The Timeboxing Method: Explanation, Relevance & Examples

1. What is Timeboxing?
2. How does the Timeboxing method work?
3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Timeboxing?
4. Where is the Timeboxing method used? And where is it less useful?
5. 3 practical examples for the Timeboxing method
6. 7 Tips to work productively with Timeboxing
7. What tools can be used to implement Timeboxing?
8. Conclusion

Timeboxing - to some, it is the prime example of optimum planning, to others it seems like an overcrowded timetable. The fact is: There is much more to the method of timeboxing. A method not only Bill Gates and Elon Musk rely on. More and more self-employed and employees also use it in their everyday life. What timeboxing is all about and how you can use it step by step is explained by our guest author Marie-Therese Schlierkamp in her guest article.

What is Timeboxing?

Timeboxing is a well-known strategy for time management. With timeboxing, you plan the professional and private activities of your day in individual time blocks, so-called timeboxes. The focus is on making the most of your day. Each timebox is a promise to yourself to complete this task in the planned time. The effect is that you focus completely on the planned task during this time and get more done in less time.

The focus of timeboxing is primarily your calendar, in which you schedule what you do during the day in time blocks. And thus make the calendar the control center of your own time.

How does the Timeboxing method work?

You open your digital calendar and take a look at the next week.

Which work projects or meetings do you want to make time for each week?

And what private activities do you want to have weekly time for? You first jot down your answers in a note tool of your choice - like Evernote or Notion.

How much time do you want to devote to the project, meeting, or activity each week? Write these minutes or hours directly next to it.

Finally, you ask yourself for each activity whether you want to take the time at once (e.g. 1x 1 hr.). In other words, if you want to enter a single timebox in the calendar. Or if you want to split the planned time for this activity into several timeboxes (e.g. 3x 45 min.). For example, if you want to implement a project.

You enter your answers directly in timeboxes in your calendar and gradually build up your timebox calendar.

Pay attention to the following when entering your timeboxes:

• Tasks: As part of your daily planning, write down one task per timebox. Not 2,3 or 4 tasks. This reduces the risk of taking on too much.
• Priorities: Start entering your timeboxes in the calendar with the activity that is most important to you. Lastly, enter the activity in your calendar that has the lowest priority for you.
• Regular appointments: Each time block (e.g. "Working", "Meetings", "Sports", "Family Time" ...) should be set as a weekly recurring appointment. This recurring appointment will remind you in the future of what you want to take time for each week. This way, you are building your very own scaffolding for your optimal week.
• Colors: Definitely use different colors for the different activities of your week and stick to these colors. For everything related to your health such as sports, walks, your morning routine or breaks you can choose green for example. While you can choose light red for all professional tasks.
• Singletasking: Make sure that all timeboxes are scheduled one after the other in the calendar - never at the same time. Simultaneous appointments are multitasking traps that cost you a lot of time and energy.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of Timeboxing?

Some love it because it greatly increases their productivity and gives them more free time. Others categorically reject it because they find it restrictive. It's a fact - Timeboxing polarizes. Here is an overview of the pros and cons of the Timeboxing method, so you can get an idea for yourself.

Timeboxing advantages:

• You gain clarity about which activities you need how much time for in your week and when.
• You can use this clarity - black on white - to continually improve your time management. This is because your experience with past timeboxes gives you a better idea of how long you need for which tasks.
• You have more structure & guidance because your timeboxing calendar gives your day and your week a framework.
• Important projects and tasks do not get lost, but get the time they need.
• Perfectionism is reduced because you cannot spend hours tweaking details in the limited time you set. Progress is the priority in timeboxing.
• Your concentration improves because you make a promise with each timebox. Namely, to focus only on this task for the next few minutes.
• Multitasking is significantly reduced, as a timebox always stands for one task. And therefore you process tasks one after the other instead of in parallel.
• You clearly see how much you have on your agenda and whether you devote enough time to your leisure & recreation.

Timeboxing disadvantages:

• It takes a while for you to get used to the routine of dividing your day into timeboxes like a timetable and living according to it.
• Through timeboxing, you force yourself to choose very specific activities in your week - professionally and privately. If you generally find it difficult to commit to a few projects because you are interested in many things at once, timeboxing may not be right for you.
• If you have lived without a daily plan or a clear daily routine, timeboxing may seem restrictive or stressful to you. Because with each timebox you set yourself a kind of deadline for this activity of your day.
• If you plan entire projects or even task packages with several tasks for a timebox, you will find it difficult to complete them in your time block. Your planning fails in this case. This is a normal part of the learning process and shows that you have not yet planned with one task per timebox.

Where is the Timeboxing method used? And where is it less useful?

In principle, almost everyone can establish the Timeboxing method in his/her everyday life - regardless of where he or she is professionally or privately. Timeboxing supports everyone today in the fast-paced everyday life to meet the most various obligations and responsibilities.

Even more helpful than in private life, however, is timeboxing in everyday work. Given the amount and complexity of projects that many self-employed and employees have, timeboxing helps to bring all tasks under one umbrella.

Of course, there are also professional situations where timeboxing can be somewhat more difficult. For example, when your everyday life looks very different again and again, such as for a sales representative, steward & stewardess or long-distance driver. Or when your days are determined by changing shift work, such as for a nurse or doctor. It may also be difficult to plan your own day with timeboxing in professional situations that are designed to constantly respond to external requests - such as in a call center.

