Is there a difference between time blocking and time boxing?

The short answer is yes. There is a difference between the two productivity techniques, but they are very similar.

Similar to asking if there is a difference between brushing and flossing your teeth. Yes. There is a difference, but both are part of good oral hygiene.

I’ll assume that if you are reading this, you are interested in using your time more effectively. I want to start off by saying that both time blocking and time boxing are powerful enough to massively change your life.

While the two techniques are very similar, and the terms are often used interchangeably, there is a difference between time blocking and time boxing.

Time Blocking

Time blocking is a technique where you divide your day into distinct blocks of time. Each of these blocks is dedicated to a specific task, group of tasks or theme. During each of these blocks you focus solely on that specific theme. Time blocking helps you organize your day, and can help ensure that you are allocating enough time to different activities.

Use time blocking as a longer term planning tool.

Time Boxing

Time boxing is used to restrict time given to a task. Throughout your day you may create several time boxes. Once the time box is over, you stop working on that task, regardless of whether it’s finished. Time boxing helps maintain strict time limits, preventing tasks from expanding indefinitely, and improving focus and efficiency.

With time boxing you are fighting off Parkinson’s Law, which states that works expands to fill the available time.

“But these sound the same.” Is what you are thinking. Again, yes, they are similar, but there is a difference. Philips head and flat head are different, but both are screwdrivers.

You choose the tool based on the task.

Why are these techniques important today?

An easy next question when discussing any new method or technique is why should I use it? Or why is this important for me? Or why is this important today?

These techniques are important, first and foremost, because they apply constraints. Applying constraints over your time has never been more important as there are now infinite ways to waste your time.

This is similar to dieting.

One of the most valuable practices when dieting is measuring and logging your food. By logging, I mean physically weighing all of the food you are eating and keeping a log of all the food you eat in a day.

This is beneficial for a few reasons. The first reason is understanding serving sizes. Its possible you are eating the right foods, but in the wrong quantities. Second, the act of measuring food makes your eating more intentional.

You can think of time blocking and time boxing as the food scale for your time.

This is important today because you have never had more incoming distractions in your life than you have right now. The bad news is, it’s only going to get worse. Not only do you have a never ending flood of notifications and potential distractions in your pocket, but soon enough, you will have fully immersive worlds that AI is generating just for your entertainment.

These notifications and pending AI immersive worlds are great. Unfortunately, they are probably distracting you from getting what you want to get done, done.

The comparison to dieting fits again. We are now capable for creating enough food to lift most people out of starvation, but that is also a problem. We now eat too much and often the wrong things.

When to use time blocking vs time boxing

So when should we use each technique.

Use time blocking to setup more generic times to construct a schedule. Cal Newport an advocate for time blocking recommends creating blocks of time daily for “deep work.” This is a time of deep focus and intention. Where you focus on one thing exclusively.

Time blocking is not limited to deep work. If you work a traditional 9 to 5, you are working in a time block. It might not be explicit, but it is blocked out. If there are projects you would like to get done in addition to your full time work, I highly recommend using time blocks as a way to ensure you work on those projects.

For example, work ends at 5:00. You commute home until 6:00. Block out 6:30 to 7:30 every day to work on your project. This is a time block. If you aren’t using a calendar, you should.

Students are also using time blocks. You can think of your classes as time blocks. They are predefined blocks of time. Again, if you find yourself not getting work done, you should consider setting up time blocks that are singularly focused on doing your homework, extra work, or hobby.

Use time boxing to limit the amount of time spent on a task.

For example, if you notice you are spending too much time on email or social media, create a time box for the task. For the next 30 minutes, I can do whatever I want on social media. But once that time is up, social media is done.

I started using a time box for my email management. Instead of 24/7 email open everywhere, I now check my email three times per day. I have 30 minutes in the morning, 30 minutes in the afternoon and I check it before I go to bed.

For my work responsibilities, this cadence works very well.

Block Out, Box In

If I had to sum up the difference between time blocking and time boxing, I’d saying time blocking is for blocking out time in advance. Time boxing is for boxing time in.

Use time blocking for planning and big picture. Use time boxing to limit how long tasks or certain actions take.

Both time blocking and time boxing are highly effective time management techniques. If you are serious about time management, you are probably going to use both techniques.

If you want to learn how to use or improve how you’re using these techniques, you should check out our time management challenges. We run them weekly.