Timeboxing The Power of Doing One Thing at a Time by Marc Zao-Sanders

320 Pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Essentials
Release Date: March 19, 2024

Nonfiction (Adult), Business, Leadership, Finance, Self-Help, Productivity, Motivation

The focus of this book is to stop multi-tasking. The idea of timeboxing is similar to time blocking, using schedules, calendars, and to-do lists. The book is divided into short chapters with a suggested time.

This is an excellent way to help someone become more organized and efficient. The author suggests many types of people who would benefit using this kind of organization tool. If you are someone looking for ways to add time to your day, organize your schedule better, or gain a better focus, this is great resource.

The subtitle is a key to everything this title is about. So many of us find it almost impossible to do one thing at a time. We race, we multitask, we hope to get things done but somehow are not always successful. Here is another way to look at how we go about spending our time and accomplishing things. The system may resonate and is definitely worth a look.

Learn what timeboxing is and why it can be beneficial. Take a look at the four sections. These include Believe, Plan, Do, Own. There are a number of topics within each of these. For example, in Believe are reasons why to do this, while in Plan there are things like Box Making, and in Do there is a section on Pacing and Racing. The final section has subheadings including Better Sleep and It’s Working. Hopefully it will work for the book’s audience.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

If you have trouble organizing your time, this book is for you. Even if you already have good work habits and make to-do lists, this book will help you get even more organized. I liked that author also included recreational time and personal time within his system. The book also helpfully had the length of text and number of minutes needed to read each chapter posted at the beginning of the chapters. I've never seen this before, and I liked it.

Thank you to the publisher, the author and Net Galley for the opportunity for review. My review opinions are my own.

I found the author's theory a good application for personal time management. The science of doing our one task at a time well is something we all need to apply . The author encourages the reader to avoid the distractions of modern life in order to focus on specific task and choose to focus only on that task. . We are a distracted society yes but I believe time manaement is also personal willpower to focus. This is a good tool for those that are in need of the ability to focus. It is a valuable theory as is all time managment . It will teach those who do not have focus to learn how to decifer one task at a time and do it well. How to set aside distractions and complete tasks required. I like they theory of focus as essential to better brain power and a more organized work and home life. Well done to the author. Timeboxing is a good addtion to your self help library and to your life.

I have been doing this for years. Who would have guessed that Penguin would want a book written for the masses?!

I love that each chapter is "timeboxed" with keywords, word counts, and read times. This is a practical guide for humans who are not geared this way.

The main idea is combining your to do list with your digital calendar. I have been doing this with my google calendar for years. This book allowed for affirmation while providing a few challenges that I hadn't thought to try.

This book is geared toward anyone that wants to feel that your efforts are fruitful by focusing on one task at a time.

Thank you for the advanced readers copy.

This book presents a practical strategy for tackling the daily grind. With simple explanations and relatable examples, the author breaks down the concept of timeboxing, showing how it can help anyone manage their workload or goals more effectively. It's a useful tool for those looking to regain control over their schedule and productivity..

This was a great resource for getting your to-do list done. It talks about blocking off time to do things. This is something I've done for years I call it time blocking but it's the same idea.

This is a great book to help anyone who struggles with getting things done or feels overwhelmed. I highly recommend this book.

This is a book that I’d review in two ways. One way for the time management method proposed and a second for the life philosophy behind it. The time management portion of this book is strong, but you won’t find a new life philosophy here. I don’t think this book is a very good stand-alone book; better used as a companion book to something else. What that something else might be is pretty open, the time boxing the author is proposing would fit well with a lot of other ways of thinking about what is important to you, what your goals are, what you want your life to look like day to day and in the long term. This book will not help you decide on a larger life philosophy. Several are mentioned but only briefly. In spots where ideas like flow and meditation are engaged with it’s done without much depth. As for the time management system, the time boxing, this book is a good introduction to it. It provides easy ways to get started and pointers on how to troubleshoot if you are having trouble with the method. This nuts-and-bolts part of the book is by far the strongest part of the book. The author also spends a fair bit of time on what comes across as a hard sell of time boxing. I found that unnecessary, like most systems of time management this one will either work for you or it won’t. Consider this book if you are wanting to try a different way of implementing your life goals.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

This is a good book to remind you of what to do to best time manage your entire day and life. While some of the information is not unexpected, the way it is presented makes you take another look at your own tasks, to-do lists, and agenda. What could you do to better manage your time?