3 practical examples for the Timeboxing method

Example 1: Implementing Projects with Timeboxing

Especially in project management, timeboxing is a great relief to realistically assess project effort and complete the project just in time. Let's say you have your own website and want to create an "About me" landing page. Then this landing page has a certain structure, which is composed of images and texts. The creation of this landing page is roughly estimated to take several hours of effort. If you use timeboxing, you can estimate this much more accurately, as you first identify the individual tasks of your "About me" landing page:

• Researching the structure of other "About Me" landing pages
• Define the structure of the landing page
• Write texts for the landing page
• Choose images
• Editing the images
• Build the landing page

Next, you check based on your experiences with other landing pages, how long you need for each task. And which task you approach first, second and third:

• Research on the structure of other "About me" landing pages (45 min.)
• Define the layout of the landing page (30 min.)
• Write texts for the landing page (60 min.)
• Find images (30 min.)
• Edit images (30 min.)
• Build the landing page (3x 60 min.)

In the third step, you can now enter your project tasks as timeboxes in your calendar day. Important: Don't forget pauses in between!

Implementing projects with timeboxing

Example 2: Rocking Meeting Days with Timeboxing

Not only for projects, but also on meeting days you can use timeboxing. First look at your daily planning to see which meetings are scheduled and what needs to be prepared for them.

For the preparation, you plan enough time in the form of timeboxes before your meetings. In addition to your scheduled meetings, you should also set aside some time for post-processing them - to document results for example.
Also, plan the post-processing and the breaks in between in your calendar as a timebox. And always check again and again if your planning is going according to time.

Voila - a meeting day where you go into your meeting well prepared and nothing can be lost due to after processing.

Organize meeting days with timeboxing

Example 3: Combining work and private life with Timeboxing

If you can - for example as self-employed - combine work and private life in one calendar, you gain a full overview of your time through timeboxing.

From getting up to the evening, you can plan all activities that make your day and are important to you as timeboxes. In this way, you can better balance work and private life over time.

Combine work and private life with Timeboxing

7 Tips to work productively with Timeboxing

1. Record everything: You benefit most from the above-mentioned advantages of timeboxing if you record all activities of your (professional) everyday life as a timebox. Because only then do you have a complete view of your time.
2. Daily planning: Use your schedule of recurring timeboxing appointments to plan your next day in the morning before you start your work. You can, for example, adjust your timebox if meetings last longer or if there are new meetings that day. You can move tasks to a different time. Or you can completely remove your timebox if it doesn't take place on the day.
3. Breaks: You are human, not a machine. Plan regular breaks in your workday in addition to your lunch break. This allows you to keep your energy level high throughout the day.
4. Short timeboxes: Use short time blocks of a maximum of 90 minutes when working with timeboxing. Similar to how you go through constant sleep phases at night, you also go through phases with different energy levels during the day. Short work blocks that alternate with short breaks make it much easier for you to focus throughout the day.
5. Set a timer: Set a timer so you know when your timebox time is up. And so you can fully concentrate on your task during this period.
6. Eliminate distractions: Close all programs on your computer that you don't need during your task. Put your phone, tablet and anything that could distract you out of your line of sight. Mute everything that makes noise on the computer or in your office while you work.
7. Timeboxes are promises: Stick to the promise you make to yourself with each timebox. If you do, the timeboxing method is also a wonderful self-confidence training because you know that the things you plan become reality.

What tools can be used to implement Timeboxing?

You can implement Timeboxing easiest with digital calendars like Google Kalender for example, Microsoft Outlook and iCal & Co. Why?

Because with a digital calendar you can see all the activities of your week at one glance. You get the feeling of having a real overview of your time. You can see how well you can juggle various tasks, meetings & co and whether you devote enough time to all sectors of life. In addition, you can plan your day quickly & easily by dragging and dropping your timebox.

If you want to record the duration of your individual tasks to the minute for your work, you should take a closer look at time recording tools.Time recording tools such as Toggl Track help you to estimate the duration of your tasks to the minute. Especially in the case of recurring tasks, this is central in order not to overwhelm your day with tasks, but to plan realistically. To try these tools for yourself, you can use one of many free time recording tools.

If you not only want to track the duration of your tasks, but directly bundle your project management in a single tool, project management tools are the right choice for you. If you are traveling solo or with a small team and want to make an entry in terms of project management, Trello with its simple interface is a good choice. To record working time for your tasks in Trello, you can integrate tools like Clockify directly into Trello. If you are not solo anymore, but traveling with a medium to large team, you should take a closer look at tools like Asana or Jira. In both tools you can easily plan, manage and reflect on the work week and tasks with your whole team. You can approach task planning for your week and that of your team simply via task date. You can check in retrospect, whether your planning has worked out, through the entry of task duration in Jira as well as time tracking in Asana through add-ons like Clockify.

Conclusion

No matter what your professional or private situation looks like: Plan your day.

Otherwise, it quickly happens that your day is planned for you. For example, in the form of calls, emails & co., which you constantly respond to. Use timeboxing as a tool for you to take time for exactly the tasks and activities that are important to you. You will notice that you get a lot more done in a day and finally can completely relax in your breaks and downtime.