Timeboxing: How I Plan My Day (as a Product Manager)

Last year, I started 'timeboxing' and, surprisingly, the approach stuck with me. I had tried different productivity methods/'hacks' before that never made much of an impact. This one did.

I had to modify it a bit to suit my needs. This is what I do:

Monthly Goals

Though timeboxing is a daily exercise, I start by setting monthly goals. I tend to use a simple format for those:

1. Three categories (e.g. work, health, etc.)

   
   

2. Up to three goals per category (e.g. conduct X interviews, go to the gym 3x/week, etc.).

Daily Timebox

In the morning, I use a paper notepad and write the following:

1. My monthly goals. I re-write them every day. This ensures I keep a close eye on them and is a reminder to tie most (if not all) of my daily tasks to my monthly goals).

   
   

2. My three main tasks for the day. These tasks should be achievable but take work. These should absolutely point to my monthly goals.

   
   

3. My agenda for the day. I break my notepad by hour from 6 am to 8 pm.

   
   

4. My boxes for each task. Each box is 30-120min long. I decide where those tasks start and end (i.e. when I'm supposed to have them done).

Work

Throughout the day, I follow my agenda.

If something comes up and I must move a task, I cross it out and re-draw a box in a column next to it. It helps me review my days later and spot where I'm making planning mistakes.

It sort of looks like this:

Review

I review my day in the evening before bed. I tick each task achieved.

Then I start again.

This approach has helped me a lot this past year. Its main benefits to me have been:

1. Keeping a close eye on my daily activities vs. what I want to achieve long term. It's so easy as a PM to 'do work' and fill your day without progressing towards your long-term goal.

   
   

2. Forced start & end times. I'm both a procrastinator and a perfectionist -- the perfect combo. This approach forces me to start and to finish.

   
   

3. Truly planning my day (without cheating). I use paper because I can't go back and change my plan, which is easy to do when using an app or a calendar. I need to really think about what I'll do which forces me to stay focused and realistic.

If you would be interested in a more granular breakdown of my methodology, I wrote my detailed step-by-step process for timeboxing.