Why Time-Blocking Didn’t Work for Me — And What Finally Did

How I stopped forcing productivity and started working with my natural energy instead

For a long time, I tried really hard to make time-blocking work. You know, that productivity technique where you map out your day by the hour and assign tasks to each block of time. It felt like something successful, organized people did. But for me? It was exhausting. Every time I slipped up or didn’t stick to the schedule, I felt like a failure.

It wasn’t that I was lazy or didn’t want to get things done — I was just trying to work like a machine, and I’m not one. I’m human. Eventually, I realized maybe the problem wasn’t my discipline or even the method itself. Maybe the problem was that I was forcing myself to follow a system that didn’t respect how I actually functioned.

So I made a shift. I stopped blocking time… and started blocking energy instead.

What I Changed: Planning Around Energy, Not Hours

Instead of assigning tasks to fixed times, I started organizing them based on how much mental and physical energy they require.

• When I felt alert and focused — I’d dive into deep work: writing, problem-solving, strategizing.
• When I felt tired or sluggish — I’d do low-stakes…