(Remote) Work Blocks

I’m here today to spread the gospel of work blocking. I know, I know. Before you roll your eyes and click away from this post, trust me when I say that I wasn’t a believer in this productivity hack either. It never worked for me! But in the last month, I’ve become a full-fledged convert.

In this post, I will explain:

• what work blocking is

• my work blocking origin strategy

• why work blocking may be useful for you (in certain circumstances)

• strategies you can use to maximize efficiency.

What is Work Blocking?

Work blocking is the practice of allocating periods of time in your schedule to work on specific tasks. Specifically, you will “block” time on your calendar to focus on a project or task for a defined duration.

One example of work blocking is the Pomodoro technique (three cycles of 25-minute work blocks followed by 5-minute breaks, and then one final 25-minute work cycle followed by a 15-minute break.)

Whatever duration you choose, the point is to schedule this “focus time” on your calendar and then dedicate that time exclusively to that task.

How I Got Here: Work Blocking Origin Story

A few weeks ago, I noticed that my daily rhythm was becoming less consistent than it usually was. Even though my rate of output hadn’t slowed, it was starting to feel like a slog to get things done. While I was still productive on paper, my time and energy management seemed off.

A few months ago, I wrote a post reflecting on my journey of self-discovery with remote work. Part of my strategy for working remotely had then involved going into an office once per week. So at first, I thought my recent transition from a hybrid to a fully remote role might be to blame.

But, I ruled out this possibility when I reflected on the period from March 2020 to October 2021, when I did not step foot in an office once. After an initial adjustment from full-time office to full-time remote work, I figured out what worked for me and moved on.

This latest transition felt different. After a bit of soul searching, what I realized is that, since I’ve transitioned from a mostly in person to a mostly remote work environment, the nature of my work has also changed. Significantly. And I hadn’t accounted for this.

Back in my consulting days, I led a portfolio of projects, in addition to being responsible for a large team. My projects were high profile, often atypical for my organization, and therefore high-risk. I often led up to six of these engagements at once, accounting for ~80% of my time. The other 20% of my time was strategic—marketing work to win new business.

In the midst of constant tactical swirl and team management responsibilities, I had to figure out where to “fit in” activities that demanded more intense focus. While I was able to impose some discipline to work block during the day, it was never consistent.

Concluding that my schedule was too heavily influenced by ad hoc client, team, and leadership demands, I ultimately abandoned work blocking as a productivity technique.

Since I transitioned to the tech startup world, I’ve been asked to spend the bulk of my time on solving strategic challenges. Examples might include:

• designing a new process or workflow

• analyzing and selecting appropriate software to help an organization scale

• identifying opportunities for cost savings

• setting realistic organizational goals and metrics and designing systems to surface those metrics.

These types of challenges aren’t traditional projects, in the sense that they don’t necessarily have clearly defined beginnings and ends. In some cases, they don’t even have clearly defined objectives.

And, although I still interface with stakeholders to solve tough problems, I am mostly working by myself (at least for now.) Rather than running from meeting to meeting non-stop, I now spend maybe 8-16 hours of my week in meetings.

I had to experiment to figure out what productivity methodology would work for me in my new reality. Work blocking, which apparently everyone on the Internet has been doing except me, turned out to be my answer.

When Work Blocking May be a Useful Strategy

Work blocking previously didn’t resonate with me because I couldn’t get it to work with my schedule. But, in truth, I did engage in a form of work blocking—I routinely arrived at the office between 6:30 and 8am so I could have uninterrupted time to complete assignments.

Looking back, I see now that my work composition was different. I had fewer strategic assignments, so I could get away with one daily 90-minute work block and then run around the rest of the day churning out products and building relationships.

So, I didn’t fail at work blocking. I just didn’t need it.

In my current role, I primarily develop strategies for tackling big, thorny, amorphous problems. Then, I translate that strategy into tactical execution. I used to do this in strategy consulting, clearly, but I tended to spend more time on the implementation part.

Strategies for Effective Work Blocking

Here are my learnings when it comes to effective work blocking:

• I try for at least two 90-minute focused work blocks per day. During this time, I’m not surfing the web. I’m not on Slack. My phone is upside down. I’m not surreptitiously checking email out of the corner of my eye. I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing for 90 minutes.

• I usually determine what I’m supposed to be doing the day before as part of my daily review, when I make sure I am spending my time on meaningful tasks that advance my goals. When it’s time for the work block, I don’t have to think about it. I simply execute.

• Sitting in my home office for 8 hours per day is not conducive to productivity, just as it wasn’t when I sat in the regular office. Thus, I like to walk to and from my local coffee shop to gear myself up for and wind myself down from the work blocks. This habit builds in time for breaks, increases my step count, and engages me with others to boost my energy levels (super important for an extrovert.)

For those following along with the math, my daily schedule involves:

• 3 hours of deep, focused work

• 2-3 hours of meetings (assuming 8-16 hours of meetings/week)

• Time for tasks that don’t require focused attention, including “work about work” type tasks such as Slack, email, and status reporting

• Restorative breaks (which often free up mental space to help me generate great ideas for my next work block.)

When I first adopted this schedule, it was strange to see the numbers in black and white. But, they add up to 8 hours per day. And, I was getting more done in those 8 hours than in my previous roles. Work blocking requires a lot more mental energy and a lot more discipline, but the pain is definitely worth the gain.