In the digital age, time management is crucial.
Whether you’re a busy professional, a multitasking student, or a diligent freelancer, managing your time effectively can mean the difference between just getting by and truly excelling. One method that has been gaining popularity is time blocking.
This technique involves dividing your day into blocks of time, each dedicated to a specific task or activity. It’s a simple yet powerful way to organize your day, minimize distractions, and increase productivity.
But how do you implement time blocking?
In this article, we’ll explore the 12 best time blocking apps that can help you take control of your time and productivity in 2024!
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat Is Time Blocking and Why Use It?
Time blocking involves dividing your entire day into blocks of time. The idea is to do a specific task during a particular time block and finish it within that time frame.
However, while defining time blocks, you must also consider the complexity of the tasks at hand. It helps keep your time blocks realistic, and you can focus on one task at a time.
You can use the blocking method to manage any shallow work that doesn’t require much attention but is still important, such as responding to emails.
Time blocking apps are worth a try, but which qualifies as the best time blocking apps?
Let’s find out.
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat Makes a Great Time Blocking App?
An excellent time blocking calendar app:
- Shows your calendar and tasks in one place
- Has a drag-and-drop option to move your tasks onto the calendar and block time
- Has a simple interface that lets you create to do lists quickly
- Supports task batching to group similar tasks together
- Allows day theming to let you focus only on one task a day
- Prevents multitasking and context switching for better focus
- Integrates with your current calendar app and project management tools
Now that you know what features to focus on let’s explore the best time blocking apps and what they offer.
Summarize this article for me please12 Best Time Blocking Apps for 2024
1. ClickUp
ClickUp is one of the highest-rated task management and productivity apps used by productive teams worldwide.
ClickUp goes beyond your typical time blocking app. It’s the ultimate scheduling app that lets you drag and drop tasks to block time on a calendar. You can also create time blocks using time estimates, time tracking, etc.
Let’s see what you can do with this project management tool.
With ClickUp’s Native Time Tracking, you can easily track your time on tasks and focus on deep work.
Additionally, this time blocking planner has a Global Timer to start or stop time from any device and jump between different tasks.
And if you forget to hit the start button, no worries. With ClickUp, you can manually log time too.
You can even sort work by time spent, add notes to time entries, and apply labels to categorize the time spent on different tasks.
With ClickUp you can utilize ClickUp’s Time Blocking Template to schedule Tasks and get things done.
Meet ClickUp’s Time Tracking widgets. You can use them to build your own time blocking dashboard. These widgets include time estimated, time tracked, time reporting and timesheets.
These widgets include:
Set time estimates for tasks so team members can block the required hours on their calendars.
B. Time Tracked
Check whether the time you log in meets the Time Estimates. It helps create more realistic time blocks for future tasks.
C. Time Reporting
See the time estimated and time tracked to quickly compare if your team can work within the defined time blocks.
D. Timesheet
View tracked time for any given week, month, or set a custom range. You can also view the total time spent for a selected time range.
Check out these timesheet templates!
ClickUp pricing
- Free Forever Plan (best for personal use)
- Unlimited Plan (best for small teams ($7/member per month)
- Business Plan (best for mid-sized teams ($12/member per month)
- ClickUp AI is available on all paid plans for $5 per Workspace member per month
ClickUp customer ratings
- G2: 4.7/5 (3,300+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (2,275+ reviews)
2. Clockify
via Clockify
Clockify is a good calendar app for deep work. You can log tasks, meetings, events, etc., and use a time tracker to track tasks and their duration.
However, it’s difficult to edit the task time if you forget to start or stop the timer.
Clockify key features
- Calendar to track time visually and log activities
- Time tracker that works as a stopwatch
- Timesheet to log weekly activities
- Invoice generation based on tracked time and hourly rates
Clockify pricing
You can download the browser extension or app (Android, iOS) for free.
Clockify customer ratings
- G2: 4.4/5 (80+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (1,570+ reviews)
Check out these Clockify alternatives!
3. HourStack
With the time tracking app HourStack, you can block time for a day or week. You can even roll over tasks to work on them later.
However, the app lacks a dashboard feature to monitor your team’s time. You’ll need to export data to create your charts.
HourStack key features
- Time tracker that starts directly from your calendar
- Individual and team calendar views
- Time charts and visualizations to get insights
- Multiple workspaces to maintain separate client or team time
HourStack pricing
Starts at $12/user per month.
HourStack customer ratings
- G2: N/A
- Capterra: 4.8/5 (10+ reviews)
4. Sunsama
Sunsama is a daily planning and time management app that makes time blocking painless. In the app, you can drag-and-drop tasks from your favorite apps and even use the app as a focus booster.
Sunsama features a two-way integration with ClickUp so you can browse and make changes to all of your ClickUp tasks from right inside of Sunsama and vice-versa!
Sunsama key features
- Rollover unfinished tasks to the next day
- Block time for tasks in other productivity apps like ClickUp, Trello or Asana
- Track daily team progress
- Sync with your Google or Outlook calendar
Sunsama pricing
Starts at $16 per month.
Sunsama customer ratings
- G2: 4.8/5 (5+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (10+ reviews)
5. TimeCamp
via TimeCamp
TimeCamp is a free time blocking app you can use to track productivity and create time estimates.
