Why you should be time blocking and not just writing to-do lists

Hey! Something on HN I can finally comment on.

I've been time blocking for two years. It's the only strategy that works in my open office.

I've invested in a nice pair of headphones (Bose QC35s), in order to help convey the message to my coworkers that I am unavailable, as well as set an outlook appointment on a weekly basis for what hours I'll be blocking out.

You probably won't be good at it, at first. In the beginning for me, I still checked email, I still glanced at my phone...it was really only to stop interacting with my coworkers to focus on tasks.

However, over time, I got better at finding music that kept me focused. Placing my phone on DnD, and placing it in my bag, and closing outlook.

Colleagues began to understand what my 'time blocks' meant. As I did it more often it became effective.

Now people check my calendar for my daily time block to see when to come bother me, and I am able to be hyper focused on tasks for 2 hours a day.

My advice to anyone wanting to attempt this, is to be diligent and persistent. Have a list of polite ways to tell people that you are unavailable for this time, and learn how to deflect questions to others who may have the answer. I would definitely recommend good, noise cancelling headphones. Avoid listening to music you like, and know the lyrics to. Find a random station that plays lyricless, low-tempo music. Your brain will eventually begin to associate that music with focus.

Contradictory to its title, the article points out that in an appropriately engineered environment -- which in social or monetary terms might be prohibitively expensive, but might not -- time-blocking is unnecessary, and a to-do list is sufficient.

Any recommendations for a good paper day planner / notebook?

  Hobonichi Techos  - too maximalist imho
  Writepads - Pocket Ledger excellent for short term plans/notes
  Eberhardt Press - A5/A6 1cm grid spiral bound, usually out of stock/low volume
  Daiso / Muji - sprial grids here are great, and very inexpensive 

Personally, I've found grids and dot grids with a spiral bound and/or removable perforated pages tend to reduce clutter and provide the most utility for creating a custom day planner.

I'm also experimenting with scheduling apps, and open to any recommendations.