15 Time Boxing Strategies to Get Things Done - Litemind

If you're procrastinating on a task, don't force yourself to finish it. Just put it in a time box.

Setting a time for it will help you overcome your resistance towards the task and chances are that when the time is up you’ll have built enough momentum to continue working on it much longer.

If you're a perfectionist, you probably dwell on a task for so long that when you notice, a big chunk of your time is gone.

To avoid perfectionism, having a definite cut-off time for a task is one of the best strategies you can use.

Time boxing a particular task helps with excluding other tasks and unrelated thoughts from your radar during that particular time window. 

Reducing mental clutter is essential if you want to be fully productive.

Big tasks, no matter how important, can be demotivating, because you need to work for too long to see their outcomes.

But just like the simple act of crossing off items from your to-do list can be motivating, so is successfully completing a time box. Completing a time box works as a visible sign of progress.

How many times have you wondered at the end of the day where did all your time go?

Being more aware of how much you can really fit in your time helps you say ‘no’ to unimportant things more often. Structuring your day in time boxes will help you control how you spend your time.

You only get maximum effectiveness if you properly balance periods of work and rest. Time boxes provide a great framework to allow this balance to happen. The key is to find your own rhythm.

Alternating between different types of time boxes (such as work/rest, or hard/easy tasks) maximizes your use of energy and enables you to accomplish much more. 

Working on your most important projects first thing in the morning will guarantee that you do meaningful work in your day. 

Create a time box to work on your biggest goals every day — before the world out there has a chance to disrupt your plans.

We usually become too focused on a specific area of our lives at the expense of others.

Pre-allocating time boxes for the things that matter most is an excellent strategy to help you live a balanced life.