However, it’s hard to adjust tracked time manually if you forget to stop the timer. 🙊 ⏲
TimeCamp key features
- Productivity tracking to gain insights on time spent
- Timesheet to add, adjust and delete time entries
- Fully automated time tracker, including an overtime calculator
- Custom-built time reports
TimeCamp pricing
TimeCamp has a free plan. Paid one starts at $7/user per month.
TimeCamp customer ratings
- G2: 4.7/5 (170+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (530+ reviews)
Check out these TimeCamp alternatives!
6. Planyway
via Planyway
Already use Trello for task management?
Then, you can visualize your Trello cards on the Planyway calendar.
You can time block your Trello task slots and track time from this calendar.
However, this app doesn’t work offline.
Planyway key features
- Set time estimates for tasks
- Compare estimated vs. actual time spent
- Timesheet to log time spent on Trello tasks
- Connect events from Google and Outlook
Planyway pricing
It has a free plan. Paid plans start at $3.50/user per month.
Planyway customer ratings
- G2: N/A
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (290+ reviews)
7. TimeBloc
via TimeBloc
TimeBloc is a simple productivity app with basic time blocking and scheduling features.
It’s available for both Android and iOS devices.
However, this time blocking software crashes too often.
TimeBloc key features
- Timeline to block a day into multiple events
- Calendar events sync automatically
- Routine, once created, gets integrated into the timeline
- Visual statistics to track progress
TimeBloc pricing
The app has a free version. Its premium version starts at $19.99.
TimeBloc customer ratings
- G2: N/A
- Capterra: N/A
8. Google Calendar
via Google Calendar
You can use Google Calendar to schedule time blocks directly into your calendar.
You can even create a shared time blocking calendar with your teammates.
However, it’s difficult to integrate different email addresses in this app.
Google Calendar key features
- Multiple views like day, week, and month
- Events from Gmail get added automatically
- Get calendar entry suggestions like event titles, people, and places
- Schedule view along with images and maps
Google Calendar pricing
It’s a free calendar app (Android, iOS). It’s also available as a part of the Google Workspace, costing $5/user per month.
Google Calendar customer ratings
- G2: N/A
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (1,150+ reviews)
9. TickTick
via TickTick
TickTick is another productivity app with scheduling and task management features.
You can use it to note down ideas or unexpected tasks and block time for priorities.
However, TickTick can sometimes fail to sync your important tasks and data.
Compare TickTick Vs Todoist!
TickTick key features
- Multiple calendar views for daily and monthly tasks
- Smart date parsing to add tasks as reminders
- Option to set durations for time-consuming tasks
- Pomodoro timer to work in intervals
TickTick pricing
It’s a free task management app. The premium version costs $2.79/month.
TickTick customer ratings
- G2: 4.6/5 (50+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.8/5 (60+ reviews)
Try out these TickTick alternatives!
10. Fantastical
via Fantastical
Fantastical is an iOS task list app with time-blocking features.
You can use this with the Apple Calendar on your iPad or iPhone to schedule tasks and other important events. You can also create reminders for your time-blocked events.
What’s not so fantastic about this calendar app? The free version offers limited features.
Fantastical key features
- Multiple views for day, week, month, or year
- Calendar sets to group multiple calendars and task lists together
- Time blocking templates to schedule frequent events
- You can check contact availability and block time that works for everyone
Fantastical pricing
It’s a free list app.
Fantastical customer ratings
- G2: 4.6/5 (5+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.8/5 (10+ reviews)
11. Clockwise
via Clockwise
Clockwise is a free calendar app that works as a Chrome extension.
You can use it to schedule meetings, manage work across time zones, and resolve time conflicts.
However, sometimes, this time blocking app tends to duplicate calendar events.
Clockwise key features
- Free up blocks of uninterrupted time with autopilot
- Move flexible meetings to the least disruptive time
- Automatically create focus time for each week
- Measure progress with time analytics and review emails
Clockwise pricing
Clockwise offers a free plan. The paid ones start at $5/user per month.
Clockwise customer ratings
- G2: 4.8/5 (20+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (50+ reviews)
12. Plan
via Plan
Plan is a good app for task management that also works as a to-do list.
You can even sync it with Google and Outlook calendars.
But if you already use a task manager, you’ll have to transfer every single task manually.
Now imagine having 100+ tasks to transfer to this to-do list. 🥴
Who else has a better plan?
Plan key features
- Calendar to add agendas and block time
- Drag and drop timeline view
- Team feed to organize work conversations
- Integration with JIRA, Zendesk, Salesforce, and Github
Plan pricing
There’s a free plan, and the paid plan starts at $5/user per month.
Plan customer ratings
- G2: N/A
- Capterra: N/A
Summarize this article for me pleaseTime Blocking: The Ultimate Time Management Technique
All the blocking apps listed here can help you manage your daily schedule.
Some are great at time tracking. Other blocking apps can integrate multiple calendars into one app.
ClickUp can do it all!
Whether you’re looking for a calendar app, complete task manager, or an excellent time blocker app with a free plan, ClickUp is all you need.
This best time blocking app offers Native Time Tracking to track every minute you spend at work, a Calendar view to adjust your schedule, and start and due dates to create clear timeframes.
What’s holding you back?
Join ClickUp for free today!
Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.
