If You Want to Be Productive, You Need to Time Block
Juggling Toddlers, Teaching, and Aspiring to Write: A Teacher Mom’s Tale
Once Upon a Chaos-Filled Time…
In a kingdom (read: average, toy-strewn house) where time was as hard to come by as a quiet bathroom break, there lived a mom (yours truly), two energetic toddler boys (think tiny, adorable hurricanes), and a dream to write something longer than a grocery list.
Oh, and I teach full-time, because life isn’t challenging enough, right?
Then, one day, I stumbled upon a magical spell called “Time Blocking.”
What’s This Sorcery?
Time blocking is like Tetris for your schedule, but instead of fitting blocks into a game, you’re fitting tasks into your day.
It’s the art of dedicating specific blocks of time to individual tasks or types of work.
My life before time blocking was like trying to stuff a herd of cats into a minivan. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t pretty.
I remember the days when I used to try making to-do lists, but those never worked out because my lists just kept getting longer and nothing got done.
It felt like I was constantly adding more tasks than I was completing, leading to a never-ending cycle of stress and unproductivity.
Instead of helping me organize, these lists became a daunting reminder of everything I hadn’t achieved.
The items on the list seemed to multiply overnight, and the sheer volume of tasks became overwhelming.
This overwhelming feeling often led to procrastination, as I didn’t know where to start or what to prioritize.
It was a frustrating experience that left me feeling more disorganized than ever.
Time blocking, in contrast, helped me sort through the chaos by assigning a place and time for each task, bringing a sense of order and accomplishment to my day.
Experimenting with Time Blocking
I started time blocking with the basics: “Prevent Kids from Eating Crayons,” “Grade Papers Without Crying,” and the elusive “Write for Ten Uninterrupted Minutes.”
It was more revolutionary than discovering I could hide veggies in brownies.
I began to see my to-do lists as a puzzle, fitting each piece — my tasks and events — neatly into the calendar.
It was like playing a strategic game where each task had its own special time slot.
In these moments, I became the focused conductor of my daily symphony.
This process also revealed a key insight: my agenda was overflowing with commitments.
If a task couldn’t gracefully find a place in my daily calendar, it was a sign that my schedule was too full.
So, I took on the role of a skilled juggler, deciding to either delegate these tasks to willing hands or gently set them aside.
This approach to time management transformed my overwhelming list into a more manageable and harmonious routine.
Life With a Side of Scheduled Chaos
Time blocking brought a newfound sense of clarity and tranquility to my life, significantly reducing my anxiety.
You’re familiar with that overwhelming sensation of having a never-ending list of tasks with seemingly no time to tackle them?
Well, that feeling began to diminish.
Gradually, I noticed myself composing coherent paragraphs, grading papers without succumbing to panic, and engaging with my children without the constant worry of unfinished work.
Admittedly, the system wasn’t completely infallible — toddlers possess a remarkable knack for disrupting a well-planned schedule — yet, it was proving to be effective.
The mere fact that I’ve managed to write this article stands as a testament to the efficacy of time blocking!
The Fairy Tale Ending?
Time blocking doesn’t make everything perfect — the kids still draw on walls, and I occasionally fall asleep on a pile of ungraded essays — but it adds a sprinkle of order to the beautiful chaos of mom-life and teacher-life, with a dash of writer dreams.
So, here’s to all the moms out there, trying to catch their dreams one block at a time. May your coffee be strong, your toddlers’ naps long, and your time blocks productive!
