Mark Noldy

We all long for more leisure time. In fact, the word "school" comes from the Greek word scholē which means leisure. But what controls your time controls your leisure. Wouldn't it be great to be able to have more leisure time? Time management is an essential executive function skill. Calendar blocking is a helpful tool in developing this important skill. It is often said that we all have the same 24 hours. Yet, some folks seem to be so much better at starting and completing tasks. And they seem to have some much free time! Keep reading to the end to learn how to do your blocking... Use Your iPhone in School (when appropriate) While using a smart phone all day long has been shown to blunt our dopamine receptors, there are many on-screen tools that allow us to block time. Many apps are paid. But the native calendar app on my iPhone is by far my favorite... and it's free! Calendar blocking is easy to learn. (If you are in the Apple ecosystem, it hands off nicely to your other devices - MacBook, iPad,, etc.) If you're a visual person like me, you will often discover that you have way more "free time" than you realized. When I say free time, I'm talking about unaccounted for time. Time management is similar to tracking a diet on MyFitnessPal. Once we honestly track it, we may discover that we eat much more than we realized. This is kinda like finding holes in your calendar blocks. It needs to be tracked (faithfully) to find the extra time we so desperately seek. Students, Use Your Study Halls Teachers know that certain students essentially do nothing unless they're told to. (Or unless they're told that there will be a grade for it!) In any event, these students sometimes find the task of calendar blocking to be an engaging alternative to video gaming, or what have you. Some students may even make it a game to block every waking hour, if by nothing more than making a block that says "video games." As long as some of our students are putting in a hard 7 hours of screen time each day, some of may as well be spent using the screen as a useful tool. Don't sign up for that class! The last battle is with our students who think they know more than their productive classmates and teachers... For Pete's sake, don't sign up for that class. Nearly every person has something of value to offer. So if success leaves clues, follows the trail of breadcrumbs left by the superstars. Don't sign up for that class! - Jim Rohn Share on X Teachers, Use Your Planning Periods (or other times) Although I sometimes use part of my planning period to buzz home -- one of my dogs is elderly and needs frequent potty breaks -- I also arrive about 45 minutes before school starts. I am a morning person, so I prefer doing a lot of my prep work in the morning. Then if I don't accomplish all of my objectives, I do still have a 45 minute prep period to wrap things up. If you don't like showing up early, then your prep period is all you got. So work smart. Depending on a teacher's schedule, they may have more or less time to prep. For example, I know of teachers who teach the same subject all day long. That means prep work for one lesson a day. If you're like me, then you teach multiple subjects each day. This season, I have 5 different subjects on my schedule, but my adult A.D.D. almost forces me to switch gears multiple times each day. But still... how can we keep track of it all? This is also a great use of calendar blocking. Don't Bite Off More Than You Can Chew This applies to both students and the adults in their lives. Just say no. Too many of us are perpetual people pleasers. But how can you determine what's too much to accomplish? Answer? Check your calendar blocks! This always gives me a quick visual. Do I have time in my schedule, or not? Plus it lets the person who asking for a favor know that you are indeed trying to help them. By checking your calendar you can have a reason to say know and not get jawed. Back to the secret sauce of calendar blocking... This process costs nothing to implement when you use the native app on your cell phone. The practice of time blocking helps us to stay organized using visual cues. Whether you're a busy productive teacher or a jawed strapped-for-time student, time blocking can help. The Habit of Calendar Blocking The toughest part of calendar blocking is deciding to make it a habit. While everyone is different, I do my calendar blocking on Sunday nights. (Not sure, but I think I learned this from Michael Hyatt.) Some people (especially students) tend think that calendar blocking means having the same schedule every day. Nothing could be further from the truth. The beauty of block is that your schedule will often be different. My daily schedule is the same nearly every week for Sleep (yes, I block sleep!) As a teacher my schedule seldom changes. What does change is my evening schedule. Some people will even block "gaps" in their schedule. I leave mine blank which signals to me that I am free during the gap time. So give it a try. Developing the habit of blocking once every week will be the hardest thing to do. But when you take control of your time, you will find that you have more of it. Until Next Time...

Mark Noldy - Planet Numeracy

Posts by Mark Noldy