Time Blocking: Boost Marketing Productivity with Scheduled Focus

Time Blocking for Marketing: Step-by-Step Guide

Time blocking is a simple way to organize your marketing tasks into focused time slots, helping you work smarter and reduce stress. Here's a quick summary of how it works and why it matters:

• What is Time Blocking?: Divide your day into specific time blocks for tasks like content creation, social media management, or campaign planning.
• Why Use It?: It improves focus, helps you finish tasks, and lowers stress by giving you a clear plan for your day.
• How to Start:
  1. Review your current schedule and identify key tasks.
  2. Prioritize impactful activities like engaging with customers or analyzing metrics.
  3. Use tools like Google Calendar or Trello to plan your time.
• Tips for Success:
  • Group similar tasks together to stay focused.
  • Use short work intervals (e.g., 25 minutes) for better productivity.
  • Set clear time limits to avoid tasks dragging on.

Key Example: Instead of "work on social media", schedule "create and schedule 5 LinkedIn posts" from 9:00–10:30 AM.

Time blocking helps you stay on track and get more done without feeling overwhelmed. Start small, review your schedule weekly, and adjust as needed.

How to Start Time Blocking

To kick off time blocking for your marketing tasks, start by getting a clear picture of your current schedule. Here's how to set up a system that works for you.

Review Your Current Schedule

Take a week to track your marketing activities using a time-tracking app. We've used a few different apps for this, including Rize, and now we're trying something called Blitzit.

Don't get too caught up in the app.

Start with a to-do list and a time audit. Is the work getting done? How are you spending your time? Chances are, you can manage your time more efficiently. And that's what this is all about: how can you take a block of time and knock out one task at a time?

Pay attention to when you're most productive, how long tasks take, what interruptions occur, and how much of your work is reactive versus planned. Break down your tasks into two categories: regular ones like managing social media or creating content, and periodic ones like quarterly campaign planning or reviewing analytics.

Prioritize: Use Focused Work for Important Tasks

Focus on the tasks that have the biggest impact on your business.

Typically, in the short-term, these are revenue-generating tasks. AND... you also have to block out time for longer-term tasks that pay off in the long term. One of the reasons I love the Eisenhower Matrix is it's a quick way to help you with priorities.

This might include engaging with customers, creating and optimizing content, managing social media, running campaigns, and tracking analytics. Prioritize activities that resonate with your audience and align with your marketing goals - like answering customer questions in a way that improves SEO.

The Eisenhower Matrix can help you manage thoughts or events throughout the day that can disrupt the chunks of time you set aside for critical work. As you know, a lot happens throughout the day ... and it fits into one of these four categories. Choose wisely.

Pick Your Planning Tools

Select tools that make organizing your time easier. Look for features like calendar integration, task management, visual layouts, collaboration options, and mobile access. Google Calendar is great for simple scheduling, while tools like Asana can handle more complex workflows.

Don't get hung up on tools. Although I used Microsoft Project to manage million-dollar projects for the City of Portland, my biggest asset was an Excel spreadsheet that listed the task, due date, and status (not started, started, in progress, done).

When we talk about "complex workflows" it means you need an awareness of your dependencies. A dependency is what needs to happen and in what order.

For example, you can't create a promotional campaign until you have a business goal, a promotional idea, promo specifics, and so on. While tools can help you manage that, you can also list everything out (like a spreadsheet). Sometimes these tools help you organize tasks visually making it easier to get work done. Personally, I can't stand Trello or Asana because my brain doesn't think in Kanban boards.

Time blocking isn't effective unless you understand everything that goes into completing a task — that's how tools can help. But I suggest keeping it as simple as possible so the time you spend is on important tasks (not on learning a new tool).

For example, to stay organized, use separate calendars for different task types:

If you want to create different calendars for time blocking, you can easily create new calendars in your Google Calendar to help you manage work tasks and personal time.

Most of you don't need a separate analytics calendar. But you do need to block time at the first of the month to look at your metrics like web visitors, social followers, and email subscribers so you can check whether everything is trending in the right direction.

Try Time Blocking Your Marketing Schedule

Schedule Core Marketing Tasks

Set aside specific time blocks for key marketing activities during your most productive hours. Be clear about what you aim to achieve in each block by using SMART goals.

Be specific.

For example, instead of saying "work on social media", try something like "create and schedule 5 LinkedIn posts with industry insights" from 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM.

After setting up these blocks, allocate time for communication tasks to help maintain your focus.

*One of our favorite books is Deep Work by Cal Newport. Read it if you're tired of doomscrolling on your phone and want to find a quieter, calmer way to get important work done while blocking out all distractions.

**Our strategic marketing members love our guided quarterly marketing planning classes. We help people get on the right track based on their biggest business goals.

Plan for Emails and Meetings

Designate specific times for emails and meetings to avoid distractions. For emails, carve out two 30-minute slots - one in the morning and one in the afternoon. This keeps your inbox under control without derailing your day.

