Minimizing "debug bleed"

I have long had an issue where I couldn't properly timebox my coding, because a massive bug would appear and suck out hours and hours. My debugging would bleed into subsequent timeboxes. 

This would lead to issues like: scrambling to finish animation homework because I spent 20 hours fixing a systems programming bug. In the end, the lab is still turned in late, AND the art sucks and is ALSO late. 

The issue is different for self-paced courses or readings. It just causes zero progress the moment I get stuck, like where I'm at in khan academy. And I was stuck on some simple priority queue stuff for months in an attempt to timebox my DSA review. 

So, what is the possible solution to this? When the timebox is hit, don't go more than 20-30 minutes over. If you are stuck on debug bleed, then you do not fully understand the issue, and what is going on in general. As a result, you need to stop, leave some notes for your restart of understanding the logic of what you need to do, and then context switch. That way, you don't get behind in everything else. If possible, squeeze in another timebox later, but don't skip evening relaxation. That's how you end up with a gaming backlog the height of Olympus Mons. 

And above all, START EARLY and aim to finish early. But NOT at the price of debug bleed!

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