What is timeboxing?

Timeboxing is a goal-oriented time-management technique that enables you to reach maximum efficiency in all kinds of projects and tasks. Once you’ve identified a task you or your team need to do, you estimate how long it will take and allocate a corresponding box of time towards it. You’ll work for that set period, and once it’s over, you’ll end the task and consider it completed to the best of your abilities.

The concept of timeboxing was created by James Martin in his book Rapid Application Development, which focused on speedy software creation using existing models. Today, timeboxing extends far beyond the tech sector and can be useful in a wide range of situations.

How does it differ from time blocking?

Timeboxing and time blocking have similar goals, placing their focus on productivity and organisation, but there are some key differences. Timeboxing cuts out wasted time by ensuring that once your designated time period has run out, you stop work on the task altogether and simply accept that you’ve done enough for the time being or completed it to the best of your ability. With time blocking, you’re more likely to work to a daily schedule and try to fit all your tasks within it. You still delegate sections of time to each task, but if the task doesn’t get completed, you can return to it the next day, and you’ll know to allocate more time than you did previously.

Advantages of timeboxing

For a tool that is so simple in its concept, timeboxing has an impressive list of benefits for its users. Let’s unpack a few.

• Encourages you to work on less enjoyable tasks. Because you know you only have to work for a set period of time, unpleasant tasks become more bearable. You could even schedule a reward after this timebox, perhaps a task you’re looking forward to or a break.
• Prevents small tasks from falling through the cracks. Allocating timeboxes to tasks that may only take a couple of minutes, like replying to an email or making an appointment, ensures you aren’t so distracted by larger tasks that you forget to do something that’s not urgent but still necessary.
• Offers a way to break down large tasks. Large tasks or projects can feel overwhelming, and if the deadline is far away, it’s easy to procrastinate on getting started. Allocating a series of timeboxes to the task over a lengthy period enables you to chip away at different activities and make steady progress.
• Helps you set strict limits. A ticking clock can be a great motivator, and having a set start and end point for your task makes it less likely you’ll procrastinate or give in to distractions.
• Reduces stress. Having a calendar filled with timeboxes relating to all the things you need to get done can give you a sense of control. You’re more likely to be able to focus when it’s for a set period of time, particularly if your timeboxes are 40 minutes or under. When you do have a break, you can relax more fully rather than panicking about how much time you are wasting.

Related: Guide to managing employee stress in the workplace

• Keeps meetings more efficient and focused. You don’t have to limit timeboxing to your own schedule. You can introduce the concept to employees and team members and practise it in meetings. If everyone knows a meeting has to finish at a set time, they are more likely to focus on its objectives and not get sidetracked by irrelevant discussion.
• Creates balance in your life. When you’re juggling busy workdays with personal commitments, it’s easy to prioritise urgent tasks or spend too much time on them. Timeboxing helps you dedicate time to tasks that contribute to a more well-rounded, healthy and enjoyable life. You can create boxes for exercising, messaging friends, working on a hobby or educational interest or connecting with colleagues and industry peers. You can extend this concept to your whole team, like scheduling a networking hour or mid-afternoon meditation session.

Related: Promoting Work-Life Balance in Your Business

• Cuts down on perfectionist tendencies. When you know you have a fixed amount of time to complete a task, the focus is on getting it done rather than making it perfect and ending up making endless tweaks or dithering on decisions.

How to put timeboxing into practice

To make timeboxing work for you and your team, you’ll need to lay some groundwork. Let’s break down the four stages of the technique.

1. Select your tasks

Some tasks are more suited to timeboxing than others. Anything that’s urgent or can be done quickly and painlessly is best tackled as it comes up, rather than being allocated a box. Projects that are long or ongoing and should be tackled over an extended period can benefit from timeboxing. This is especially true if they are overwhelming and likely to trigger procrastination. Tasks that are unpleasant or dull are also good candidates – the timebox can offer a burst of motivation to just get them over with, as efficiently as possible.

2. Determine your goals

During this stage, think about what you or your team wants to accomplish, and the overall time frame needed to complete tasks or projects. If you’re applying timeboxing to a team project, it’s a good idea to involve other team members at this stage and ask for their opinions and input.

3. Allocate your timeboxes

Next, you’ll decide how much time each box needs to comprise and how many separate boxes you should schedule for the same task. There are two sub-types of timebox you can work with.

Soft time boxes

These timeboxes are for large tasks broken down into sub-tasks. The sub-tasks are typically related, and you can keep your focus in the same area. Milestones may be less clear, but the work can feel a lot more manageable.

Hard time boxes

These are for one-off tasks that you won’t need to return to. Once you’ve finished one timebox, you’ll move onto another, usually unrelated one. This method requires strong task-switching abilities but can feel very rewarding.

During this stage, you can also decide the maximum length for any given timebox and how to schedule breaks in between. To do this, you may decide to turn to another time-management method, like the Pomodoro technique which advocates for short, productive bursts of 25 minutes, followed by five-minute breaks.

4. Get to work

Try to start work on the scheduled tasks at the appointed time and focus on them until you’ve completed the timebox. It can be helpful to set a timer. If you have any unavoidable interruptions, like an urgent call or email, you can pause the timer and continue afterwards. A key aspect of timeboxing is tracking your progress. If you complete your task way ahead of time or feel that the time you allocated was insufficient to carry out the task to your standards, you’ll know that type of task needs a different amount of time in the future.

Tips and best practices

• To increase motivation, set yourself challenges, like seeing how many small, related tasks you can accomplish within a single timebox.
• Try using purpose-built software or an app to help you streamline your timebox process. Timeboxing software can also make it easier for you to share tasks and schedules with your team.
• After you’ve completed the timebox, it’s a good idea to set some type of reward – a break, a treat or even another timebox, but one that features an easy or fun task.

Related: Ideas for employee incentive

• Don’t be too hard on yourself. Most people find it difficult to stay focused for an extended period of time. For timeboxes longer than 25 minutes, it’s normal to find yourself wanting to pause, check messages on your phone, make a cup of tea, stretch or go to the bathroom. Plan for these kinds of interruptions when determining the length of your timebox.
• When using timeboxing for meetings, make sure employees understand in advance how the system works, and that the meeting will have a strict start and end time. You can also send out information about the meeting’s objectives to ensure everyone stays on track.

When used correctly and intuitively, timeboxing can be a game-changer for productivity, while boosting morale and promoting a better work-life balance. The practice is easy to set up and adapt to, and with attention and care, you can ensure it becomes the go-to form of scheduling for you and your team’s workflows.