Timeboxing: A Practical Guide ⏰
A simple way to plan your day
Timeboxing forces me to assign tasks to specific time slots. That helps me fit my neverending to-do list onto a calendar with just one task at any given time. Because timeboxing has been so useful for me, I’m updating a prior post on it and sharing tools and tips to help you try it.
💡 What Exactly is Timeboxing?
Timeboxing is the practice of scheduling tasks and deep work onto a calendar. When you specify how long you’ll spend on each task, timeboxing helps match your priorities to your available time for a realistic plan.
🏫 My Daily Routine
I start the day with 15 minutes of planning. I usually use a notebook, a whiteboard, or Sunsama. I review tasks, set priorities, and schedule time slots for deep work. Timeboxing for me means assigning tasks to open blocks of time between meetings, teaching, and other work responsibilities I have at the City University of New York.
🎯 Who Benefits Most?
Timeboxing is especially useful if you
Have flexibility in scheduling your own time
Need time for creative work
Know your own concentration patterns, and when you’re best able to focus
Tip: Start by timeboxing just part of your schedule if unpredictable work limits your flexibility.
✅ How to Start Timeboxing
Choose your planning time Pick either the end of your workday or first thing in the morning. I prefer the morning, when I’m most focused.
List your priorities Spend five minutes listing your most important tasks for the upcoming work session. Not everything. Just the top few.
List necessities Write down other tasks that have to get done today.
List notes and for-later items For two minutes, jot down anything else on your mind. This could be details or reminders for your day’s work, or secondary tasks you’ll schedule later.
Estimate durations Next to each task, estimate how long you think it will take. Add a 25 to 50% buffer to account for interruptions or subtasks you may not have accounted for. Perfectionists underestimate how long precision will take.
Block your calendar Schedule each task into a specific time slot.
Review at day’s end Consider how long things actually took. Ask yourself what worked well and what didn’t. Reflections will strengthen future plans.
Pro tip: Start small. Begin with the simplest tool at hand, whether that’s paper and pen or your existing Outlook or Google Calendar.
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🤖 How an AI Assistant Can Help with Timeboxing
Try asking Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini to help you map out your time. Share a screenshot of your calendar and/or list your priorities for the day/week. Prompt your AI assistant to help you map out your day(s), interviewing you as necessary.
Alternatively, connect your AI assistant to your Google Calendar or Outlook to give your AI assistant a window into your schedule. You can do so with ChatGPT’s apps, Claude’s connector for Google Calendar, or Gemini’s calendar access. Then share your task list.
Adapt one of the following prompts:
For weekly planning: “Help me plan my week. Here are my primary projects and tasks: [list or link to doc]. I want to protect mornings for deep work and batch meetings in the afternoon. Create a realistic daily schedule for Monday through Friday.”
If you connect your calendar: “Look at my Google (or Outlook) Calendar for this week. Identify open time slots between my existing meetings. Then take this task list [paste list] and create a timeboxed plan that fits each task into an available slot. I prefer [the most demanding work scheduled before noon (or fill in other preferences or constraints)].”
[While experimenting as I wrote this post, I generated a new timeboxing song — and another one— with Gemini’s new Lyria 3 music assistant.]
🧩 Productivity Approaches to Pair with Timeboxing
The Eisenhower Matrix = Focus on assessing what is urgent and important.
While Eisenhower analysis helps you prioritize and decide what to do, timeboxing helps you decide when to do it and how much time to spend. It also nudges you to commit by putting it on the calendar.
Eat the Frog = Do the most important or most difficult task first.
Timeboxing helps give you a structure for putting that task onto your calendar and allocating sufficient time for it.
The 80/20 Rule = 20% of the work you do delivers 80% of the most important value.
This Pareto principle helps when you’re deciding what’s worth your time. Timeboxing helps you execute on that prioritization by making it tangible on your schedule.
Timeboxing Tools to Try
Graph paper works well. Organize your schedule into boxes, with each representing 10 or 15 minutes. Here’s a nice notebook version.
