|
Do you ever look back at your day and think:
“I’ve done a tonne of ‘stuff’, but I’ve made ZERO progress” or “I have literally no idea where that day went?”
Me too.
In our quest for peak productivity, we've all tried time-blocking. It promises to be the silver bullet for managing our hectic schedules.
But no doubt you’ve looked at a perfectly organised calendar, and felt more overwhelmed than ever (I have).
We jump from one meeting into the next, one task after the other, until we finish our days absolutely exhausted, reaching out for that big glass of red wine.
Now, I’m not dismissing time blocking (it’s a fundamental to my day to day work).
But jamming in task after task misses something incredibly important.
Space.
The truth is, time-blocking alone isn't enough. We need to manage our time but also ‘Sandwich’ our time to include space for setting intention, reflection, and growth.
Now, I can hear you saying.
“I don’t have enough time as it is, I can’t do MORE stuff.”
That’s why we need to shift our thinking from ‘on top of our schedule’ to ‘part of our schedule.’
With a bit of practise, it’ll become second nature.
You’ve probably heard the term ‘buffer time’.
It often relates to calendar management when you set up scheduling links.
Tools like Outlook, Google Calendar, Calendly and Morgen (what I use) will let you configure time before and after meetings to avoid the back-to-back meeting scenarios everyone struggles with.
But not all events are set by schedulers.
And, for meetings booked by colleagues directly in our calendars, as well as the self-directed tasks we need to complete, we need to find ways to create our own space.
Think of ‘Time Sandwiches’ as creating a protective bubble around your most important work. The 'bread' of your time sandwich insulates your core activities from the chaos of the day, week, month or year, ensuring you're always aligned with your goals and values and improving throughout your work.
The key here is mindset and intentionality. By incorporating pre-activities, you're priming your brain for success. You're not just diving into tasks blindly; you're setting clear intentions and preparing mentally for what's ahead.
The post-activities are equally crucial. They provide closure (and a means of emptying frazzled brains), promote learning, and ensure that your efforts contribute to your long-term goals.
You can sandwich any block of time:
- 10 mins before and after each task
- 15 mins before and after each meeting
- 30 mins at the beginning and end of each day
- 60 minutes at the beginning and end of each week
By consistently using this approach, you create a rhythm of preparation, execution, and reflection that can dramatically reduce feelings of burnout and increase your sense of accomplishment.
So let’s break this down into a framework for you.
1. Block
We want to treat sandwich blocks in the same way as we’d approach any other time block.
Get it on your calendar!
Do this now. Look at your calendar, and block of space before and after your tasks and meetings.
Then, before setting a new task or meeting, ensure there’s before and after space built in.
2. Preparation
This is where we want to ask ourselves questions that that gear us up for success.
- What's the main objective of this task/meeting/project?
- How does this align with my bigger goals?
- What potential obstacles might I face, and how can I prepare for them?
- What resources or support do I need to succeed?
I’ll include more examples in the section below.
3. Reflection
This is where we want to ask ourselves reflective questions to assess progress and feel good:
- What went well during this task/meeting/project?
- What could I improve next time?
- How does this contribute to my larger goals?
- What are the next steps or follow-up actions?
- What am I grateful for in this experience?
Ready to create your first sandwich?
Here's a simple way to get started:
1.Choose a task for today or tomorrow that you want to apply this to.
2. Use the below prompt with an AI of your choice to produce custom pre and post-activity questions:
---
"I have a [type of task/meeting/project] tomorrow about [brief description]. Can you generate 3 pre-activity questions to help me prepare, and 3 post-activity questions for reflection?"
---
3. Set aside 10 minutes before and after your chosen task or meeting to go through these questions.
4. Check out my Notion template here. It includes a time sandwich diary, copy and paste templates for different activity types, more prompt examples, and my ‘Time Sandwich’ bot.
Time sandwiches are more than just a productivity hack – they're a mindset shift.
By embracing this approach, you're not just managing your time; you're cultivating intentionality, promoting reflection, and aligning your daily actions with your broader goals.
By adopting this method, you’ll end each day feeling accomplished rather than burnt out, and excited to start your next task!
Until next time.
Adam
P.S - What did you think of this? Hit reply and let me know.
|
