Time Boxing: What, Why and How - Part 1

Timeboxing - Part - 1

Do you know what the most challenging aspect of work-life balance is?

The hardest aspect of finding balance between life and work is effective time management. Timeboxing is an easy time-management method that can help you get the most done while respecting your limits.

You may be a perfectionist by nature, working for hours on the same activity or you may be like those who procrastinate and wait until the very last minute to do a task. You may be like the ones who could work very hard but fail to complete their tasks, you might be someone wasting time on the wrong pursuits. There is no right or wrong; it all depends on how those jobs are evaluated. The feeling that individual has at the end of the day—whether it's one of accomplishment, frustration, or overwhelm—is what matters most on a personal level.

Your time management abilities will be hacked by continuously using a strategy to allocate things into your daily calendar and learning to prioritise and specify how much time to spend on each activity.

While a to-do list is the most popular method, it only serves to remind you of what needs to be done and lacks many other essential components that can thwart your efforts. For example, it doesn't specify how long to spend on each task, when to complete it, and it particularly tends to overwhelm you by listing all the tasks that are still outstanding. Overall, it is unrealistic, to put it mildly.

There are numerous different techniques and frameworks for better time management and what I find most effective is “Timeboxing”.

What is Timeboxing?

Timeboxing is a word used to make a visual to-do list on your calendar using the agile methodology.

The goal of "timeboxing" is to increase your productivity and project management abilities. While it cannot extend the length of your day, it may help you maximise each hour by enabling you to keep track of your time, arrange your work, and increase your motivation.

Timeboxing not only enables you to plan out what to do, when, and for how long, but also to assess your performance at the end of the day. It makes you feel more accomplished.

With timeboxing, you plan your tasks on your calendar, assigning time boxes to give activities a hard time limit, blocking the time to prevent overworking (for perfectionists) or overcommitting (for people-pleasers), and reminding yourself of what to do next. Additionally, if you share your calendar, it enables others to view your available times. Additionally, timeboxing makes it simpler to adhere to your daily plan, prioritise tasks, and be realistic about your availability in light of upcoming meetings and past obligations.

When scheduling the time, keep in mind the deadline to make sure the more critical chores are completed first. Additionally, you can add boxes for breaks, the gym, or downtime. I strongly advise you to include regular "time stealers" as well, such as preparing for meetings and working after them. To create more realistic timeframes, use these 15-minute boxes before or after meetings. The key to time management is setting time limits for each activity, including breaks and snack periods, to prevent perfectionism or to better forecast how much time you will need in the future. You'll be more productive and aware of how you spend your time if you timebox.

To be continued...

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