When scheduling out tasks, it's important to block out both proactive blocks and reactive blocks. Proactive blocks are when you focus on important tasks that you must get done. This is when you make progress on important projects, draft important documents, or sketch out a prototype for your next great product. Reactive blocks are when you allow time for requests and interruptions, such as email and impromptu meetings.

However, as Klipp noted above, it's possible to accomplish a significant amount in only a few sessions. Recommended <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/best-pomodoro-apps/">Pomodoro apps </a>: The human body operates on cycles called " <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultradian_rhythm">ultradian rhythms </a>." During each of these cycles, there is a peak when we are most energized and a trough when we are exhausted. With the 90-minute focus technique, you take full advantage of the energy peaks and troughs that occur throughout your day: Work 90 minutes and then rest for 20-30 minutes. In discussing peak performance <a href="http://projects.ict.usc.edu/itw/gel/EricssonDeliberatePracticePR93.pdf">in a 1993 study </a>, Anders Ericcson pointed out that those rest periods between intense work sessions is essential for improvement.

This is a somewhat bizarre scheduling method that only works for a few select people, but if it works for you, you'll achieve uncommon amounts of productivity in a single day. Most people are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biphasic_and_polyphasic_sleep">monophasic sleepers, </a>meaning they get their daily sleep in one chunk (or phase). <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biphasic_and_polyphasic_sleep">Biphasic sleepers </a>get their sleep in two smaller chunks, such as 4 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the late evening. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biphasic_and_polyphasic_sleep">Polyphasic sleepers </a>take this method to the extreme, breaking up sleep into multiple short phases, which allows for less sleep overall and significant increases in productivity. The amount of sleep in each phase can vary, with some people sleeping only in 20-minute naps and others grabbing larger chunks of sleep and then supplementing with naps.

Creating your most productive schedule might mean creating hybrids of some of these methods. The MIT method works well with the Time Blocking Method. Three Pomodoro sessions fit neatly inside a 90-minute work session. And the Polyphasic Method...well, you might be on your own there.

This is the core topic of Gary Keller and Jay Papasan's book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/ONE-Thing-Surprisingly-Extraordinary-Results/dp/1885167776">The ONE Thing </a> : "What's the ONE Thing you can do this week such that by doing it everything else would be easier or unnecessary?" Once you determine your 1-3 most important tasks, they are scheduled first in your day. You then make progress on essential items before you get bombarded by distractions. You can use this in conjunction with the time blocking method, saving your initial hours for the most important tasks. Email, phone calls, and meetings come later, after you've completed your essential tasks.

By focusing obsessively on your most important tasks, every day is productive. You never have a day where you waste time on meaningless tasks. Productivity expert <a href="http://jamesclear.com/productivity-tip">James Clear puts it this way </a>: If you do the most important thing first each day, then you'll always get something important done. I don't know about you, but this is a big deal for me. There are many days when I waste hours crossing off the 4th, 5th, or 6th most important tasks on my to do list and never get around to doing the most important thing.

Most people want to know the single best way to schedule their day for maximum productivity, and there are numerous articles and books that claim to know the "perfect schedule." But the reality i, there is no perfect method for everyone. Because we all have particular strengths and weaknesses when...

Master Your Time: 5 Daily Scheduling Methods to Bring More Focus to Your Day

Christopher Barber