It is not the length of life, but the depth.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

The pomodoro technique is a great way to stay productive throughout the day.

I work for 25min straight and then take a short 5min break to get up and relax. I can manage to stay focused for 25 minutes without tak...

Take short breaks every 45min. I would also advice you to take slightly longer breaks (e.g. 15min) every 90min. We often structure workshops by giving each agenda point 60 minutes: 45min work + 15min break. This also makes planing with full hours very easy.

If possible, move around or get o...

Make it clear to everyone when the break will end! Do this before everyone leaves the room.

State the end time of the break, not its duration! Instead of announcing „5min break“, phrase it as „break until 11:48“. This works, because many people don’t look at their...

Some argue that there is one even bigger and very effective time box given to us all: life and death.

But the bigger the time box, the less it serves to help us focus on the important stuff. Steve Jobs really felt the pressure to focus when his time box shrank dramatically due to his illne...

There are two types of time boxes: „hard time boxes“ and „soft time boxes“. The terms hard and soft refer to how you handle the end of a time box:

• When a soft time box ends, you allow the current point in discussion or the current task at work to finish.
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• Focus: stay focused and do the important stuff
• Stay fresh: stay innovative and productive, even on the next day
• Breaks: time boxes allow to have regular breaks
• Measurable progress: have clear results

Is there a maximum length for a time box? Yes. I believe, a time box should not be longer than 45 minutes. This interval fits with our biological rhythm and is also supported by psychology. There is a reason why many schools around the world have kids take breaks after 45min. A longer stint would...

Make the time box visible! Use a kitchen timer or an iPad app so everyone in the room can see it.

Use countdown timers instead of a regular clock to make the time remaining easy to grasp.

The best timers use visualizations instead of raw numbers to clearly communicate the time left....