Time Blocking: The Life Hack You Didn’t Know You Needed

This morning during our team meeting at Signature HQ, someone dropped a bombshell of a question: What’s one thing you’ve learned since joining Signature that’s improved your life?

Cue the thinking faces. Big question I know, but the one answer that stood out for us all was: Time blocking.

You know, that magical thing where you block off specific chunks of time to focus on specific tasks? Yeah, it sounds simple, but it’s a game changer. Whether you’re trying to conquer your inbox, smash deadlines, or just have a minute to breathe, time blocking is your ticket to freedom.

Why Time Blocking is Our Productivity Superpower

Here’s the deal: At Signature, we don’t just dabble in time blocking—we absolutely preach it. New employees? They get set up with time-blocked workflows on day one. Why? Because we know that to deliver next-level results, you need to structure your day like a boss.

But the beauty of time blocking isn’t just in client work—it’s in life. It’s the “I have my sh*t together” kind of skill that makes you wonder how you ever survived without it. Seriously, it’s not just a work hack; it’s a life hack.

The Secret Sauce of Time Blocking

Let’s break it down. Time blocking isn’t just about tossing a few meetings onto your calendar and hoping for the best. It’s about owning your time like the productivity ninja you were born to be.

Here’s what time blocking can do for you:

• Stop the Multitasking Madness: Multitasking is a productivity killer. Time blocking says, “Nope, not today.” You focus on one thing, crush it, and move on.
• Turn Procrastination Into Action: When a task is penciled into your calendar, you’re less likely to procrastinate. It’s like a little nudge from Future You saying, “Come on, we’ve got this.”
• Free Your Mind from Chaos: No more “What do I do next?” spirals. You’ve got a plan, and that plan is rock solid.

The 5AM Club by Robin Sharma Is A Must Read

If you’ve been around long enough, you’ve probably heard about The 5AM Club by Robin Sharma. It’s basically required reading at Signature because it’s packed with golden nuggets of wisdom.

Sharma’s philosophy includes time blocking key activities into your day to prime yourself to get yourself ready to rock: Move, Reflect, Grow.

• Move: Get your body moving. Do some intense form of exercise as soon as you wake up, yes it’s a shock to your system at first but it fills you with energy for the rest of the day and let’s be honest, if you wake up and start running for 20 minutes, how much worse can your day get from there.
• Reflect: Make space for mindfulness, gratitude, or goal-setting. It’s about giving yourself clarity to crush the day. This is super important, one of the biggest things for business owners that come to us wondering how to overcome roadblocks that have held them back for honestly sometimes years, just don’t regularly enough sit back, remove themselves from 1st person shooter mode and reflect on what’s going on in the bigger picture.
• Grow: Whether it’s reading, learning a skill, or taking on a new challenge, growth is non-negotiable. Anything websites is a genuine nightmare for a lot of business owners and marketing isn’t a lot better, we recommend setting aside some time to learn some key fundamentals it’s going to help you grow and make better business decisions but outside of that there are so many growth areas and goals you can achieve if you dedicate some time to just improving for you.

The magic happens when you make these non-negotiables a regular part of your schedule. They don’t just happen by accident—you have to block the time and make it count.

The Art of Day Stacking

Here’s where time blocking goes from good to great: day stacking.

Picture this: You’ve got a handful of weekly tasks that make you better at work, life, or just being a human in general. Things like checking in with clients, brainstorming your next big idea, or spending time with family. Instead of hoping you’ll “find the time,” you literally schedule it.

Week by week, these habits stack up. Suddenly, you’re not just getting through your to-do list; you’re building momentum that transforms your business, your relationships, and, well, your entire existence.

If it feels like you are always behind schedule and you have a million things to do so, “you’ll never catch up” you are wrong, it’s a little bit of a limiting belief, stick at it, soon you’ll be infront of schedule and the time you spend working, with family and those day to day tasks will be 50X more enjoyable not having to chase deadlines.
(No scientific article to reference for that statistic but here is another handy article on time blocking by Click Up which is our CRM of choice to maximize efficiency)

How to Nail Time Blocking Like a Pro

Ready to jump on the time-blocking train? Here’s how we do it:

1. Get Real About Your Time: Step one is figuring out where your time is currently going. Spoiler alert: It’s probably not where you think.
2. Prioritize What Matters: Identify your big-ticket items—the stuff that actually moves the needle.
3. Batch Your Tasks: Group similar tasks together. Emails, brainstorming, deep work—they all get their own block.
4. Plan for Breaks: Don’t forget to schedule time to breathe. Productivity isn’t about grinding nonstop.
5. Defend Your Time Blocks Like a Guard Dog: Treat them like unmissable appointments. No interruptions, no excuses.

Here Are Some Successful People Who Timeblock

Just in case you prefer lived experience than trusting any old article here is a list of familiar faces in the business and self development world’s that are huge advocates of time blocking.

Elon Musk - Schedules his day in 5-minute increments using a method called "time boxing" to manage multiple ventures efficiently.

Cal Newport - Advocates time blocking to enable distraction-free "deep work" and maximize productivity.

Bill Gates - Allocates specific time for meetings, reading, and creative thinking with a meticulous approach to scheduling.

Tim Ferriss - Focuses on high-impact tasks by using time blocking to batch and prioritize his workload.

Gary Vaynerchuk - Uses 15-minute time blocks to balance business growth, personal branding, and work-life harmony.

Robin Sharma - Promotes time blocking with his “20/20/20” rule for morning movement, reflection, and growth in The 5AM Club.

Tony Robbins - Blocks time daily for his “hour of power,” including exercise, meditation, and self-improvement.

Michael Hyatt - Advocates time blocking to protect time for high-leverage tasks and personal priorities.

Jeff Bezos - Protects blocks of time for high-priority decisions and avoids over-scheduling his calendar.

Block it out. Lock it in. Win the day.

Juggling too many balls at once? Reach out to us for a free strategy session we will speed up what you should be time blocking into your day and what you need to do to get better results online.