Using Time Boxing To Your Advantage

By Noah Walters


When I first read the term on Twitter a few weeks ago I thought to myself, "Do I need to get some boxing gloves? What in the world is time boxing?" Of course, I had to read on and liked what I read.Time boxing is a way to schedule tasks, in both your personal and business life, to help you achieve goals and meet deadlines. Wikipedia describes time boxing as "a time management technique common in software development projects to plan out a project, for example the creation of a new IT system, by splitting the project up in a number of separate time periods (normally two to six weeks long)."

This technique helps one in focusing on tasks. More often than not, when we sit in front of the computer to start doing our tasks, we are bombarded with distractions. We often end up spending more time on unimportant things and not get much done for the day. With this technique, however, you are able to focus more on your tasks by allowing you to set your time boxes according to the amount of time that you think you will be able to concentrate on the tasks. And since it is customizable, you can set your time to as little as 10 minutes per task, and gradually increase your time each day. This way, your concentration and focus are improved even without you forcing yourself to concentrate.

Another advantage of this technique is closely related to the first one I mentioned and it is called discipline. Why? Because when you have trained yourself to focus on tasks, no matter how little the time you have set aside for each task, it takes discipline to follow it and to actually focus on the tasks.

The next advantage is often listed as an end result or the product of time boxing: Productivity. Once you learn the basics on how it can help you reset and attain focus and discipline, productivity often follows. But remember to keep you work up to par, too. You need to be both productive AND produce the best quality.

As you gain focus and discipline, another advantage of time boxing is that it gives you the skills to better manage your time. This technique allows you to see how much time you have spent on each task and gives you the chance to predict how much more tasks you can do depending on the time that you have left for the rest of the day. This also allows you to assess your own strategy and progress and gives you the opportunity take action about it. And finally, time boxing gives you a sense of achievement. No matter how small the amount of time you have set for each tasks, you finish each day with more accomplished tasks than when you do not use the technique.




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