Before making a time block, learn how to properly estimate your workload for the day in order for you to be able to successfully accomplish tasks. 
Your tasks need to be doable within the span of time that you've assigned for it. To do so, you must prioritize what needs to be done during the day and what can wait for tomorrow.

Manage your expectations about what you can accomplish

<ol>
<li>In order to have a structured work-life balance, you need to know your internal clock. Your circadian rhythm impacts your energy throughout the day and to be efficient you should match your chronotype with your work style.</li>
<li>Proactively bucket your meetings into chunks. Arrange your calendar events to make room for uninterrupted focus time.</li>
<li>Go off the grid. Turn on 'do not disturb' outside of work hours.</li>
<li>Rely on your peers.</li>
<li>Observe and reflect on how you spend your time during the day.</li>
</ol>

Have a structured work-life balance

<ul>
<li>Build a habit. Learn to identify the things you need to do in order to make your goals into reality and practice them daily.</li>
<li>Share your intention with your team so that they know when you're available. Being able to communicate the importance of your uninterrupted productive time ultimately benefits everyone.</li>
<li>Assess your work environment. Any part of your work environment that doesn't support your energy management should be dialed down. Your environment should match your needs.</li>
</ul>

Build systems for your skills

<figure><picture><source media="(max-width: 40em)" sizes="calc(100vw - 20px)" srcset="https://images.fastcompany.net/image/upload/w_300, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/ar_16:9, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/c_fill, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/g_auto, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/f_auto, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/q_auto, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/fl_lossy/wp-cms/uploads/2021/04/p-2-try-these-simple-behavior-shifts-to-manage-your-time-and-energy-better-copy.jpg 300w, https://images.fastcompany.net/image/upload/w_638, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/ar_16:9, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/c_fill, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/g_auto, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/f_auto, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/q_auto, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/fl_lossy/wp-cms/uploads/2021/04/p-2-try-these-simple-behavior-shifts-to-manage-your-time-and-energy-better-copy.jpg 638w"><img srcset="https://images.fastcompany.net/image/upload/w_562, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/ar_16:9, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/c_fill, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/g_auto, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/f_auto, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/q_auto, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/fl_lossy/wp-cms/uploads/2021/04/p-2-try-these-simple-behavior-shifts-to-manage-your-time-and-energy-better-copy.jpg 562w, https://images.fastcompany.net/image/upload/w_937, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/ar_16:9, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/c_fill, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/g_auto, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/f_auto, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/q_auto, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/fl_lossy/wp-cms/uploads/2021/04/p-2-try-these-simple-behavior-shifts-to-manage-your-time-and-energy-better-copy.jpg 937w, https://images.fastcompany.net/image/upload/w_1153, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/ar_16:9, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/c_fill, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/g_auto, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/f_auto, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/q_auto, https://www.fastcompany.com/90628922/fl_lossy/wp-cms/uploads/2021/04/p-2-try-these-simple-behavior-shifts-to-manage-your-time-and-energy-better-copy.jpg 1153w" alt="Try these simple behavior shifts to manage your time and energy better" width="705" height="396"></picture></figure><div dir="ltr"><cite dir="ltr">By Danielle Meinert—Zapier </cite>4 minute Read</div>I need three hours of focused time per day to complete—and feel proud of—my week’s work. It’s just how my brain works.<div>advertisement</div>As a coach and facilitator, I’ve become convinced that everyone, regardless of their role, needs uninterrupted work time every day. Engineers need to write code without errors. People managers need to synthesize a day of one-on-one calls. Support and sales roles need to manage their pipeline after a day of context-switching between customers.When my clients get this dedicated work time, they’re more motivated and focused. But uninterrupted calendar blocks are hard to design into your schedule. We balance meetings, messages, and family members who need our attention. Working for three focused hours per day might sound impossible to do—that means it’s worth trying. Here, I’ll share with you how I practice this skill.<h2>Manage your expectations about what you can accomplish</h2>I’m an introvert. I need time to recharge after work. On meeting-heavy days, I can’t effectively spend evening hours finishing my work. Most of us can’t sustainably do this and maintain our energy.When I have a heavy meeting day, I can’t <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/asynchronous-meeting-tips/" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">productively attend those meetings</a> if I’m thinking about all the work I need to complete later. I need to focus on the meetings, and only the meetings, because these are topics and people I care about.On these days full of meetings, I only handle urgent requests (instead of important tasks) that I’m capable of doing between meeting breaks.<div>advertisement</div>When I <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/how-to-estimate-time/" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">improperly estimate my workload</a>, I reset expectations with folks about what I can accomplish that day.On lighter meeting days, I knock out my important list. This is when I get longer projects done that require more of my brainpower. I also analyze which <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/automation-for-time-tracking/" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">tasks took longer</a> than expected or that I need to discuss with stakeholders. This teaches me where I need to improve my time management skills.