines, level of effort, client expectations, ideal time of day, and ETA of the actual work in my inbox. It would be impossible for me to implement all of these using just a primitive handwritten paper list.

These days, though, we have an app for that!

Instead of a legal pad, you can use online checklists to move things around just with your mouse or finger. You can even go a step further and add a date that triggers a reminder on the assigned day. It’s still on a list, though you can also put a time if you like.

For simple checklists, I would suggest looking into Google Keep, which is also a notetaking app. For tasks, I would suggest Google Tasks, which also syncs with Google Calendar.

PRO
Daily Task Checklist

You can use any medium for the daily task checklist.

No matter where you are, especially in this plugged-in world we’re living in, you can jot down a task or idea to refer to later. Yes, you can write it down on the list next to you at your desk, but you can also leave a note for yourself on your phone via email or a notetaking app.

Or just carry a small notepad around with you. Or even leave yourself a voicemail. Or write it down on a Post-it note. The possibilities are endless!

CON
Daily Task Checklist

You can end up with several different lists in different places.

The possibilities are endless! Did I say that already? If you do end up writing things down in a multitude of places—I mean you should be recording tasks whenever they come up just to get them out of your head and avoid stress and overwhelm—you could end up with so many lists that you can’t possibly know which needs to be done first, when, and for how long.

At some point, you’re going to need to consolidate all those lists, and that can be time consuming and overwhelming. Just the thought of having to do that can be overwhelming and make the most laid-back person want to lie down on the floor and sob. Or throw things. Or hide under the table.

Solution?

My best advice here would be to limit the media you use to record tasks as much as possible. If you tend to write things down when using a daily task checklist, keep one notepad at your desk. Alternatively, designate a notepad for each type of task, such as professional versus personal.

When you’re away from your desk, consider using an app on your phone for any tasks you think of on the road or in the next room. Then, designate a time each day to transfer the notes from your phone to your lists at your desk. I would recommend doing it when you first start working for the day.

PRO
Daily Task Checklist

Checking off an item is deeply satisfying.

When I use the daily task checklist now—I use Google Tasks for small things—I find it difficult to find a greater feeling than that which comes with checking off a task.

It’s done! It’s not only out of my head, but also gone forever and complete. What more can you ask from life?

CON
Daily Task Checklist

You keep adding more items, sometimes five more for every one!

But, alas, checking off one task just means you need to move onto the next one. And while you were checking it off, you probably thought of a few more. The list starts to feel never-ending.

Well, it feels never-ending because, well, it is never-ending! Your to-do list will still be there the day you take your last breath, and that’s a sobering thought, isn’t it?

Solution?

Then again, and I’m going to get a little philosophical here, understanding the perspective that a to-do list is forever and it’s the same for everyone around the world may be a reassuring feeling, if you are inclined to feel that way.

But, if that doesn’t work for you, stay tuned for my next post about the pros and cons of the time blocking calendar. Might this option be a good one for you to explore? Maybe just give it a try for a week or two? Even just for a day?

Thanks for getting to the end of part 1 of my two-part series examining the pros and cons of the daily task checklist and time blocking calendar. Stay tuned for part 2 coming soon!

And to keep up to date on my blog posts, courses, and other offerings, don’t forget to subscribe to Freelance Amy!

If you want to learn more about managing your time and priorities effectively, check out my self-paced online course “Complete Time Management for Freelancers: Strategies for the Virtual Workplace,” which is available on Udemy and LearnDesk.

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Coping in Quarantine While Working from Home

2021-01-02
Getting dressed as way to cope in quarantine while working from home: Image of feet, one with an ankle-length brown sock and the other with a mid-calf-length purple sock with multi-colored spots.
Image by mac231 from Pixabay 

Please get dressed every day. It’s 2021 and many of us are still in quarantine or quarantine-like conditions while we wait for our opportunity to get vaccinated. It all just seems to keep dragging on and on. So how are you coping in quarantine while working from home?

In the beginning, people new to working from home relished the opportunity to stay in their pajamas all day. They also opted to forgo regular showers, stash away the makeup or razor, and install themselves on the couch or even in bed. These activities didn’t seem to affect a relatively productive day of work.

Back in April in the United States, our experience was fresh and scary, and now it’s just dull and scary.

Back then, we didn’t really think about how long we’d be in this crisis. But I bet most of us did not imagine it would be for well over a year. Alas, that’s where many of us are headed. And coping in quarantine while working from home is an even more desperate endeavor now that we’re “relatively” close to the end.

That’s why I want to take a moment to offer some quick advice. This advice applies especially to those of you who may be a little too eager to get to that finish line even though it’s still months away.

Daily routine for coping in quarantine while working from home

I have been working from home as a freelancer for almost a decade. So I have some insight on how to stay somewhat normal as we stumble and creep toward the end of this crisis.

In essence, just follow the brief itinerary, or daily routine, below regularly. Tape it to your wall, copy and paste it into a note on your smartphone, or pin it to your fridge.

In the mornings:

  • First, get dressed.
  • Next, make the bed.
  • Then, have your coffee.*
  • Finally, go to your computer and start working.

At mid-morning:

  • Take a 15-minute break.

At lunchtime:

  • Stop working for an hour.
  • Have lunch.
  • Go back to work.

At mid-afternoon:

  • Take a 15-minute break.

At the end of the day:

  • Stop working.
  • Relax with your family.**
  • Have dinner.
  • Go to sleep.

*Or tea, smoothie, protein shake, or whatever else gets you moving in the day.
**Or snuggle with your partner, or call a friend on Zoom, or email your cousin, or write a letter to your grandmother. Basically, whatever gets you socializing and reminding you that you’re not alone, at least not mentally anyway.

Simple, right? But I and other freelancers know that it’s so easy to forget about the comfort of a routine. Plus, staying in a routine can be a painless way to ease back into normalcy, hopefully later this year.

The key to coping in quarantine while working from home

Separate work and personal life. And yes, there’s more to life than sleep, food, and work. But if you make sure you stick to a regular routine, you can fill in the spaces in between with everything else.

The routine I’ve provided here is focused around the essential activities of the day. However, a quick Netflix binge, an email response, a socially distanced walk with your dog, or taking the time to enjoy one of your hobbies can be scheduled into this routine as well.

So how do you keep coping in quarantine while working from home? Just start by getting dressed every day and go from there.

And to keep up to date on my blog posts, courses, and other offerings, don’t forget to subscribe to Freelance Amy!

You can learn more about how to schedule your time and priorities from my course “Complete Time Management for Freelancers: Strategies for the Virtual Workplace” available on Udemy.com and LearnDesk.

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© 2021 Freelance Amy

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