Time-blocking for academics and researchers
Every researcher and academic has to juggle multiple projects, including research, student supervision, and various administrative duties and other obligations. Important long-term projects often get side-lined in the never-ending influx of urgent requests. Time-blocking can help to regain some control.
What is time-blocking?
Time-blocking is a system that combines your to-do list with your calendar. At the start of each day, you select the tasks that you want to work on and allocate time slots to them. For instance, is what my time-blocking schedule looks like:
The day is divided into blocks that are dedicated to specific tasks. Further, I colour-coded the blocks for different domains to keep track of how I spent my time. For instance, green blocks are related to research and yellow blocks for administrative tasks. These plans are not rigid and can be adapted when the need arises. In that case, I cross out the planned slot and use the extra space on the right to create a new block.
➡️ Download my time-blocking template via this link.