<h2>Structure your work life to balance energy and goals</h2>Meeting all your <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/missing-goals-learning-90-day/" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">goals</a> without burning out is a skill. A few things have helped me and my coaching clients:Know your internal clock. I honor my <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/chronotype-productivity-schedule/" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">chronotype</a>—this tells me how my personal circadian rhythm impacts my energy throughout the day. Morning meetings motivate me to start the day on time, so I schedule those from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. My energy peaks after lunch, so that’s when I block my focused work to leverage my naturally-occurring best self. Evenings are reserved for my family and non-work passion projects. This also matches my work style: I’m a <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/achieving-work-life-balance/" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">work separator</a>, not an integrator.Bucket your time. When possible, I proactively <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/batching-for-productivity/" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">bucket</a> my meetings into chunks. For example, my schedulable coaching sessions are in the same three-hour block twice a week. An app called Clockwise helps me maintain this schedule: it arranges my calendar events so I have chunks of focused time to work. This helps me reach a state of <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/how-to-find-flow/" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">flow</a> when managing my to-do list outside of Zoom. Uninterrupted focus time = my most productive time.<div>advertisement</div>Go off the grid. I automatically set Slack to <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/advanced-slack-features/" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">Do Not Disturb</a> outside work hours, and I <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/block-slack-to-focus/" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">quit Slack</a> when I do deep-focus work.Rely on peers. If you’re an <a href="https://zapier.com/learn/remote-work/remote-work-extrovert/" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">extroverted remote worker</a> or like social accountability, use a virtual co-working tool like Focusmate. You can also ask your coworkers to hold you <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/work-life-guardrails/" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">accountable without any tools</a>.Reflect. At the end of each workday, I observe how I spent my time. Then I add events to my calendar to <a href="https://www.timecamp.com/blog/2018/03/what-is-time-mapping/?utm_source=zapier.com&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=zapier&amp;utm_source=zapier.com&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=zapier&amp;utm_source=zapier.com&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=zapier" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">document a map</a> of what I accomplished in each block of time. This helps refine my workload estimation skills and hold myself accountable for the work I said I’d do. You can set this to private in most calendar apps—you know if you don’t want to share it with your entire organization.Like anything, these skills are about balance. <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/how-do-you-prioritize-your-work/" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">Priorities can shift</a> in a dynamic workday. My team’s needs matter too. That’s why I prioritize their requests to chat if they need me, and I make myself available in the afternoon a few days per week to accommodate their time zones. The goal is to balance my work commitments, care for my team, and for myself.<h2>Build systems for these skills</h2>These steps require behavior shifts. Most importantly:<div>advertisement</div>Build a habit. Identify what you need to do to make this a reality. Practice those steps daily. Then ask your partner, manager, or coach to hold you accountable.Communicate. Share your intention with your team and manager so they know when you’re available and why these steps ultimately help you all meet your goals. Then <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/automate-slack-status/" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">automatically update</a> your Slack status during focused time.Assess your work environment. Your teammates have equally important <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/emotional-labor-in-the-workplace/" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">energy management needs</a>. Design your work to meet your role’s expectations and your colleagues’ expectations of you. From there, notice any parts of your work environment that don’t support your energy management. A human-first work environment recognizes we need control over our energy to produce quality work. If you’re in an environment that doesn’t match your needs, or if caregiving commitments prevent you from reserving three hours per day of focused time, identify a realistic end-state for you. Work backward to address <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/take-control-for-increased-productivity/" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">what is in your control</a>.People make organizations successful. You’re a person, too. Treat yourself that way.This <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/managing-energy-at-work/" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">article</a> originally appeared on <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">Zapier’s blog</a> and is reprinted with permission.<div>advertisement</div><img src="https://assets.fastcompany.com/image/upload/v1611599157/fc-compass-logo-knockout-svg.svg" alt="" width="240" height="65">

Coach and facilitator Danielle Meinert says working for three focused hours per day might sound impossible to do—that means it’s worth trying. Here, she shares how she practices this skill.


productivity

Productivity

remotework

Remote Work

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

timemanagement

Time Management

I need three hours of focused time per day to complete—and feel proud of—my week’s work. It’s just how my brain works.

As a coach and facilitator, I’ve become convinced that everyone, regardless of their role, needs uninterrupted work time every day. Engineers need to write code without errors. People managers need to synthesize a day of one-on-one calls. Support and sales roles need to manage their pipeline after a day of context-switching between customers.

