If you own a small business, you know how important your team’s time is. You likely have a small team that is required to help with many tasks throughout the day. To maximize productivity and efficiency, you’ll want to ensure you get the most from your team’s time by using block scheduling.
Block scheduling is a time management tool your team can use to customize their workweek schedule to align with their energy or productivity levels. With this approach, you can ensure everyone sticks with the “flow” during the day and help them avoid unwanted burnout.
Whether you manage a small team or want to perfect your own workweek, here’s how to use block scheduling.
What is Block Scheduling?
Block scheduling is a time management technique that helps you “block” your time. With this approach, you can ensure you complete your weekly tasks quickly and efficiently. Block scheduling can also add structure to your workweek and simplify shift planning management.
With this tool, you’re batching your time into different task buckets. For example, let’s say you work for a small marketing team with a focus on email marketing. Your batched tasks may look something like this:
- Client Follow-ups (client meetings, email follow-ups)
- Admin (emails, customer service, data & analytics)
- Content Creation (writing copy, creating graphics)
- Email Marketing (scheduling, segmenting, campaign planning)
With these tasks, your blocked schedule may look something like this:
| Block A | Block B | Block C | |
| 8:00 – 9:45 | Client Follow-ups | Client Meetings | Admin |
| 9:45 – 10:00 | Break | Break | Break |
| 10:00 – 12:00 | Writing Copy | Creating Graphics | Writing Copy |
| 12:00 – 1:00 | Lunch | Lunch | Lunch |
| 1:00 – 3:00 | Team Meetings | Client Meetings | Team Meetings |
| 3:00 – 5:00 | Scheduling | Segmentations | Campaign Planning |
This is only one example of how this process works. Every day, you’d rotate between the different blocks depending on workload.
You can also choose to block out your time by day of the week. For example, you can dedicate a full day to these meetings instead of having two hours of client meetings and follow-ups daily. When you develop a block schedule, consider your energy levels and working technique to ensure you find an option that aligns with your needs.
The Benefits of Block Scheduling for Small Businesses
Block scheduling can provide long-lasting benefits for your small business. Whether you own a med spa, local HVAC business, or a small law firm, there are many ways you can use a block schedule to stay productive and efficient throughout the day.
Here are some benefits of block scheduling:
Boost Workplace Productivity and Efficiency
Block scheduling can help improve workplace productivity, ensuring you always have a task you can focus on. You can structure your workweek around client work, tedious admin tasks, and meetings. Having a schedule for these tasks will help you stay productive and ensure everything gets completed in a timely manner. It also helps minimize interruptions and can help your team avoid burnout.
Better Time Management for Managers
Do you need help managing your team’s tasks? If your team is constantly getting distracted, block scheduling is a great option to consider to keep them on track. With a block schedule, there’s a designated time for every workweek task. This helps simplify your team’s priorities and complete tasks throughout the day. This will also help with shift scheduling, ensuring you have an employee assigned to a different task block at different times throughout the day.
Improved Customer Support
If you have a small team where everyone is in charge of handling customer interactions, you can use block scheduling to ensure you never miss a call, email, or appointment. This will help improve the customer experience and prepare your team to handle these interactions.
Simplified Workweek Structure
Block scheduling is designed to add structure to your work week. It helps you stay on task and can prevent stress or burnout. It also allows you to schedule your day around your energy levels to ensure you get the most out of the hours you feel the most creative or inspired.
Block Scheduling Tips
Block scheduling is easy to implement and highly effective. Before you incorporate these tactics into the workweek, here are some block scheduling tips you can use to get more from your workweek schedule:
Plan Around Your Energy Levels
You don’t want to waste your best hours of the day in a meeting or completing admin work. If you’re feeling inspired or creative in the mornings, you should spend this time completing projects and client work instead. This will help you maximize efficiency and help prevent burnout.
Block Your Calendar
Once you create your blocks, consider adding them to your calendar. This will let your team know when you are busy and when you have time to work on projects or client work that requires your attention.
Schedule Breaks
Everyone needs a break to stay efficient. Scheduling small 10-15 minute breaks between each block is the most effective way to prevent burnout and improve mental clarity. You’ll also want to add a longer, 30-60-minute lunch break halfway through the day.
Improve Your Workweek with Townsquare Interactive
Block scheduling is designed to help maximize workplace efficiency. Once your team is set up with blocked schedules, you can enjoy better time management and improved productivity.
Proper time management is only half of the battle. If you want your team to get more from the workweek, you must invest in a business management platform like Townsquare Interactive’s. Our tools are designed to help you stay organized during the workweek. We have a suite of tools for client communication, email marketing, invoicing, and more.
We also have an integrated calendar to manage bookings, meetings, and admin tasks. With this tool, your customers can also see your real-time availability, so they can choose a slot of time that aligns with your block scheduling.