The lazy creator’s guide to time management

I was weirdly obsessive about productivity for a few years. Name a productivity book or technique, and I’ve read or tried it.

One man who has a good approach is author Nir Eyal. He wrote the book Indistratable a few years ago. When I interviewed Nir for my podcast, he explained the concept of timeblocking.

Rather than keeping a mega to-do list that’s impossible to get through, schedule each part of your day based on what you want to work on. Don’t multi-task, either. When you get that calendar notification, focus on ONE thing until it’s time to stop.

Straightforward and practical advice.

I was hyper-obsessive about time-blocking and scheduling every part of my day. But that manic micro-level approach usually goes to hell and stresses me out.

The other morning, my daughter rang me because she was sick and wanted a lift home from school.

But timeblocking is a nice approach for most creators (remember to make allowances for, you know, life).

I still time-block but my calendar also has large pockets of space. I set aside chunks of time each morning for deep work. Usually, I’ll write or record videos for 90 minutes. Then, I take a break to eat or brew tea. I stick my phone in another room because it doesn’t take much for…