Time Blocking Blobs: A Series of Tutorials for Planners & Unplanners

Perhaps you’ve heard of time blocking. Perhaps you’ve practiced this common technique and hadn’t heard the name before this year. Or maybe you’d like to get a handle on your schedule and would like to follow along and commit to a new practice of weekly planning.

I’ve got just the project for you in My Artsy Digital Sandbox this year. Although the FB group is no longer active, you can find me on FB and connect on either my writer FB page or my illustrator FB page.

WHAT ARE TIME BLOCKING BLOBS?

You may be familiar with Time Blocking. The practice has found a path into apps, calendars, TikTok and Instagram videos, and product platforms like Etsy and SquareSpace.

But… BLOBS?

First, a little history about myself. With perfectionist leanings and the tendency to leave horrific messes after a creative project, I have a balance problem. I can't decide if I'd rather paint or build a computer. I adore spreadsheets and straight line charts, but I sketch ideas and draw Van Gogh-ish circles creating splattered ink cards.

While I am blessed to have both sides of the brain pretty much equal in their attention for my time, but the explosive mess after an artsy endeavor leaves my left brain screaming for order and a clean workspace.

So I grabbed a scientific and computer term that doubles as a artistic sketching term. Blob. No, not the movie from 1988 nor the animatronic comic character, but a term of endearment for the planner and the artist in me. Google hosts its own musical Blob Opera where individuals can create a song in the Google Arts & Culture space.

I digress.

The definition of both sorts of blobs comes from a wide variety of online sources, including dictionary.com and some technical snippets about Binary Large Objects around the internet.

BLOB: a small drop or lump of something. A spot of color. A nondescript shape. An enigmatic green object.
BLOB: Binary Large Object. Something used for storing information in databases. It's a complex data type, a collection of binary data, with a variable length.

Because of my constant warring tendencies for both order and creative expression, my calendar and bullet journals, and planning attempts, exhibit the same tension. Why fight with either side of my brain? Wouldn’t it be more peaceful if I allowed one side to take the lead?

Well, that’s where blobs enter this geeky equation. Those free-form shapes that indicate various meanings, but indirectly highlight the need for flexibility and freedom from rigid structure.

A blob has a shape, but not easily defined, but a search online yielded an app.

A blob cr e ating app.

Unless we approximate a square or a circle or a floating colored cloud like form, and leave our perfectionistic leanings to engineers and architects, we might stress over exact corners, straight lines and the need to either erase and crumple the paper.

Here are a few examples from the Blob generator App.

Do you see where I am going with this blobby idea?

I create a spreadsheet with hard lines and blocks, gray the boxes inside, and then draw blobs over the lighter straight lines to indicate a goal for a specific block of time. Then when I make a mistake or change my mind, I don’t feel like I’m destroying a work of art or wasting time by starting over.

Mindfulness in the events and tasks of each day, each week, and year after year, help me remember that time is the Lord’s.

I can plan all I want. I can create a colorful artistic expression of my goals and meetings and deadlines. But if I can’t find peace in the process, or joy in this planning journey, then I’ve missed the purpose of seeking His direction for my days.

Oh, sure, I get sidetracked and forget I even make a planner some days. Some days it’s buried under the avalanche that’s waiting to happen off the side of my desk. But during the moments, the precious moments that I slow down to consider what my week should look like, I find a quiet place and fill that time with possibilities for new projects and inspiration to finish tasks.

What about you? Would creating blob-like shapes help you be more productive and less concerned about the appearance of your planner? Who knows, but God and you. Perhaps your planner will be the work of art and intentional organization to help you rise above the mundane.

What about you? Are you more creative-right-brain oriented or organized-left-brain led?

"Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is." Ephesians 5:15-17 (NIV).

I’ve got just the project for you in this year, (whatever year it is when you read this post.) Why not set up a calendar or template and mark out the most important tasks that cannot move. Put them in first.

THEN add some important deadlines. Don’t forget to leave plenty of white space for filling in during the day and weeks ahead.

Happy restful planning.