It’s really easy to go overboard with new frameworks, languages, and technologies. On the one hand, you’re learning, hacking, exploring, and creating. But on the other, you’ve got a finite amount of time to complete foo, build bar, and fix baz.

So, how do you explore new tech while also getting your job done? Timeboxing!

It’s super simple:

1. Identify how a new tech could help you acheive your dev task.

2. Allocate a specific amount of time (2 hours? an afternoon?) to experimentation & investigation, noting down everything you learn.

3. When the timebox ends, stop working!

4. Discuss what you learned with your team and make a decision to continue exploring (more timeboxing) or keep the status quo.

I like to schedule timeboxes so that they end at lunchtime or just before important meetings. It forces me to stop working, refuel my brain, and it prevents me from going into all night code fugues.

While you won’t always get to use that shiny new tech in your current project, your notes will be useful in the future & at your next hackathon 😉