'Block the time' is the productivity internet's answer to almost everything. Can't find time to write? Block it. No space for deep work? Block it. Falling behind on strategic thinking? Block. It. The advice is so ubiquitous it barely registers anymore.
The problem isn't that blocking time is wrong. It's that blocking time is only half the job — and most people stop there.
What Blocking Does
Blocking time creates a reservation. It says: this slot on the calendar is intended for X. That's genuinely useful. A block is better than no block. But a block without a protection strategy is just a polite suggestion you make to yourself — one that you'll override the moment something more urgent appears.
The Real Problem
The meetings and tasks that erode your blocks are not malicious. They're just more legible. A meeting request has a person behind it, a purpose, a social obligation. Your focus block has... a title. 'Deep Work 2-4pm' doesn't push back when someone asks if you're free at 3.
Any block without an explicit protection strategy will be eroded. Not sometimes. Consistently. The erosion is structural, not personal.
The Complete Version of the Advice
- →Block the time (the reservation)
- →Communicate it to colleagues who request time from you (the social contract)
- →Track whether you actually keep it week over week (the accountability)
- →Set up alerts when the block gets moved or deleted (the early warning)
Most people do step 1. Almost no one does steps 3 and 4. Without tracking, you have no idea whether your deep work blocks are actually resulting in deep work — or whether they're being quietly reassigned to meetings every week while you wonder why you're not making progress.
The Protection-to-Blocking Ratio
Think of it as a ratio. Most people operate at 100% blocking, 0% protection. The calendar looks intentional. The lived reality isn't. Moving toward even 50/50 — spending as much effort defending time as scheduling it — changes the outcome completely. 'Block the time' is the beginning of the advice. Not the end of it.