Nir Eyal

So what you want to do is to have hard stops between these liminal moments. And so this goes back to the solution to answer your question, is time boxing. Because when you have the next thing you're supposed to do, And you're measuring yourself not by did you finish? This is a very important point. People get this wrong about timeboxing all the time.

So what you want to do is to have hard stops between these liminal moments. And so this goes back to the solution to answer your question, is time boxing. Because when you have the next thing you're supposed to do, And you're measuring yourself not by did you finish? This is a very important point. People get this wrong about timeboxing all the time.

So what you want to do is to have hard stops between these liminal moments. And so this goes back to the solution to answer your question, is time boxing. Because when you have the next thing you're supposed to do, And you're measuring yourself not by did you finish? This is a very important point. People get this wrong about timeboxing all the time.

They think timeboxing is about getting things done. It's about, I hear this all the time, well, what if I plan to do a task and I don't finish it? Can I just expand the timebox? And the answer is absolutely not. Because the goal of timeboxing is not to finish anything. What? How can that be? How am I going to be productive if I don't finish things?

They think timeboxing is about getting things done. It's about, I hear this all the time, well, what if I plan to do a task and I don't finish it? Can I just expand the timebox? And the answer is absolutely not. Because the goal of timeboxing is not to finish anything. What? How can that be? How am I going to be productive if I don't finish things?

They think timeboxing is about getting things done. It's about, I hear this all the time, well, what if I plan to do a task and I don't finish it? Can I just expand the timebox? And the answer is absolutely not. Because the goal of timeboxing is not to finish anything. What? How can that be? How am I going to be productive if I don't finish things?

The idea here, unlike a to-do list, you measure your productivity, you measure your self-worth by how many cute little boxes you check off. So what do you do? You check off the easy stuff. You check off the fun stuff. I used to do a task and then forget, oh, it wasn't on my to-do list, so I would go back and write it down just so I can feel the joy of crossing it off, right? It's stupid.

The idea here, unlike a to-do list, you measure your productivity, you measure your self-worth by how many cute little boxes you check off. So what do you do? You check off the easy stuff. You check off the fun stuff. I used to do a task and then forget, oh, it wasn't on my to-do list, so I would go back and write it down just so I can feel the joy of crossing it off, right? It's stupid.

The idea here, unlike a to-do list, you measure your productivity, you measure your self-worth by how many cute little boxes you check off. So what do you do? You check off the easy stuff. You check off the fun stuff. I used to do a task and then forget, oh, it wasn't on my to-do list, so I would go back and write it down just so I can feel the joy of crossing it off, right? It's stupid.

It makes no sense because I was trained in this methodology of, oh, it feels so good to check boxes. But I wasn't doing the important stuff that I really had to do to move my life and career forward. Whereas with a time box calendar, rather what you're doing, you're not measuring yourself by did you finish?

It makes no sense because I was trained in this methodology of, oh, it feels so good to check boxes. But I wasn't doing the important stuff that I really had to do to move my life and career forward. Whereas with a time box calendar, rather what you're doing, you're not measuring yourself by did you finish?

It makes no sense because I was trained in this methodology of, oh, it feels so good to check boxes. But I wasn't doing the important stuff that I really had to do to move my life and career forward. Whereas with a time box calendar, rather what you're doing, you're not measuring yourself by did you finish?

You're measuring yourself by did I do what I said I was going to do for as long as I said I would without distraction? That's the only metric that matters. Not that I finish. Did I do what I said I was going to do? And that could be being with my kids. It could be having dinner with my family. It could be watching television.

You're measuring yourself by did I do what I said I was going to do for as long as I said I would without distraction? That's the only metric that matters. Not that I finish. Did I do what I said I was going to do? And that could be being with my kids. It could be having dinner with my family. It could be watching television.

You're measuring yourself by did I do what I said I was going to do for as long as I said I would without distraction? That's the only metric that matters. Not that I finish. Did I do what I said I was going to do? And that could be being with my kids. It could be having dinner with my family. It could be watching television.

Did I do what I said I was going to do for as long as I said I would without distraction? And it turns out studies find that people who use that productivity technique and just measure themselves by did they work without distraction?

Did I do what I said I was going to do for as long as I said I would without distraction? And it turns out studies find that people who use that productivity technique and just measure themselves by did they work without distraction?

Did I do what I said I was going to do for as long as I said I would without distraction? And it turns out studies find that people who use that productivity technique and just measure themselves by did they work without distraction?

actually finish more they get more done the to-do list people because the to-do list people they work on a test for five minutes uh let me just check email let me go get a cup of coffee oh janet's at the water cooler they do this they oh what was i working on again i totally forgot whereas the people who time box and they say i'm just going to focus on this one task now they know how long things take and they can plan accordingly so the solution to these liminal moments is to have a hard stop to say okay i've got this meeting on the way back from that meeting i'm going to look at my phone because i'm just walking back to my desk

actually finish more they get more done the to-do list people because the to-do list people they work on a test for five minutes uh let me just check email let me go get a cup of coffee oh janet's at the water cooler they do this they oh what was i working on again i totally forgot whereas the people who time box and they say i'm just going to focus on this one task now they know how long things take and they can plan accordingly so the solution to these liminal moments is to have a hard stop to say okay i've got this meeting on the way back from that meeting i'm going to look at my phone because i'm just walking back to my desk