Everyone tells you that your time is your most important asset, and their right. Working is all about using your time as effectively as possible. When you use your time well, you don’t have to spend all your time working. That’s why Time blocking vs Energy blocking is an important conversation.
The traditional way of working—the rigid 9-to-5 remote work schedule doesn’t work. Rather than just allocating time, the solution is time to find the best times for you. That means understanding you energy and playing to your strengths.
This guide gives you a clear comparison of time blocking vs energy blocking. It teaches you how to combine them for maximum deep work planning. Stop managing time and start managing your own fuel.
What is Time Blocking and Who Is It Best For?
Time blocking is the most common way of managing a schedule. Your have 4 tasks to do, you put time aside to do each of the tasks, and you do the task in that time.
Time blocking works for just about everyone. It is best for people who honor their own word and do what they say they will. If you’re not on top of your tasks, it can be discouraging.
The Traditional Foundation for Remote Schedule Strategies
Time Blocking is like building a strong concrete frame for your house. It gives you structure, discipline, and a defense against distractions.
Time Blocking has many positives:
- You can manage many short-term tasks
- Gives you clear accountability for your hours
- Protect your calendar from extra meetings.
Clear remote scheduling strategies can have huge improvements. The act of blocking time for work can improve your productivity by up to 80%.
Burnout from Ignoring Your Energy
The core weakness of Time Blocking is that it ignores you. If your calendar says “Deep Work” at 3:00 PM, but your brain is screaming for a nap, you won’t get anything done. You’ll spend two hours staring at the screen, feeling guilty.
The Time Blocking method assumes your energy is consistent. It doesn’t factor in things like context switching and your body’s subtle hints. You try to force high energy when you have none.
The forcing involved with time blocking makes it feel miserable. Stress, poor work quality, and burnout will follow.
Energy Blocking: The Advanced Strategy for Deep Work Planning
Energy Blocking is all about finding the solution to time blocking’s weaknesses. Rather than scheduling your time to get every task together, you schedule for energy.
That means being intentional with how you plan. It takes an extra moment to think about but pays huge dividends down the road.
Energy blocking has been a key part of my career. Working from home offers extreme flexibility. That means books to fit into my day. It’s the reason I have been able to command salaries that are at least 60% higher than my peers.
How Your Biology Drives Peak Productivity
Understanding your body’s natural rhythms is key.
If you are more of a morning person, then schedule more tasks in the morning. Evening people, schedule tasks in the evening. Wherever your productivity feels likes it’s at its max.
Scheduling your time to match your peak productivity times makes a huge difference. When I started breaking up my days to match my energy, productivity skyrocketed. I was putting out double the work and working fewer hours.
It’s amazing what you can do when you work with yourself rather than against.
Learn more about designing a WFH schedule that works for you: WFH Time Map.
Mapping Tasks to Energy Levels (The “Task-Fuel” Match)
The core of Energy Blocking is matching the difficulty of the task to your available fuel. Check-out my work day schedule and how I think about creating my day.
Time | Energy | Tasks |
8:00-9:30am | High | Deep Work (Account management strategy) |
9:30am-9:50am | Medium | Emails and catch-up |
10:00-11:00am | Low | Internal Task meeting |
11:00-12:30pm | Medium | Emails, sales, and admin |
12:30-1:00pm | Low | Lunch |
1:00pm-2:00pm | Medium | Team check-in |
2:00pm-3:30pm | High | Deep Work (Review and prep for tomorrow) |
My energy is high at the bookends of my day. This means my deep work is broken into the bookends.
(Not all of my days look exactly like this, it is a good guide on how I split up my low meeting days)
Time Blocking vs Energy Blocking: Which Method Wins for Remote Pros?
The truth is, both methods have power. Time blocking gives you structure. Energy blocking allows you to get the most out of the structure.
Your WFH schedule is like building a house. Use time blocking to build the frame. Use energy blocking to give the home substance.
That means using both to your advantage.
The Hybrid Solution: Combining Structure and Fuel
The best remote schedule strategies use the Hybrid Method:
- Time Blocks act as the Container (The what and when). You schedule the meetings and hard deadlines.
- Energy Blocks act as the Content (The actual work). You decide what type of work goes into those containers based on your fuel levels.
This doesn’t mean using energy levels an an excuse to avoid tough tasks. It means tackling your most challenging tasks when you are at your best.
Failing to protect your energy through proper blocks leads to constant interruption. Heavy multitasking can reduce productivity by as much as 40%, making blocks non-negotiable.
Protect your two most valuable assets, your time and your focus.
The Role of Recovery: Blocking for Breaks
Recovery must be scheduled just like a meeting. When planning your schedule, factor in blocks for when your energy will drop.
- Scheduled Disconnection: Never book your meetings back-to-back-to-back. Anything that can be solved in 60mins can often be done in 50 mins. Give yourself some time to reset and reorient for your next call.
Leaving 10 mins between meetings feels like a waste of time at first. However, coming to a meeting with even 5 minutes of preparation can save a huge amount of time. Those 5 minutes can save 30 minutes of mundane presenting and review.
Respect your time and everyone else’s by being prepared.
You can also look at setting up a 5PM shutdown routine to respect your home time as well.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Troubleshooting Your Remote Schedule Strategies
What Should I Do If a Manager Schedules a Meeting During My Deep Work Block?
Stand up for your deep work blocks. Your time is your most limited resource. You must protect your blocks while being respectful.
- The Script: Politely respond by email: “Thanks for the invite! I’m blocked for deep work then. Would #time# work better for this topic? I want to give it my full focus.”
By offering alternatives, the meeting isn’t the problem, only the time. This is a key part of remote work communication.
Does This Strategy Apply to Hybrid Workers or Only Remote?
This strategy is even more important for hybrid workers!
Because your day is changing day to day, you need to adapt your schedule. It your work from home days are more conducive to deep work, schedule bigger blocks those days. You can then have many meetings on your in-office days when they are more impactful.
Never have the same schedule for different types of days. Your tech-life balance depends on it.
Final Thought: Stop Managing Time, Start Managing Self
The greatest advantage of remote work is the autonomy to control your schedule. Getting the most out of your remote schedule is how you continue to drive impact.
The best remote work schedule is customized to your biology. By combining the structure of Time Blocking with the wisdom of Energy Blocking, you build a schedule that fuels success.
Understanding energy blocking may not be intuitive to you. If you need some help The Forge Coaching can make it easy. Click the button below to find out how!
