But this post is not about timeboxing, but the opposite of this: to work on a given task for as long as it takes and measure the time taken to complete the task.
This might be the most simple-minded productivity hack ever--so simple that for years and years I never bothered to try it out.
I bought myself a stopwatch (in the picture). I didn't need to--I could have used the clock app on my smartphone--but I have a preference for actual things.
Then I start a task--let's say washing the dishes--and time myself doing it.
What's the point? Well the knowledge of how long this task takes might well be useful for future planning. For example, I have a very good idea of how long it takes me to get dressed and prepare to leave the house, so I'm comfortable waiting until the last minute to do so.
Our perceptions of time are often quite different from reality. I just watched a show about a school for elite nannies. One of the training exercises is to give the young lady (yes, they were all young ladies) a robot baby to take care of for the night. The robot was capable of crying in different manners and stopping only when the appropriate remedy was proffered.
So the next morning all the nanny candidates were talking about what an ordeal the night had been. Asked them how long the baby had been crying, they responded "maybe three hours." But then it turned out the baby had a built-in timer and actually had only been crying for about twenty minutes.
In a related vein, I found it informative to time myself washing the dinner dishes. It was less than I expected, generally less than literally three minutes. On a really big night, like Thanksgiving dinner, maybe twelve minutes.
I find this interesting because of couples I know, or whom I see in the newspaper, or on-line, who fight often and bitterly over who cleans the kitchen. Over three minutes of work.
And it is true that generally I seem to overestimate the time it takes to complete a task. It's good and comforting to have a more accurate knowledge.
A second benefit of timing yourself while doing a task, perhaps more important, is it keeps you focused. This is particularly important in our current Age of Distraction.
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