Aim for balance

It’s tempting to use this technique purely as a productivity tool, and thus force every half-hour block to be dedicated to work, work, work. This is a fast track to burnout. Instead, aim for balance; colour-coding helps to let you easily see if there’s too much of one thing and not enough of another.

Add it to your calendar/Slack status/whatever else

It can help to make your approach super visible at work, so everyone can easily see when you’re available and when you’re absolutely not to be disturbed. Add tasks to your calendar and, if you can, link it up to your Slack/Teams status. This goes a long way towards getting people to respect boundaries around what you’re up to.

Just make sure you stick to your clear blocks of time. If your calendar says you’re in deep work mode, don’t break your own boundary and respond to a message in that time.

Accept that some things just aren’t priorities right now

Once you sort your to-do list into a timeboxing structure, you’ll realise that certain tasks just don’t fit. This will force you to acknowledge a simple fact: you can’t do everything. That’s OK! Think about what’s genuinely important to you for now, and make time for that. Anything else, save for another day.

“An optimisation coach taught me the magic of timeboxing – now I’ve done it for a month, these are the tips everyone needs to know”