Two tricks to getting more done: block and stitch

Everyone is busy. And yet, you won’t ever hear me trying to boast a tighter schedule than the guy next door. I’d rather have an efficient schedule than a busy schedule.

Two tricks have turned my clock right-side-up. I’ve taken the reigns back in my life. I’d like to share two tricks for clearing up your schedule so that you can accomplish more and still have time for the important things in life.

Time Blocking

The first trick is called time blocking. This is nothing more than setting aside chunks of time (maybe 1 or 2 hours) in regular, consistent intervals (once per week or once per month) to regularly progress toward a goal. The trick is to spend an extended period of time doing a single, important task.

The trick is to spend an extended period of time doing a single, important task.

This is actually how I get my writing done for this blog. Believe it or not, I generally sit down for a few hours and try to brainstorm ideas for Medium articles, start outlining and gathering resources (pictures or references) and then spend the rest of the time writing, until I’m done. While my goal is to write two blogs per week, it’s more efficient to sit down and write more (4 or 5 or…?) in one sitting.

Why is it more efficient? It takes a certain ‘mindset’ to be in a writing mood. I need a quiet environment, some creative juices flowing through my brain, a chance to be uninterrupted for a period of time. Once I find an opportunity for those things I should seize it to the fullest. It’s terribly inefficient to sit down once a week, take five minutes to get into the zone, try to remember where I saved my outlines, try to remember what I meant when I was writing a previous outline. Why not take a swing at it all in one go?

It takes a certain ‘mindset’ to be in a writing mood. Stay in that mindset as long as possible.

You can do this with many repetitive tasks. Save up the tasks, do them all in one go. Time blocking requires a set-aside time period (put it on your calendar, schedule it as a recurring event) and then guarding that time as ‘busy.’ Don’t let anyone convince you to re-schedule it. It’s blocked for a reason. That reason will lead to a more efficient and productive life.

Time Stitching

The next topic is another productivity hack. It may appear on first glance that this hack is almost the opposite advice as time blocking. It’s called time stitching: the regular stitching together of small chunks of time in a random yet cumulative manner to accomplish a long term goal.

The easiest example of the need for time stitching is reading. Did you know that in the past 3 years I’ve read 49 books? That’s one book every 3.2 weeks! (And one of those books was over 1300 pages!) How did I do that? Well, I certainly didn’t do it in a single day. I did it using a time stitching technique.

A stitch in time saves nine… hey, it’s a proverbial saying for a reason!

You’ll hardly ever see me travel anywhere without a book. Any spare time I have (5 minutes, or a whole hour) I’ll be sticking my nose in whatever book happens to be in my backpack. Think about it this way: most books average around 14 chapters, which would mean a chapter a day leads to one book every 2 weeks. A chapter may take 10 minutes to read.

Where can you find that ten minutes each day? That’s the first question of time stitching. Once you answer that, just keep ‘stitching’ ten minutes a day for a few months and you’ll be amazed at the results.

Lump similar activities into a single time frame and go gangbusters until you’re finished.

Should I block or stitch?

Each piece of advice has its own suitable tasks. Reading is the kind of thing that requires reflection and pause over a period of time (months). It’s actually preferable to read a book slowly and carefully digest it. You might not get the desired effect if you read a book in a single sitting. Other activities are similar: brushing your teeth, learning a new language, training for a marathon. None of these things would benefit very much from a single, intense day. But all of them benefit from the slow, repeated, methodical, cumulative addition over many days or years.

These two pieces of advice aren’t necessarily opposed. My habit of reading was accomplished by combining time blocking with time stitching. I always read for an hour in the morning, right after I wake up. I’ve blocked that time and hardly anything will convince me to give it up on any given day. Combining that time block with the repetitive nature of a daily habit and I’ve stitched together 49 books so far!

I would love to hear from you all. You can get in touch with me via my personal website (http://jeffreybwest.com/). Tweet @ me!