Handle the Chaos

The top objection to time blocking: "My day is too unpredictable." Fair. The trick is to treat each block as a default, not a contract. You plan, chaos hits, you shift — but you always have a clear next move. Without a block, every interruption drops you into decision-paralysis; with one, you just slide it forward and keep going.

• Protect one block — 90 guarded minutes of deep work a day is 7.5 hours of focus a week. Most people don't get that even in total.
• Use conditional blocks — "If nothing's on fire by 9 AM, this hour is deep work."