I just finished a book by Gary Keller – The One Thing.
In it, Keller discusses the power of blocking off time (4 hours, minimum) each day to focus on your: “One thing you can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary.”
Gary hits the nail on the head. His emphasis on intense focus on the key thing you need to do ensures efficiency and effectiveness.
This same approach can be used for training.
If you look at your week, you can plan, then block off your key training or movement times. For many, it is going to be less than 4 hours per day in the case of movement.. In each slot, write down the One Thing you are focusing on in that session.
This creates intent.
This could be learning a skill, building strength, improving mobility or just creating the habit. More often than not, this should be aligned with the over-arching direction you want to go with your training.
The other characteristic of Keller’s “time blocks” is that they are mono-focal. When you go into your training or movement block, focus. Give this time your complete attention, so that when the hour (or allocated time) is up, you have gotten everything you can from it.
Overall, time blocking is an effective way to minimise distractions and get the work in.
In training, this keeps us present. It let’s us build momentum with a program, or new skill in a pretty fast, effective way, without getting overwhelmed.
