Form
Calendar with topic-based blocks per week, theme legend, weekly reviews with plan-vs-reality comparison per category, and notes on adjustments and patterns (for example Thursday always overloaded, morning slots stable).
RunsheetOperations
Time Blocking
ComplexityLow
Time15-30 min Planung, laufend
Participants1
FormatAsync
MaturityEstablished
01
Preparation
What needs to be ready before start
Materials
Calendar (Google, Outlook, iCal); task source (backlog, GTD list); theme colors (for example Deep Work, Meetings, Admin, Personal); weekly template; statistics tool for plan-vs-reality comparison (optional).
People / roles
Solo practice. In lead roles, sync with EA or deputy who reads the calendar.
Pre-read
Current areas of responsibility; recurring commitments; known energy curve (when deep work, when admin); typical interruption sources.
Time needed
15-30 min planning, ongoing
Setup
Define theme categories (4-6 clusters). One color or calendar per category. Fixed weekly planning slot (for example Sunday 18:00, 30 min). Buffer rule: leave 20% unplanned.
02
Core question
The one question this method answers
Which topics get which calendar slots this week so intentions actually receive time?
03
Flow
Marker: Minute
| Step | Duration | Action | Hint |
|---|---|---|---|
10-5 min | 5 min | Review topic list: which projects and routines require time this week. Roughly estimate hours per topic. | If the estimate exceeds available capacity, overload is visible. Better see it now than on Wednesday. |
25-15 min | 10 min | Place fixed blocks: meetings, recurring appointments, breaks, commute time. Mark energy phases (for example morning = deep work, afternoon = admin). | Fixed blocks come first. Anyone planning theme blocks without seeing appointments builds a conflict calendar. |
315-25 min | 10 min | Place theme blocks: deep work 90-120 min, meeting clusters 1-2 h, admin slots 30-60 min. Name the concrete topic per block, not only the color. | Theme blocks with concrete content ("write Strategy Doc chapter 2") work better than "Deep Work". Visibility helps engagement. |
425-30 min | 5 min | Reserve buffer: keep at least 20% of the day free. Reservation logic: emergency, transitions, energy recovery. Review weekly plan at a glance. | A fully planned calendar breaks on the first unplanned event. Buffer is capacity, not waste. |
5Daily, 5 min | 5 min | Review the daily plan in the morning and adjust. In the evening compare plan vs reality (what happened vs planned). Note lessons for the following week. | Without plan-vs-reality comparison, estimates stay static. Weekly deviation without learning means the system is not adapting. |
04
Artifact
What comes out at the end
Versioning / ownership
Create weeks as recurring template and adjust instead of rebuilding. Store weekly reviews and analyze patterns over 4-8 weeks.
Tool alternatives
- Google Calendar with multiple calendars per category
- Outlook with category colors
- Notion Calendar or Sunsama for integrated planning
- Bullet Journal with time-coded columns
time-blocking-working-template.md
Compact working template for Time Blocking with context, input, output artifacts, and next step.
Time Blocking Working Template
Goal
Reserves calendar blocks for specific tasks, topics, or energy phases.
Context
When and for what do we use this method?
Input
Which data, observations, decisions, or materials are available?
Execution
Short notes along the runsheet.
Output artifacts
- Blocked Calendar:
- Capacity View:
- Focus Plan:
Assumptions and open questions
- ...
Decision / Next step
Owner, date, and success signal.
05
Example output
Concrete filled scenario, fictional example
time-blocking-beispiel.md
Concrete filled scenario, fictional example
Time Blocking - Sabine, CW 20 (2026-05-11 to 2026-05-15)
Themes: client work (orange), marketing/acquisition (blue), own accounting (gray), training (green), people (purple).
Mon 2026-05-11
- 08:00-10:00 Client work (VAT Schmidt + Mueller) orange
- 10:00-10:15 Break
- 10:15-11:00 Client calls orange
- 11:00-12:00 Own accounting May gray
- 13:00-14:30 Payroll orange
- 14:30-15:00 Buffer
- 15:00-17:00 Marketing: LinkedIn post series blue
Tue 2026-05-11
- 08:00-09:30 Fee agreement 2027 orange (Deep Work)
- 09:45-11:00 Client meeting Meyer orange
- 11:00-12:00 Client meeting Klein orange
- 13:00-15:00 DATEV training green
- 15:00-16:30 Buffer/Admin
- 16:30-17:00 Daily reflection gray
Weekly review (2026-05-15): Marketing planned 3 h, done 0 h (shifted by client emergency Wednesday). Lesson: marketing block in morning slot, not afternoon, otherwise it keeps shifting. Deep-work blocks Mon+Tue before 10:00 stable.
Adjustment CW 21: Marketing block Thu 09:00-11:00 fixed, no client meeting in this slot.
06
Pitfalls
Recognize symptoms and steer against them
Trap
Fully planned calendar
Symptom
No buffer, first delay tips the whole day.
What to do
20% buffer per day as rule. Above 80% occupancy, move topics instead of squeezing. Buffer is required, not optional.
Trap
Themes instead of content
Symptom
Blocks are called "Deep Work" without concrete content; the hour is spent searching what to do.
What to do
Define one concrete output per block. If that is impossible, the block is too vague; clarify the task before the block.
Trap
Plan-vs-reality comparison skipped
Symptom
Weekly reviews are skipped, the same plan is copied, deviations repeat.
What to do
Fix review as 10-min slot Friday afternoon. At least one adjustment per week; without adjustment the system does not learn.
Trap
Energy ignored
Symptom
Demanding tasks are placed in low-energy phases (for example 14:00 after lunch), producing weak results.
What to do
Track own energy curve over 2 weeks. Deep work in high phases, admin in low phases. Even under meeting pressure, protect at least 1-2 deep slots.
Trap
Interruptions break blocks
Symptom
Slack/calls interrupt deep slots, blocks are not actually kept.
What to do
Set status to Focus, turn off notifications, define emergency channel. Allowing interruptions means there are no blocks.
07
Stop criteria
Done signals checkable in under a minute
Work is reactively driven (support, on-call), blocks are constantly destroyed.
Person has no autonomy over calendar (internship, dense external control).
Weekly-review discipline cannot be maintained; without review there is no learning effect.
Task volume is unknown day by day (for example crisis team), planning becomes obsolete.
Method becomes overly detailed (5-minute slots), rigidity demotivates.
Energy phases are unstable (shift work, health fluctuations), plan is outdated before execution.
Finished the runsheet?
Go to the profile for purpose, similar methods, and sources or continue to the next method in the catalog.