The Time-block Planner: A Daily Method for Deep Work in a Distracted World

This is not like your ordinary planner. The reason you are seeing poor reviews from people is what expectation they have for a planner which this product is not matching to.I have used this planner for the last 3 weeks before posting this review and I can totally understand why Cal has created this. I have previously used the Higher Performance Planner by Brendon Burchard, the Productivity Planner by Intelligent Self and the Self Journal by Best Self and I have found great value in them. These have provided some really useful ways of planning for me and the Time Block Planner brought in an extra dimension taking my productivity to the next level.I have read Deep Work, and also been listening to Cal's podcast and had been very impressed with how he managed to have such a high deep work to shallow work ratio. This is why I thought I must give the planner a try. This planner is simple in it's layout. It starts with giving an overview of the Deep Work and Time Blocking philosophy which is very useful. It then has:-The Week Ahead - 2 Pages where you can write how you want to approach the week. These are just lines so you can approach it the way you want. This would be something you would do in your Sunday Planning for the week- The Day - This has one page which allows you to jot tasks and ideas, list your daily metrics, a shutdown complete tick box and a grid to plan your blocksThe above is replicated for 13 weeks with a 7 day spread for each week.So you can see, it is very simple in it's approach but the simplicity is the bit that makes it powerful. This planner is not there to replace your calendar system. It is a THINKING tool. It helps you to strategize your week and daily blocks of work and most importantly, it helps you LEARN from it.The Grid allows you to set up your day but of course things could change, you may end up taking lots more time for a task, something may come up, a meeting will overrun, an emergency deadline kicks in but instead of having everything on autopilot, the planner allows you a thinking tool to then decide how you want to FIX the schedule. This is the bit that is really powerful.After 3 weeks, I can look back and see how I had to fix my schedule over several days. It helped me understand that allocating a specific time for an activity did not work and I need to allocate more time. The planner allows you to consciously work through your day and be more in control and therefore improve your block time, focus and productivity.A big win for me was successfully fitting in learning for an exam I needed to do with the block times giving me the intense focus I needed to support with passing it. Without the planner I would not necessarily have as much discipline and focused approach.A couple of things that I did not like:- I am not always doing block time on Saturday and Sunday but this has 7 days for each week and the labelling means you can end up wasting pages.- The front cover bend up when the book is shut and this would have been better if it was a spiral bound bookI am looking forward to continue using the book to strategically and consciously plan my day and track how I am doing. If you are really keen to increase your deep work to shallow work ratio, if you want to improve your focus on tasks and have a better work life balance then this is a great tool to use to build this mindset.

I bought this planner to help me implement the time-chunking method. I've tried time-blocking before but failed to sustain the habit, probably because I tried to make a schedule too far in advance. I've been using this planner for a number of weeks, and love how simple and effective it is. It has become an integral part of my day, and I carry it everywhere. It's made with good quality paper so my fountain pen ink doesn't bleed through. I know I could probably recreate it in a blank notebook, but it's so much nicer having all the lines printed out for me.

So far so good - it has really helped me be more careful about my day and week, but definitely important for me to put a bit more time in for tasks as I can easily underestimate this and then that can then make me think I am behind and then feel rushed. Also I have to ensure I put in regular breaks for my health (had a lot of health issues in the past - stress and physical health). It has really made me think around how I plan my week and specifically around meetings that block deep work (fully recommend reading his book Deep Work at the same time/before this). The only bad thing that I would like to see improved is that this only accounts for someone working one job really. I have two jobs and I often find myself having to draw extra lines on the pages as the hours are not enough. Understand the aim is probably to get people’s hours more condensed, but that isn’t always the case if you have two jobs (and with putting breaks for dinner etc. in).

It's a wonder how I got anything done before planning my days. Cal has provided a simple, essential tool for living purposefully. If you are someone who values planning and preparation, you need to take it all the way to the finish line by planning your actual actions day by day. Feels excellent to know when you are on target or not. Clarity is power.

The book is well formatted and easy to understand. I do not like the actual build of the book. Although good quality, it is awkward to write in and doesn't feel like a working document to use daily, more like a cookery book than something to write in. The good news is a blank journal or notepad can easily be used, and is a lot cheaper once you understand the concept (which takes 5 mins)For me personally, I think I will use my digital calendar as it cuts down duplication back into the block planner. Outlook works in blocks anyway. I don't underestimate the power of the hand written word, but i find journalling a much more powerful tool for this. Overall, a good concept, quality product but very simplistic, awkward to use practically and won't be for everyone.

Really helping me to get the important stuff done. The journal lasts about 3 months, will be buying more. Ideally, it would be spiral-bound, so as to lie flat.

What makes this unique is that it explains how to use it. I’ve tried every kind of planner - this is the best hands down

Very good planner. Once used for the first time it can easily be substituted by a cheaper regular agenda but to start, it's excellent