When my clients get this dedicated work time, they’re more motivated and focused. But uninterrupted calendar blocks are hard to design into your schedule. We balance meetings, messages, and family members who need our attention. Working for three focused hours per day might sound impossible to do—that means it’s worth trying. Here, I’ll share with you how I practice this skill.

I’m an introvert. I need time to recharge after work. On meeting-heavy days, I can’t effectively spend evening hours finishing my work. Most of us can’t sustainably do this and maintain our energy.

When I have a heavy meeting day, I can’t <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/asynchronous-meeting-tips/">productively attend those meetings </a>if I’m thinking about all the work I need to complete later. I need to focus on the meetings, and only the meetings, because these are topics and people I care about.

On these days full of meetings, I only handle urgent requests (instead of important tasks) that I’m capable of doing between meeting breaks.

When I <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/how-to-estimate-time/">improperly estimate my workload </a>, I reset expectations with folks about what I can accomplish that day.

On lighter meeting days, I knock out my important list. This is when I get longer projects done that require more of my brainpower. I also analyze which <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/automation-for-time-tracking/">tasks took longer </a>than expected or that I need to discuss with stakeholders. This teaches me where I need to improve my time management skills.

Structure your work life to balance energy and goals

Meeting all your <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/missing-goals-learning-90-day/">goals </a>without burning out is a skill. A few things have helped me and my coaching clients:

Know your internal clock . I honor my <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/chronotype-productivity-schedule/">chronotype </a>—this tells me how my personal circadian rhythm impacts my energy throughout the day. Morning meetings motivate me to start the day on time, so I schedule those from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. My energy peaks after lunch, so that’s when I block my focused work to leverage my naturally-occurring best self. Evenings are reserved for my family and non-work passion projects. This also matches my work style: I’m a <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/achieving-work-life-balance/">work separator </a>, not an integrator.

Bucket your time. When possible, I proactively <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/batching-for-productivity/">bucket </a>my meetings into chunks. For example, my schedulable coaching sessions are in the same three-hour block twice a week. An app called Clockwise helps me maintain this schedule: it arranges my calendar events so I have chunks of focused time to work. This helps me reach a state of <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/how-to-find-flow/">flow </a>when managing my to-do list outside of Zoom. Uninterrupted focus time = my most productive time.

Go off the grid . I automatically set Slack to <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/advanced-slack-features/">Do Not Disturb </a>outside work hours, and I <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/block-slack-to-focus/">quit Slack </a>when I do deep-focus work.

Rely on peers. If you’re an <a href="https://zapier.com/learn/remote-work/remote-work-extrovert/">extroverted remote worker </a>or like social accountability, use a virtual co-working tool like Focusmate. You can also ask your coworkers to hold you <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/work-life-guardrails/">accountable without any tools </a>.

Reflect. At the end of each workday, I observe how I spent my time. Then I add events to my calendar to <a href="https://www.timecamp.com/blog/2018/03/what-is-time-mapping/?utm_source=zapier.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zapier&utm_source=zapier.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zapier&utm_source=zapier.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zapier">document a map </a>of what I accomplished in each block of time. This helps refine my workload estimation skills and hold myself accountable for the work I said I’d do. You can set this to private in most calendar apps—you know if you don’t want to share it with your entire organization.

Like anything, these skills are about balance. <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/how-do-you-prioritize-your-work/">Priorities can shift </a>in a dynamic workday. My team’s needs matter too. That’s why I prioritize their requests to chat if they need me, and I make myself available in the afternoon a few days per week to accommodate their time zones. The goal is to balance my work commitments, care for my team, and for myself.

These steps require behavior shifts. Most importantly:

Build a habit. Identify what you need to do to make this a reality. Practice those steps daily. Then ask your partner, manager, or coach to hold you accountable.

Communicate. Share your intention with your team and manager so they know when you’re available and why these steps ultimately help you all meet your goals. Then <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/automate-slack-status/">automatically update </a>your Slack status during focused time.

Assess your work environment. Your teammates have equally important <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/emotional-labor-in-the-workplace/">energy management needs </a>. Design your work to meet your role’s expectations and your colleagues’ expectations of you. From there, notice any parts of your work environment that don’t support your energy management. A human-first work environment recognizes we need control over our energy to produce quality work. If you’re in an environment that doesn’t match your needs, or if caregiving commitments prevent you from reserving three hours per day of focused time, identify a realistic end-state for you. Work backward to address <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/take-control-for-increased-productivity/">what is in your control </a>.

People make organizations successful. You’re a person, too. Treat yourself that way.

This <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/managing-energy-at-work/">article </a>originally appeared on <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/">Zapier’s blog </a>and is reprinted with permission.

Try these simple behavior shifts to manage your time and energy better

Manage your expectations about what you can accomplish

Have a structured work-life balance

Build systems for your skills

CURATED BY

Related collections

More like this