Time boxing is a very simple yet effective way of managing your time and
tasks. From its humble beginnings as deadline system for software programmers,
it remains to be an easy-to-use yet effective technique.
If you’re wondering why
there’s so much hype about time boxing, well that’s because this technique is
one of the most effective time management system thus far. So what makes it
very effective? And how was it developed? For a very simple concept, it is quite
surprising how powerfully effective this technique has become. Here’s a little
bit of basic information about the said technique.
The “invention” of this technique can be credited to
software developers. Even before time boxing was created, software developers
work in an industry where projects have fixed deadlines and released dates, and
not being able to deliver by the said deadline is simply not an option. And
this is how the technique basically works: set up fixed amounts of time to do
certain tasks and finish the task within that timeframe.
This time management technique is pretty much
comparable to setting deadlines, except in a smaller scale if you’re doing it
on a daily basis for your tasks. Instead of setting a certain date, you set
time frames by minutes or hours. If you’re a new convert to the technique, you
can start off by setting 10-minute timeframes for each of your daily tasks. All
you need to do is focus on the one specific task for 10 minutes, and when the
time is up, whether you’ve finished it or not, you’ll have to stop and take a
breather. And several days after your first try, you can adjust the set
timeframe according to what you need. This helps make sure that by the end of
your shift you are sure that you got something done, even just a chip for each
of your tasks.
If the concept is simple, so is the set up and use –
you wouldn’t even need any hi-tech equipment for it. All you need is a simple
alarm system and a list of your tasks. First, consider your tasks and make a
quick estimate on how much time you will need to be able to do some work on
each task. List down your tasks in a checklist form, and draw a box beside
each. In the box, write the amount of time (in minutes or hours) that you
intend to spend working on the task. Once you’re done with your list, set your
alarm for your first task. And you’re ready to do your time boxing! Just remember to reset the
alarm when it goes off after every task.