• Schedule client meetings during mid-energy periods (10:00 AM–12:00 PM).
• Hold team check-ins after lunch (2:00 PM–3:00 PM).
• Use your high-energy hours for creative tasks like brainstorming or content creation.
• Keep standard meetings to a maximum of 45 minutes.

Your peak hours may vary. Be sure to schedule your time blocks around YOUR best work times. If you're not sure what those times are, pay attention to your highest energy times.

Set Break Times

Incorporate breaks into your schedule to stay productive and refreshed throughout the day. These breaks help maintain energy and focus.

To keep your schedule flexible, reserve about 20% of your day as buffer time. This allows you to tackle unexpected tasks without disrupting your planned activities.

Reference the Eisenhower Matrix above to keep you working on urgent and important tasks.

If you find your marketing tasks are always slipping, it's because you haven't prioritized it properly: you should always consider it important but not urgent.

Time Blocking Methods for Marketing

Group Similar Tasks

Organize your work by grouping related tasks into themed blocks. This approach helps maintain focus and reduces the mental effort of constantly switching between different activities. Here's an example of how to structure your time:

Before starting each block, gather all necessary tools and resources to stay on track. Make sure to eliminate distractions to maximize productivity during these focused periods.

Work in 25-Minute Blocks

Short work intervals can help you stay sharp and avoid burnout. The Pomodoro Technique is a simple yet effective method for managing marketing tasks:

1. Pick a task and set a timer for 25 minutes.
2. Work uninterrupted until the timer goes off.
3. Take a 5-minute break to recharge.
4. After completing 4 intervals, take a longer break of 15-30 minutes.

This method works well for tasks like:

• Writing social media copy
• Analyzing marketing data
• Researching industry trends
• Planning content calendars

By breaking your work into manageable chunks, you'll maintain focus and avoid feeling overwhelmed.

We offer monthly coworking / body-doubling sessions inside our membership, typically structured as two pomodoro sessions. Why? Because sometimes you get more work done when you can see someone else working.

Set Time Limits

Using SMART goals can also help you stay on track and achieve specific outcomes within a set timeframe. But you still need to establish clear time boundaries to keep tasks from dragging on.

For example, here’s how you can set time limits for common marketing activities:

These time constraints help ensure that tasks are completed efficiently without eating into other parts of your schedule. By sticking to these limits, you can keep your marketing workflow smooth and productive.

If you're looking at this and thinking ... I can't do this stuff that quickly. Adjust.

And, with practice you'll get quicker.

Fine-Tuning Your Productivity System

Using time blocking as a time management technique isn't a one and done situation. You'll need to adjust your time blocks to fit your reality.

Weekly Schedule Check

Take time each week to review your time blocks. Focus on these three areas:

Keep an eye on tasks that consistently run over time and adjust your schedule based on that data.

Measure Your Results

Once you've fine-tuned your schedule, it's important to track how well it's working. Use these metrics to measure time blocking's impact on your marketing efforts:

Regularly review these metrics using project management tools. Set clear, defined goals - like publishing a specific number of blog posts each week - rather than vague objectives such as "create more content." SMART goals help you track progress effectively.

Fix Common Problems

Address common time blocking challenges with these strategies:

• Unexpected Meetings: Set aside flexible periods each day for last-minute calls or team discussions. Add short buffer times between tasks to make transitions smoother.
• Digital Distractions: Use tools to block distracting websites during focus sessions. Schedule dedicated times for checking emails and social media.
• Task Overflow: For quick tasks, handle them immediately. For larger tasks that regularly run over, break them into smaller steps, group similar activities together, and review your schedule often.

Next Steps

Main Points

Time blocking transforms chaotic marketing tasks into a focused, results-oriented process. To get started, follow these steps:

Begin with essential time blocks and expand them gradually. The aim is steady progress and flexibility.

For additional guidance in fine-tuning your marketing strategy, expert support is available through Women Conquer Business.

Women Conquer Business Support

Women Conquer Business provides a Strategic Marketing Membership designed to help you master time blocking for your marketing efforts.

Their coaching services can assist you in:

• Crafting personalized time blocking strategies tailored to your marketing objectives
• Establishing clear priorities to maximize your results
• Building accountability systems to stay on track
• Utilizing proven frameworks to enhance marketing efficiency

This membership combines live coaching, on-demand training, and actionable resources to ensure you have the tools and support needed to make time blocking an integral part of your marketing success.

The WCB Membership has helped me think big picture for my marketing, with the confidence that I am following an actual strategy and not just spinning my wheels. The techniques I've learned from Jen have saved me precious time and grown my audience. - Crispin Spaeth

Jen McFarland is the best combination I have seen since 1991, of high-level marketing operations guidance involving leadership, empathy, knowledge-prowess, and connections... she listens keenly and with empathy to your needs and situation before giving sound and stress-reducing advice. - Sunil Bhaskaran

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