Time boxing is an effective time management technique: if you’d rather clean than write, if your articles stay open on your computer for days, then this method will help you. Help you start. Help you finish.
Good Intentions When Writing Your Thesis
“This week end, I’ll write…”
On Friday evening, Gideon was full of good intentions: This weekend, I’m staying home to work on my thesis.
On Monday morning, when I asked him how his weekend went, he said:
Meh… First, I cleaned my flat. Since the weather was nice, I also did the windows. Then, I went to the laundromat to drop off my laundry. When I got back, I wanted to try out the iron my mom gave me. Gotta admit, an ironed T-shirt does look sharper! After that, I cooked. I was so tired that I decided to take a nap. I woke up around 5 PM feeling groggy. I couldn’t snap out of it, so I watched a movie. I decided to go to bed early so I could wake up at 5 AM on Sunday and make up for lost time.
But I couldn’t fall asleep. It wasn’t until 3 AM that I finally dozed off. So when the alarm went off, I turned it off.
I was woken up by my neighbor around 12:30 PM—I’d completely forgotten I’d promised to babysit her kids while she worked. So I played with them all afternoon. When she got back, she insisted I stay for dinner.
By the time I got home, it was past 9 PM. Too late to start working. Ugh…
Gideon’s Mistake: Being Too Ambitious Without Structure
- “I’ll work on my thesis” is too vague, too ambitious—he didn’t know when he’d finish, and that sense of infinity was intimidating. So he threw himself into action to avoid starting, leaving the door open to time-wasters.
- “This weekend” is too vague—it’s impossible to write all weekend. Structuring his time with set slots would have helped him immensely.
Time Boxing: A Box Full of Time
If you also struggle with procrastination, try time boxing.
Instead of saying, “This weekend, I’ll work on my thesis”—which is too vague, too ambitious, and too unrealistic to motivate you—decide, for example: “On Saturday, from 10 to 10:45 AM, I’ll write a section of Chapter X.”
At 10 AM, get to work.
Set an alarm for 45′.
During those 45′, do exclusively what you have decided to to: write.
No checking messages, browsing, reading, making coffee, or rummaging for snacks in the kitchen!
When the alarm rings, stop.
Your Work Is Focused
Nothing is more dangerous for writing than multitasking: you lose concentration, you lose track; each time you go back to your writing requires a lot of energy, so that, at the end, writing becomes exhausting.
When you work with time boxing, during the time box, you only do what you have decided to do: you focus on your task.
Doing so, you progress much quicker, your write in a flow—wiritng becomes efficient and event enjoyable!
Why should you stop when the alarm rings?
When the alarm rings, stop.
Even if you feel like continuing, stop.
Why? Because if you continue writing, for, let’s say, 3 or 4 hours, something in yourself will remember: sometimes 45′ last 45′, sometimes 4 hours.
And then, it will be very difficult to motivate yourself to work with time boxing, as you will feel strong inner resistances.
Respect yourself: if you set a 45′ long time box, stop after 45′.
Then, you have 2 options:
- Option 1. You feel you’ve done enough for the weekend. You can enjoy your free time guilt-free. You can recharge batteries – remember: as a PhD student, you need to recharge batteries, you need free time (if possible guilt-free free time!).
- Option 2. You want to keep going. In that case, when the alarm rings, take a break—even just a 1/2 minute—to consciously decide whether to continue. If you do, set a new time box (another 45 minutes or less) and reset your alarm.
What Makes Time Boxing Effective
You Reduce Procrastination
The act of consciously deciding keeps you accountable.
By deliberately choosing when to start, stop, or continue working, you avoid mindlessly drifting into distractions or avoidance behaviors.
Focus & Discipline Are Enhanced
Since you must pause and intentionally decide whether to extend a work session, you train your brain to stay disciplined within the set time frame.
This prevents burnout from overworking and maintains high productivity.
You Build Trust in Your Work Habits
When you repeatedly honor your time boxes, your brain learns that focused work has clear boundaries.
This reduces anxiety about endless tasks and reinforces a sense of control, making it easier to start future sessions.
Conscious decisions turn time boxing from a simple timer trick into a powerful mental habit that combats procrastination and boosts efficiency.
Time Boxing: How-To Guide in 5 Steps
Time boxing works because you give yourself short, manageable time slots. You know you’ll survive them, no matter what. Often, not knowing when a task will end makes it stressful—and fuels procrastination.
The 45-minute limit is based on the idea that concentration declines after that. But if a task only takes 20, 10, or even 5 minutes, you can still apply time boxing.
For time boxing to work:
- Decide in advance what you want to do (write, read, organize, etc.).
- Set a time limit and start your alarm (you can use this one).
- Focus exclusively on your task—no distractions allowed.
- Stop when the alarm rings.
- Celebrate the achievement of your time box.
Caution: give yourself a task, not a goal. If the goal isn’t met (because it was unrealistic, for example), you’ll struggle to motivate yourself next time.
Time boxing is an excellent method to fight procrastination.
More: it ensures efficient work.
Then instead of multitasking and finishing nothing, you focus on one task and see tangible progress.
My First Experience with Time Boxing
As a teenager, I hated cleaning my room.
Sometimes, my frustrated mom would say on a Saturday morning: “You’re not leaving your room until it’s clean!”
So I’d start cleaning.
Soon, I’d find a book and start reading. Then I’d remember I was supposed to be cleaning.
I’d resume cleaning until I spotted another book.
And I’d start reading again.
Or I’d find an old drawing and start sketching.
And so on.
The “cleaning” would drag on all weekend—endless, boring, frustrating.
Then, suddenly, on Sunday night, knowing I had to show a clean room, I’d finally discipline myself and get it done.
I kept this bad habit for years.
It wasn’t until I was working on my PhD that I discovered time boxing.
I decided to test it on my most hated task: cleaning. I gave myself 45 minutes.
And… in 45 minutes, my desk was clean. Since then, I’ve used time boxing for almost everything..
“My Colleague Closes Her Laptop at 4 PM and Says, ‘I’m Done for the Day…’“
PhD students who start time boxing all tell me the same thing: they finish their work faster, have more free time, and most importantly, they leave with the satisfaction of a job well done.
I remember Adeline, for instance.
She signed up for my training for this reason: “Last year, my office mate took your course. Since then, at 4 PM, she says, ‘I’m done for the day’ and leaves. Meanwhile, I stay until 8 PM, 10 PM, and never feel like I’ve finished. I want her secret.”
The secret was… time boxing!
It’s essential to take time to recharge, to rest without a nagging voice saying: “You should be writing! You should be at the office!”
That guilt keeps you from relaxing, feeding stress and frustration—which only holds you back.
Your Turn!
Set your alarm, pick a concrete task and a time limit, and get started—right away!
Good luck!