Sand timer It’s old-fashioned, attractive, and doesn’t require batteries or a screen. Get one that lasts 15 minutes — or whatever work interval you prefer. I find the visual reminder helps me stay focused.
Writing expert Mallary Tenore Tarpley recommended this $9 sand timer in her useful piece about gifts for writers.
A nice notebook and pen offer a clean surface for planning. I like the feel of Leuchtturm1917 notebooks and their durability. They’re pricey, though. These mini notebooks for a cheaper alternative, at less than a dollar apiece.
Post-its Put one 15-minute task or deep work step on each Post-it. Line up eight for a two-hour work sprint.
Google Sheets / Microsoft Excel
A free spreadsheet can work well for planning if you work independently and don’t rely on a digital calendar.
Here's a blank Google Sheets template for planning in 30-minute increments. Click “Use Template” at the top right to make your own private version. Or copy it. Adjust it to suit your needs, or prompt your AI assistant of choice to make you a custom template.
To access your sheet as you work, print it out, bookmark the tab, or use it on your phone as your portable schedule.
Avoid the temptation to decorate or perfect your spreadsheet.
If you want to make it easier to read, use the Format > Alternating Colors menu option in Google Sheets).
Optionally use checkboxes to mark completed tasks to reward yourself for getting stuff done.
I’ve tried using color codes to categorize priorities for a visual overview of where my time was going. It’s not necessary.
Benefits: Google Sheets is free, simple, and easy to use. So is Excel if it’s already part of your workflow. You can later upload the sheets to your AI assistant for help analyzing your time if you find that useful.
Google Tasks
Use Google’s free task manager to list out priorities, then drag them directly onto your Google calendar for scheduling. It’s simple, fast and handy if you already use Google Calendar. It works well across operating systems, but doesn’t let you adjust the duration of tasks.
Sunsama
This is my preferred daily planning software. I use it on my laptop — you can also use it on iOS or Android. You can sync it to your existing task lists and calendar, or use it by itself.
When you open Sunsama it prompts you to reflect on the prior day and to plan your upcoming work. You can add new tasks or import them from other apps like Todoist and Asana. You can then drag tasks onto your calendar to schedule your day.
Integrations and pricing: Sunsama syncs with Outlook and Google Calendar as well as Slack, Trello, Todoist, Monday, Notion, ClickUp, and Zapier so you can link it to other tools, so you don’t need to flip between apps. At $20/month it’s a well-designed pro option for those with a budget for work tools. Too pricey? Stick to the free alternatives above.
Alternatives: Akiflow is an advanced timeboxing tool for designers, founders, marketers, and others with lots of meetings. My colleague Nikita Roy has recommended Motion, which has extensive AI features and works well for teams. Reclaim is another service I’ve tested (with free and $10 plans). It has time tracking, lots of integrations with task apps, and can move deep work slots automatically for you when meetings are added to your calendar. All of these tools, including Sunsama, can integrate with whatever online calendar tool you’re already using.
🔄 How I Changed My Workflow
I used to dive into email first thing. I would tackle tasks as they came to mind, or based purely on urgency. I would pause work throughout the day to figure out what to do next.
Now I usually set up a detailed schedule first, then focus on doing. When I stopped frequently to decide what to do next, I was squandering focus.
At the end of the day, I take five minutes to think about what worked and what didn’t so I can plan better next time. When I’m in a rush, it’s just one minute.
👀 Reality check: I still often mess up my intended approach and hop from task to task without finishing things. I sometimes dwell longer than necessary on email messages, ruminate, self-blame, and waste time with structured procrastination. I now recognize this when it starts happening. I go for a quick walk, then start fresh.
⚠️ Common Traps to Avoid
Overscheduling / Leave buffer time for unexpected tasks and rabbit holes.
Unrealistic estimates / Double the time you expect tasks to take.
Ignoring energy levels / Match challenging tasks to your peak energy times.
Too much rigidity / Build in flex time for inevitable disruptions.
Planning too far ahead / Focus on your next work session, not next week.