An accessible and practical guide to better organizing your time. Timeboxing is essentially a combination of a to do list and a calendar to map out your tasks for a given day. Each chapter includes key words, tips, and reflections that make it easy for readers to follow the guidance and tailor it to their own needs. A useful read for anyone interested in enhancing their productivity, managing their time, and getting things done.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: March 19. 2024
Marc Zao-Sanders is the CEO and founder of a tech company. His book, “Timeboxing: The Power of Doing One Thing at a Time” provides tips on how (almost) anyone can organize their professional (and personal) lives in a way that is productive and efficient in a method he calls “time boxing”.
Think of time boxing, in a rudimentary way anyway, as combining a daily schedule with your to-do list- taking items from your to-do list and scheduling them into timed increments in your day, allowing you to be more productive with minimal distractions. Zao-Sanders describes this process from start to finish, and, of course, adds tips on how to avoid distraction and how to use technology to aid the process.
This process works for CEOs and other top-level executives, but it can be used in almost every other field, and Zao-Sanders makes sure that all of these bases are covered. Even for those Type A personalities (like myself) who live life through an organizational system of checklists and deadlines, “Timeboxing” has some appealing and relatable suggestions for us, as well.
As a tech company leader, I expected this book to have some promotional app to download, or to be pushing a new software, but Zao-Sanders didn’t do this. In fact, he touches on technology mostly in ways it can serve as a (negative) distraction. He does suggest online tools that already exist, including ones that most of us already use and have access to, so there is nothing to interfere with starting the timeboxing process immediately.
“Timeboxing” would be most effective for those who tend to be disorganized, or have overly busy schedules that are overwhelming but it definitely has its uses for the rest of us as well. Timeboxing pleases my overly anxious, strictly scheduled mind, in both its ease of use and its general appearance (especially as it pretty much a personal experience). I haven’t tried timeboxing yet, but it’s definitely something I will put to use in the near future.

Reading "Timeboxing," I was captivated by the simplicity and power of this method. The book was so compelling that I devoured it in just two days and immediately began applying timeboxing to my own life. The impact was instantaneous and profound. This practice has not only enhanced my productivity but has also brought a newfound sense of purpose and control over my daily activities, both work and non-work.

"Timeboxing" is more than just a book; it's a life-changing tool. It promises—and delivers—a way to navigate the overwhelming choices and distractions of the digital world, enabling individuals to lead a life that is not only productive but also chosen and cherished. I am eagerly looking forward to sharing this treasure with my entrepreneur friends, confident that it will inspire them as much as it has inspired me.

Marc Zao-Sanders' "Timeboxing" is an essential read for anyone looking to find clarity, focus, and satisfaction in their professional and personal lives. It's a testament to the power of intentional scheduling and a guide to achieving what we all desire: a meaningful, controlled, and fulfilling life.

One of the most popular conversation starter these days is how people manage their time with so many priorities in life. With only 24 hours in a day, either we do it the right way or reduce our expectations. The author shows how you can use timeboxing to bring out your best. There is a good explanation and show and tell of calendar of how good time-boxing looks. You learn to pair activities with the time slot they are supposed to happen in, cause it cant happen in vacuum. You will become a project manager of your life and learn good ways of recording your past, ownign your present and making time for the future with good time habits, estimation skills and execution abilities. Come out on the other side of this book with a bit more calm and time to do things you love the most.
Because this is a book on time, each chapter starts with keywords which give you a peek into what the chapter is all about and estiamted reading time.

Helpful and practical and easy to digest. I want to start timeboxing right away. I appreciate the guidance in this book, and will recommend it to others! Thanks.

A simple, solid look at how to be time efficient, productive, and focused. A lot of it was familiar, but it's always good to be reminded to slow down, reconsider what I'm doing, and make intentional plans for how to schedule myself