I hate time blocking

Time blocking is the productivity world's equivalent of trying to micromanage your future self.

If time blocking actually works for you, great.

But for most people, it’s just micromanaging their future selves.

Your calendar should be sacred ground. 

I say again, your calendar should be SACRED ground.

When you put something on it, that's a real commitment - to yourself, to others, to getting something done at a specific date & time.

But time blocking takes this sacred space and turns it into a wish list.

"9:00-10:30 AM: Deep work on project X"

"10:30-11:00 AM: Email"

"11:00-12:00 PM: Creative thinking"

Bullshit.

That's not a schedule - it's science fiction.

Real work doesn't fit into neat little boxes.

That breakthrough idea isn't going to wait until your designated "creative thinking" hour.

And that urgent customer issue isn't going to politely hold off until your "email time."

Your calendar should show only true commitments.

Meetings that actually need to happen.

Deadlines that really matter.

Everything else belongs in your trusted project management system, where you can stay flexible and responsive to what the day actually throws at you.

When you time block, you're lying to yourself twice.

First, by pretending you can predict exactly how long projects will take.

Second, by believing that tomorrow will go exactly as planned.

It never does.

The result?

You spend more time managing and readjusting your blocks than actually doing the work.

Each day becomes a constant exercise in failure as reality refuses to conform to your carefully color-coded schedule.

Your calendar transforms from a trusted tool into a source of stress and guilt.

Instead, keep your calendar HONEST.

When something goes on there, it means something.

It's a real commitment, not a "hopefully I'll get to this" fantasy.

“Pick up kid from school”

“Meeting with Bob”

Not

“Brainstorm new branding guidelines”.

Your project list is for possibilities.

Your calendar is for certainties.

Trust yourself to make good decisions about what needs attention right now.

Sometimes that means diving deep into project work.

Sometimes it means clearing your inbox.

The key is having the freedom to respond to real life, not being shackled to an artificial schedule you created when you had no idea what today would actually bring.

Time blocking is just another way we lie to ourselves about being in control.

Keep your calendar sacred.

Save it for real commitments.

Yallah Habibi,

Jon

Passage

"You can't get better and look good at the same time"

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