## Bufferblocksaredoesanyonesyncthems
I didn’t even know the term “buffer blocks” the first time I added one to Google Calendar. I just called it “this weird empty hour I block off so I don’t scream.”
Everyone’s got their own name for it: transition breaks, breathing space, window blocks, or my personal favorite from a friend—”human.exe reboot time.” But they all kind of mean the same thing.
If your calendar looks like a Tetris game with no gaps between the pieces, you’ve already lost the week. And Google Calendar doesn’t exactly make it easy to add padding unless you’re doing it intentionally. It just keeps stacking events like:
– 9:00–9:45 team sync
– 9:45–10:30 daily standup
– 10:30–11:15 product demo
– 11:15–12:00 performance review 😵💫
I had two of those days back-to-back once and just flat out forgot how doors worked by lunchtime.
## HowIstartedsneakinginthem
What made me crack was a Zap that rescheduled all-day events to time slots because I *thought* it would make my workflow better. It didn’t. It rescheduled my dentist appointment into a lunch slot. I scheduled a duplicate therapy session without realizing it. Just chaos.
So I started manually dragging 15–30 minute empty blocks into the calendar next to these meetings like bumpers on a bowling lane. It wasn’t automation—it felt like retreating. But weirdly? I started showing up to calls less frantic. I had time to pee. I could run the dishwasher and still get back before a Zoom.
At first, I called them “focus blocks” but that was a lie. I was not focusing. I was recovering.
Later I renamed them in all caps: **BUFFER. NONNEGOTIABLE.**
## WhatIactuallydoinsidethesebuffers
Real talk, here’s what buffer blocks are **not**:
– They are not always used for breathing exercises 😉
– They are not mysterious productivity enhancers
– They are not part of some fancy framework
Sometimes I:
– Walk around the kitchen island 6 times
– Rewrite 2 sentences in a Notion doc I’ll never share
– Re-export my invoices from QuickBooks because I don’t trust the sync
– Sit still blinking at the calendar wondering how it’s only Tuesday
But the magic is in *having* that time. It puts a weird gravitational pull in your schedule that pushes other events out just enough to stop them from melting into each other.
Even better, I’ve started reserving them on shared team calendars too: “BUFFER – DO NOT BOOK UNLESS LITERALLY ON FIRE.” No one’s questioned me yet.
## Howtoconvinceteamyoutaketheseblocksseriously
The first few weeks I added buffer blocks, people ignored them. Classic. I had calendar events labeled “recovery” between meetings, but folks would still @ me like, “Can you jump on something quick at 2:15?” Uh, no. 2:15 is already me staring into the void.
So I tried a few things:
– Changed the event color to bright red 🔥
– Set the status to *Busy*, not *Free*
– Added: “This is sacred. Do not touch.” in the event description
Then finally I just started declining things. No apologies. Just: “I have a conflict. Can we shift to tomorrow?” That works better than explaining every time why I need 15 minutes to process a client call before leading a roadmap meeting.
Eventually people started blocking their own buffers too. Little ripple effect. Felt nice.
## Automatingbufferblocksifanywezapleftinthesystem
Okay. So. Let me be honest: I have about 40 half-working zaps to insert buffer time around calendar events.
Some broke. Some inserted blocks at *night*, which is not what we want. Some made infinite loops 🙃 But here’s the scrappy version that’s sorta holding up:
— Trigger: Event created in Google Calendar (from *my* calendar only)
— Filter: Only continue if event is longer than 30 minutes (short ones don’t need buffers)
— Delay: Add a 10 or 15 minute delay before the time of the event
— Action: Create new calendar event titled “Buffer — Transition”
It works maybe 70% of the time. The other 30%, the buffer lands *after* the meeting ends. Why? I don’t really know. Time zones? Webhook latency? Google’s weird concept of “event start” time? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I tried using Clockwise too, which is a service that literally helps with this—but it kept overriding my manual buffers when I adjusted other meetings. Felt like the calendar was gaslighting me.
So I’m back to Zapier and elbow grease. You might try Motion if you’re into smart scheduling tools. It’s good at preserving breathing space.
## Whenyoureplacetaskswithemptyspace
I used to think more white space in my calendar meant I was lazy. Now I think it means I’ve finally stopped lying about how much I can do without becoming a disaster.
If you asked me to name the biggest change that’s felt like real self-respect—not self-care, but actual ownership of my time—it’s naming that these boring blank blocks are not optional.
People don’t need to see everything you’re doing. Sometimes the most important thing you’re doing is **nothing**.