I want to share with you a scheduling technique that is new to me but has been around for many years: nowadays it's referred to as "Time Boxing". I was recently made aware of the concept through a virtual assistant (VA) forum I belong to and in more detail through two business associates of mine, and now that I've implemented and utilized it for the past several weeks - I want to tell you, it's great!Those of you that are familiar with me or my previous articles know that I am a huge fan of To Do Lists and Checklists. However, I admit that it never occurred to me to merge my lists with my daily calendar - which essentially is what Time Boxing is.
It goes on to say for personal time boxing: "Individuals can use time boxing for personal tasks, as well. This technique utilizes a reduced scale of time (e.g., 30 minutes instead of a week) and deliverables (e.g., chores instead of a component of a business project). Personal time boxing also works to curb perfectionist tendencies by setting a firm time and not over commit to a task. This method can also be used to overcome procrastination (delaying activities or tasks)."how many of us are guilty of procrastination or being a perfectionist? What about at the end of the day feeling like you didn't get enough accomplished or you've forgotten something?I can honestly say since starting time boxing, I feel more organized, more productive, and more on top of my game. Ready to hear how?First, I use my Outlook calendar to block out my time, and then I print it so I have a paper version I can refer to throughout the day. You may be a pen and paper person and prefer to use an appointment book, or maybe you rely heavily on your PDA. Choose which method works best for you.
As a virtual assistant, I have projects come in throughout the day. Some may take as little as five minutes to complete, others may take several hours to days to complete. In the past I have found that tasks which take just a few minutes to do seemed to get put off, waiting for something else for that client so it would take longer. Now, by using the time boxing, I may schedule 30 minutes from 9:00am to 9:30am to update Client A's contact manager with address changes and new people, post Client B's blog, and schedule Client C's ezine. Each task may take only a few minutes, but it's in my 30-minute block of time.
For larger projects, I may schedule an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon to work on creating the new PowerPoint presentation and handouts for Client D. And then an hour and a half to work on phone calls for Client E.I schedule my lunch time, and I also schedule break times. As I go through the day, I check off my task as I complete it. It's a great feeling of accomplishment to see those checks!At the end of the day, I go into my calendar, delete the time boxes I've finished, move to the next day the time boxes for the larger projects that I am continuing to work on, and add new time boxes for tasks that have come in throughout the day.Perhaps you find yourself out of the office a lot and having to return phone calls. Block off a period of time during the day to return those calls, or two periods of time if need be. Perhaps e-mails are eating into your productivity. Again, block off periods of time throughout the day to check e-mails and catch up on tweets if you're on Twitter.
As you gain focus and discipline, another advantage of time boxing is that it gives you the skills to better manage your time. This technique allows you to see how much time you have spent on each task and gives you the chance to predict how much more tasks you can do depending on the time that you have left for the rest of the day. This also allows you to assess your own strategy and progress and gives you the opportunity take action about it. And finally, time boxing gives you a sense of achievement. No matter how small the amount of time you have set for each tasks, you finish each day with more accomplished tasks than when you do not use the technique.
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It goes on to say for personal time boxing: "Individuals can use time boxing for personal tasks, as well. This technique utilizes a reduced scale of time (e.g., 30 minutes instead of a week) and deliverables (e.g., chores instead of a component of a business project). Personal time boxing also works to curb perfectionist tendencies by setting a firm time and not over commit to a task. This method can also be used to overcome procrastination (delaying activities or tasks)."how many of us are guilty of procrastination or being a perfectionist? What about at the end of the day feeling like you didn't get enough accomplished or you've forgotten something?I can honestly say since starting time boxing, I feel more organized, more productive, and more on top of my game. Ready to hear how?First, I use my Outlook calendar to block out my time, and then I print it so I have a paper version I can refer to throughout the day. You may be a pen and paper person and prefer to use an appointment book, or maybe you rely heavily on your PDA. Choose which method works best for you.
As a virtual assistant, I have projects come in throughout the day. Some may take as little as five minutes to complete, others may take several hours to days to complete. In the past I have found that tasks which take just a few minutes to do seemed to get put off, waiting for something else for that client so it would take longer. Now, by using the time boxing, I may schedule 30 minutes from 9:00am to 9:30am to update Client A's contact manager with address changes and new people, post Client B's blog, and schedule Client C's ezine. Each task may take only a few minutes, but it's in my 30-minute block of time.
For larger projects, I may schedule an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon to work on creating the new PowerPoint presentation and handouts for Client D. And then an hour and a half to work on phone calls for Client E.I schedule my lunch time, and I also schedule break times. As I go through the day, I check off my task as I complete it. It's a great feeling of accomplishment to see those checks!At the end of the day, I go into my calendar, delete the time boxes I've finished, move to the next day the time boxes for the larger projects that I am continuing to work on, and add new time boxes for tasks that have come in throughout the day.Perhaps you find yourself out of the office a lot and having to return phone calls. Block off a period of time during the day to return those calls, or two periods of time if need be. Perhaps e-mails are eating into your productivity. Again, block off periods of time throughout the day to check e-mails and catch up on tweets if you're on Twitter.
As you gain focus and discipline, another advantage of time boxing is that it gives you the skills to better manage your time. This technique allows you to see how much time you have spent on each task and gives you the chance to predict how much more tasks you can do depending on the time that you have left for the rest of the day. This also allows you to assess your own strategy and progress and gives you the opportunity take action about it. And finally, time boxing gives you a sense of achievement. No matter how small the amount of time you have set for each tasks, you finish each day with more accomplished tasks than when you do not use the technique.
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