Guides
Time blocking examples you can copy
A good time-blocked week puts the most important work in your best hours, batches the small stuff, and leaves room for things to run over. Below are six example weeks with the reasoning behind each, and each one can be copied into Cutline in one sentence.
The rules every example follows
- The hard thing first. Deep work or study goes in the morning, before messages.
- Batch the small things. Email, calls and admin get one or two blocks, not the whole day.
- Leave a buffer. Plan 6 to 7 hours of a working day, not 8 (planning fallacy).
- The body counts. Training and meals are blocks too.
1. The founder
| Time | Block |
|---|---|
| 06:30–07:30 | Gym |
| 08:00–11:00 | Deep work: build |
| 11:00–12:00 | Sales calls |
| 13:00–14:00 | Outreach: 20 messages |
| 14:00–16:00 | Meetings |
| 16:00–16:30 | Email and admin |
Type it into Cutline: "gym weekdays 6:30, deep work weekdays 8-11, sales calls weekdays 11-12, outreach weekdays 13-14".
2. The student in exam season
| Time | Block |
|---|---|
| 08:00–10:00 | Study: hardest subject |
| 10:15–12:00 | Classes |
| 13:00–14:30 | Study: practice exams |
| 15:00–16:00 | Training |
| 20:00–20:45 | Review the day's notes |
3. A 9-to-5 with a side project
| Time | Block |
|---|---|
| 06:00–07:30 | Side project (before work) |
| 08:30–17:00 | Work, linked from Outlook |
| 18:00–19:00 | Training |
| Saturday 09:00–12:00 | Side project, long block |
4. The salesperson
| Time | Block |
|---|---|
| 08:30–09:00 | Plan the day, prioritise leads |
| 09:00–11:30 | Calls, in one batch |
| 11:30–12:00 | Follow-ups |
| 13:00–15:00 | Meetings and demos |
| 15:00–16:00 | Prospecting |
5. The creator
| Time | Block |
|---|---|
| Monday 09:00–12:00 | Write and film three pieces |
| Tuesday 09:00–11:00 | Edit |
| Daily 12:30–13:00 | Reply to comments |
| Thursday 14:00–15:00 | Plan next week's content |
6. The parent who works
| Time | Block |
|---|---|
| 05:30–07:00 | Deep work before the house wakes |
| 09:00–15:00 | Work |
| 15:00–19:30 | Family |
| 20:30–21:30 | Planning, reading or training |
Make your own
Start from the weekly templates, or type your week in one sentence in Cutline. Then tick the blocks off as you go: the plan becomes a record of what you finished.
Questions
How detailed should time blocks be?
Detailed enough that you know what to do when the block starts, loose enough to survive a bad morning. Most people do well with 60 to 180-minute blocks for real work and one block for small tasks.
What if I miss a block?
Move it, do not delete it. Then look at why on Sunday: too big, too late in the day, or not important.
None
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