⏰ Timeboxing (3/4)
You know why your manager creates an artificial deadline? Because it works!
It’s easy to get stuck on a task and not seem to make much progress. Your perfectionist nature comes into play. You start procrastinating.
But why does this happen? Say you started building an app on one fine day, let’s call it Day 0. You might not be working on the same the next day. Maybe you worked on it on Day 10 again. Now your brain thinks, “I have come up with the current output in only a few hours (albeit on Day 10). What if I spend more time on it? The output will be even better.”. Perfectly logical argument. But with your current priorities, you might not be able to work on this again for another 10 days. And your side-project keeps hanging around.
The catch is, you can always do better in creative domains - be it writing code (yes, writing clean code is an art!), authoring a blog post, designing, etc.
The next time you’re stuck, try setting a deadline. And not just the duration; set a hard time. So if something should take around 2 hours, timebox it. Saying I’ll work on it for 2 hours doesn’t work; set the deadline to be 2 hours from now (or 1 hour, if you’re feeling adventurous) and see magic unfold.
Timeboxing helps you put yourself (your creations) out there, and start getting feedback. This is so important that I want to emphasize it again - feedback is the only way to grow.
When you’re in the learning phase, it’s rare that you’ll be satisfied with your performance. And so, you’ll end up working just a little more to improve it. Before you know it, you’re stuck. Break the cycle! Timebox the task. Release it. Get feedback. Repeat.
I know it’s hard to release an unpolished version of something. Wait too long, and your standards rise up even higher. It’s hard to hit publish, which is the equivalent of putting your seal of approval. That’s where timeboxing can help. Now you are publishing not because you think it’s perfect, but because time’s up! It feels very relieving, like some burden has been lifted off from your shoulders.
P.S. Another area that timeboxing helps me is getting that perfect domain name for my side projects. It’s a rabbit hole down there, with so many new TLDs and infinite names to choose from. It was, and is, a hassle every single time. But keeping an upper bound (1 hour, in this case) prevents me from going insane.
Just bought a domain for another side-project, bringing the total number to 10. 😂 My next month is sorted! 🖖
This is part 3 of 4 of my learning process. Next up is Consistency is the Key.
Until We Meet Again…
🖖 swap