Time blocking and Parkinson's law

Plan your work in time blocks so you can finish what you set out to do. The idea is simple: whenever you need to do something, add a block for it to your calendar.

There's one catch. The more time you spend organizing your blocks, the less time you have for the work itself. Keep that in mind, or planning will become pointless.

I've written about choosing one important task for the day and focusing on it first. Give it the first block, then schedule time for other things. Don't worry if you don't finish everything. You can move a task to the next day. You can also block time for just one important task today. You'll finish it and move one step closer to your goal.

Here are a few examples:

• Call my family
• Make a change to one of my apps
• Write a post

Remember Parkinson's law: “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” To avoid that trap, set a time limit for each task or project. Estimate how long it will take. Don't worry if your estimate is off. You can extend the block or schedule the remaining work for later. If you give a four-hour task the whole day, it will probably take the whole day.

Does time blocking work for you?