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We’ve all been there – we have a project or a deadline to meet, and time is running out. You don’t want to delegate, because the project is your “baby”, but you don’t have the time to finish it yourself. If this is you, or something you’ve known yourself to be guilty of in the past, perhaps you should look at adopting timeboxing.

If you’ve never heard of it before, don’t worry – you’re not alone. However, timeboxing is quickly becoming more popular with people who need to arrange their time better, as it can be used in a variety of ways. So what exactly is timeboxing?

Simply put, timeboxing is time management, yet without the need for complicated studies to see how you can best allocate your time. It works by completing any work that you have to the best of your abilities in the agreed timescale – anything you can’t do within that timescale is left incomplete.

Whilst this may mean that you have an unfinished task, it’s only unfinished from your original plan – this is because you’ve come up with an alternative version that does what is needed.

For example, with the upcoming holiday season, you might be looking to do some Christmas shopping. However, you work during the day, weekends you want to relax, and evening shopping isn’t really for you. But you still need to get that shopping trip completed.

So you look at how your time is spent at weekends, and factor in how much time you can allocate realistically to your shopping trip. Then decide what gifts you need to buy beforehand, and what shops you’ll need to go to.

By getting all this information before you venture out, you are using your time to its maximum benefit, and this is timeboxing – you’re working to boxes of time in any given situation. Another example could be that report your boss asked for – say you already know it will take around your whole day, or 10 hours, to complete. However, your only allocated 6 hours to complete it.

By accepting this, and making sure you have all the relevant facts that are needed to still make the report viable, you timebox and write whatever information you can in that 6 hours. Take half an hour beforehand to bullet point the points you want to get across, and your remaining 5½ hours is taken up making the report as informative as possible within your restraints.

You’re ensuring that all your time is used to its maximum effect – knowing you’re not going to get all the information, and taking time prior to starting to get the important points clear. This is timeboxing at its most effective – not wasting a single minute you have and, in turn, getting more information across even though it seems you have less time.

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