My first week of in-person college was, in a word, chaotic. I found myself rushing between new student events, sports games, and last-minute trips to Target. There were so many dining halls to check out and syllabi to read, and I burned at least an hour a day getting lost in the far corners of campus. Calendar blocking was the primary reason I was able to keep my head above water during the busy start of this school year.
Calendar blocking (also known as time blocking) is a method of scheduling how you are going to spend your day in advance. You divide the 24 hours into blocks of time and assign a responsibility to each segment. As a college student, this process helps me efficiently juggle my tasks for school, work and extracurricular activities.
I initially found setting up a calendar blocking system quite daunting, but eventually, I worked out a super simple method that everyone needs to try. You begin the process by creating different categories on Google Calendar such as class, work, homework and club duties. Experiment with picking a fun color for each grouping to make your calendar pop (there are lots of hex codes for trendy color palettes on Pinterest)! From there, you can set about filling in your repeating tasks from each category. For example, I’ve set all of my classes, sleeping hours, and weekly Her Campus at UCLA meetings as repeating time blocks. Once your basic responsibilities are in place, you can expand upon your calendar by adding your priority tasks and second-tier tasks. When scheduling these blocks, keep in mind what times of day you are most focused, include lots of buffer time and breaks, and customize your tasks with notes, like meeting locations. Having populated your calendar with all of these necessary time blocks, you will then be capable of visualizing the net free time at your disposal.
This organizational strategy may seem like more trouble than it’s worth, but I promise that a little planning at the beginning of each week will help you from becoming overwhelmed in college. Since I started seriously blocking my calendar during freshman year, I’ve never faced a scheduling disaster like forgetting about a test, showing up to a coffee date at the wrong time, or missing a job interview. When I calendar block, I’m less inclined to spend hours mindlessly watching TikToks and lose track of time. I’m instead better equipped to divide my homework thoughtfully throughout the week, easily communicate my availability to my boss, and figure out which extracurricular time commitments fit into my lifestyle. I have also found that confining my serious responsibilities to designated hours helps me tune out stress when it’s time for self-care and leisure. Each item on my to-do list has a start and end time, so I’m motivated to make the most of my work time and am never left with unfinished business. I do not find myself wasting mental energy worrying “Am I forgetting a chore or a deadline?” and can instead maximize my free time without guilt.
One question I used to have before I started using calendar blocking is: how is this setup more helpful than using a good old-fashioned school planner? If classic planners haven’t worked for you in the past, calendar blocking could be a great option for several reasons. Primarily, blocking out all 24 hours in the day can help you think critically about your work-life balance and allows you to be more protective of your time. Scheduling tasks into specific time slots also prevents you from just picking easy tasks from your to-do list, getting bogged down in perfectionism, or falling into the trap of “multitasking” and accomplishing nothing. Digital calendar blocking additionally comes with handy perks like the ability to set recurrent time blocks, hide and display task classifications as you please (life hack: create a category for your classes’ office hours; you can keep it hidden until you need to schedule an appointment), and even share calendar categories with your roommates and coworkers.
During the confusing back-to-school transition, calendar blocking is an effective way to inject some order and routine into your new normal. Treat yourself to some quiet time every Sunday to plan out your week, and over time you’ll find yourself making the most out of every hour.