Time Blocking Planner Review | Cal Newport Deep Work | 3 Months Later
You guys...
I am ANNOYED.
[HOLDS UP TIME-BLOCK PLANNER]
This thing is helpful.
[GROAN]
"But Cassie!" you say. "If it's so helpful, why are annoyed?"
Am I just an overly persnickety individual?
Or is Cal Newport's Time-Block Planner just that frustrating?
Both. I'm going with both.
By the end of this video you'll know exactly why I won't be repurchasing this planner, and what I wish existed for me to throw my money at instead.
Watch the video below, or read on for the full transcript.
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Not sure where on earth any of this is coming from?
Well three months ago I posted my original review of Cal Newport's then hot-off-the-presses Time-Block Planner.
And in that review I had already used the planner for a week and loved it.
After using it off and on for the past three months, however, I have a new perspective.
Before I get into my frustrations I want to get one thing absolutely clear.
This is not about criticizing the technique of time blocking.
Time blocking is an incredible time management technique.
Instead, what I'm focusing on is this specific planner as a tool for time blocking.
Let's start with problem number one: friction.
After filming my initial review, I continued using the Time-Block Planner diligently for about a month and a half.
But during that time and with the help of my partner, I was able to upgrade to a workspace that fully accommodates my Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS).
Long story short, I now have a motorized bed frame, an excellent lap desk, and a phenomenal remote desktop connection so I can do pretty much 99% of my work from bed.
This has revolutionized my productivity and my health.
So much so that I plan to do a dedicated video on my workspace sometime in the future.
What my new workspace is not great for, however, is a big bulky notebook.
Can I use my lap desk to write in the Time-Block Planner?
Yes.
Can I leave the Time-Block Planner out on my partner's bed so I see it all day.
Yes.
Can I leave my planner out on my lap desk all day and all night so I remember to use it consistently.
NOPE.
I have to put away my lap desk at the end of every day so I can actually, ya know, sleep.
This means that I had to put the Time-Block Planner back into my bedside drawers at the end of each day, which meant "out of sight, out of mind."
A few weeks later I realized I hadn't been using it.
But I seemed to being doing okay without it, so I kept not using it.
But after about a month of not using it, I noticed my productivity and organization taking a downward turn, and a downward turn that was gaining speed.
Danger ahead!
But because I disliked how much more tedious the planner had become to use since starting to use my new bedroom workspace, I thought, "I'll try time blocking in google calendar!" (But in a sane way, not the craziness that led to my rant in this video.)
But you know what?
I then had the same "out of sight, out of mind problem" using Google Calendar as I had with the planner.
Without my time-block schedule out in the open for me to see all day, I had to keep it in my head which was tedious and ineffective, leading me to forget it and not use it.
I then tried and failed to create a time blocking planner template inside my Notion. But every iteration I tried ended up being tedious and cluttered my Notion daily dashboard.
Long story short, I grudgingly returned to using this big and clumsy Time-Block Planner, and my level of productivity and organization have returned to their pleasantly streamlined state.
That being said, I'm still not re-purchasing this thing, in part because the friction that I've been talking about drives me bonkers.
Because I now work from bed with a small lap desk, physically using the time-block planner has become a lengthier process than it was when I worked in our home office and it just lived on my large desk 24/7.
Now I have to set up my lap desk for writing by hand, sit on my bed a certain way, pull the planner out from its drawer, and then fill it out.
Whereas before all I literally had to to was open it and start writing.
That is friction. The more steps between you and starting a task, no matter how small or trivial those steps may be to your logical mind, those additional steps create friction between you and the task, ultimately making the task more difficult to accomplish.
Reducing friction in your life can be a game changer, and if you have chronic and/or mental illness like myself, reducing friction can be all the more transformational for your productivity and well being.
Before we move on to my final gripes about Cal Newport's Time-Block Planner, and what I propose to replace it, comment below and tell me about one necessary task in your life that could benefit from a reduction in friction.
Problem number two: size and binding.
The Time-Block Planner is big. It takes up a lot of space and, in a clutch, can be used as a weapon if you're committed enough.
But a big planner, especially one that necessitates being out and open for you to create, follow, and adjust your schedule throughout your day, won't fit in everyone's workspaces.
Not everyone has a massive desk (or a desk at all for that matter).
Not everyone works in the same place all the time.
And unfortunately the Time-Block Planner is really designed for someone with a consistent, large workspace where the planner can live out in the open.
Then there's the binding. Does it hold the planner together well?
Yes.
Too well?
Also yes.
Getting this thing to lay flat is a struggle, which makes writing in it also a struggle.
And to add insult to injury, it makes leaving it open to see all day a struggle!
[GROAN]
Problem number three: for me, the Time-Block Planner is a huge waste of paper.
Like I showed in my original review, the Time-Block Planner is broken down into thirteen weeks, and each week holding seven days worth of planning pages.
With my schedule, I don't have to time block every day of the week, so each week pages went unused.
But that's not the worst part. Because I already have a robust system for capturing notes and to-do's that come up as I work, I have no need for the left-hand page of each time blocking spread which is designed to capture those things.
It's literally a waste of paper for me.
Same goes for the weekly planning spread at the beginning of each week - a waste of paper.
And as for the right-hand time blocking layout itself? I got so good at time blocking I rarely used more than the first column, leaving the rest of them blank and a waste of paper.
A Different Way
So now I've talked about all of my gripes with Cal Newport's Time-Block Planner.
Could it be the perfect solution for a certain type of person with a certain set of needs.
Definitely.
But it sure as heck ain't the right time blocking tool for me.
Thanks to a lovely comment from Lenore Davi (I hope I'm saying your name right), the next thing I'm going to try using a whiteboard for my time blocking next.
But you know what I wish existed? A time blocking notepad.
I wouldn't have to worry about a binding that can't lay flat. It would only have the time blocking template on it. I could recycle the pages easily after using them. (Because who goes back and reviews their schedule? Certainly not me.) And I like the idea of the notepad having a single hole in the top center to easily hang on a push pin on the wall after filling it out for the day.
Here's hoping that someday I'll have the means in my business to make something like that a reality.
So there you have it. The reasons why I won't be repurchasing Cal Newport's Time-Block Planner even though I've discovered that time blocking is critical for my productivity, and the time blocking product I wish existed...
...and may just be crazy enough to try to create myself.
In other news, if you struggle with procrastination and resistance, I highly recommend checking out my free Masterclass where I teach you three mindset shifts and one simple three-step system to help you kick procrastination to the curb.
All you have to do to get access is go to this link and sign up.
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I'll be back next week with another video.
See you then. Bye!