How To Do It All By TimeBoxing
Do you have a never-ending To Do list? Do you often spend time doing the easiest stuff and have the difficult stuff hanging over your head like a dark cloud? Do you not feel like you’ve achieved until you’ve ticked everything off but struggle to fit it all in? Well, Timeboxing may be your answer!
I’m often asked ‘how do you manage to do all that you do?’ and I joke that it’s because I only have two speeds - flat out forward at full-pelt (which everyone sees) or flat back horizontal on the sofa (which only my family and dogs see).
The truth is somewhere in-between. I Timebox!
I only realised this technique has a name last week. For those who’ve been doing this for years, move along and come back next week. For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about it’s a way of planning and using your time effectively to do all the things you want to or need to do.
It works like this:
Take a look at each of the things on your To Do list and work out how much TIME you need for each thing. Time plus task equals a ‘Timebox’.
Please note: Work ‘to do’ stuff might include thinking time for project X, writing a proposal for Y (ie the non-meeting stuff). Include things like life laundry, walking the dog, yoga etc. Include timeboxes to eat, socialise, see friends, call your mum etc. Allocate realistic, sensible time for each of those things. If you think a project is going to take 3 x 60 minutes, allocate it. If you think calling the dentist is going to take 15 minutes, allocate it.
2. Next, put together your time boxes in your calendar / diary. If it doesn’t fit into the week then move it around til it fits or adjust some of the timings - realistically!
3. Next, when you are doing your tasks - and this is crucial - stick to the time you allocated! Don’t go over the time you set yourself. According to Parkinson’s Law, ‘Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion’ so if you gave yourself an hour to do something, do it in an hour, do the best you can in an hour then move on.
I know this last step might be hard for people but seriously, if you have lots to do and want to do it all, it works. Do the best you can in the time allowed then move on. Remember, some otherwise person said, ‘Done is better than Perfect because Perfect never gets Done.’
So let me know what you think. Are you already timeboxing or do you have another magical way of doing it all?
Lemme know!
