PSA: That free code bootcamp meetup in Denver last month changed how I learn

A guy running the session showed us how to break a hard problem into 15 minute chunks using a timer. Has anyone else tried timeboxing for learning Python or is it just me?

3 comments

3 Comments

emery_black22d ago

Got absolutely nothing done with timeboxing the first time I tried it. But after seeing a real breakdown in action at that meetup, I completely flipped my opinion on it. Now I set a timer for 15 minutes and actually finish the small piece instead of getting lost in the whole problem.

bell.felix22d ago

Yeah I read that small chunks beat perfect plans every time. @emery_black nailed it.

brian_smith622d ago

Youre mixing up two different things there. Timeboxing is about setting a fixed amount of time to work on something, regardless of whether you finish. What @emery_black described at that meetup was actually chunking breaking a big task into smaller pieces. They set a timer for 15 minutes to finish one of those small pieces, which is a solid way to combine both methods. But saying timeboxing alone got nothing done makes sense if you were just watching a clock tick down without a clear end goal. The real trick is knowing what to put inside that box.