Google Calendar Time Blocking

Practices that fit alongside Google Calendar

• Calendar time blocking

  Give every task a specific start and end time on your calendar.

  In Google Calendar:

  1. At the start of the week, create an event for each task with a real start and end time.
  2. Create the blocks for important work before accepting meetings that would fill the gaps.
  3. When a block runs over, drag the remaining blocks later in the day instead of deleting them.

  A line to put in the eventThe one task that most needs a protected block this week is...

  Evidence: randomized trials

• Schedule rocks in your calendar before anything else

  Block time for your rocks in the first planning step — before reactive commitments fill the day.

  In Google Calendar:

  1. Open the week view and create your big-priority events before anything else goes in.
  2. Give each block a specific name for the outcome, not just a label like focus time.
  3. Set the block to repeat if the same priority needs time every week.

  A line to put in the eventBy the end of this block, I will have finished...

  Evidence: mechanistic reasoning

• Make time before the day fills

  Block time for the Highlight first, so it isn’t left to leftover scraps of the day.

  In Google Calendar:

  1. As soon as you choose the one thing that would make today count, create an event for it.
  2. Place it in the part of the day when your energy is highest and add a notification before it begins.
  3. Treat it as fixed and move other events around it.

  A line to put in the eventIf today goes well, the one thing I will point to is...

  Evidence: randomized trials

• Build buffer blocks into the ideal week

  Schedule 60–90 minutes of unallocated buffer each day to absorb the unexpected without derailing priorities.

  In Google Calendar:

  1. Create a half-hour event named buffer in each half-day and leave it without a task.
  2. Repeat the buffer event across the week so it is there without setting it up again.
  3. When something unexpected arrives, drop it into the buffer event instead of into protected time.

  A line to put in the eventWhen the unexpected arrives this week, I will move it into the buffer block and keep...

  Evidence: mechanistic reasoning