Two very powerful forces are competing for your attention in the 21st century:
Busy Bandwagon: culture of constant busyness where everything is based on how much you can extract out of every single minute of your day
Infinity Pools: apps with endlessly replenishing content (streaming, refreshing functionality) leading to endless distraction
Most of our time is spent by default: meetings take 30-60 minutes even though it only requires about 5 minutes, other people fill our calendar with events
We have to be responsive to emails and messaging systems
The Infinity Pools are almost full-time jobs, taking up at least 4 hours per day for the average person
How do we solve this:
Willpower isn’t an option: technology has made sure that our willpower can be easily overriden
Productivity isn’t the solution: problem lies in the amount of tasks that we have to do. The faster you run on the hamster wheel, the faster it spins
In our current day, being productive is now defined by how fast we react to others
The authors learned a lot from running design sprints at Google and at startups. Here were some of their lessons:
Starting the day with one high-priority goal had a huge impact
Got more work done when they banned devices
Energy is important for focused work and clear thinking
Experimentation was an important part for figuring out the right framework
How Make Time Works
Steps to make time:
Highlight: choose one thing to prioritize in a day
Laser: stay laser focused on the highlight
Energize: build energy throughout the day to stay focused
Reflect: reflect on your day with a few simple notes
Highlight:
Choose a single activity and protect your calendar
Not about want you need to do; it’s about what you want to do
It’s not the only thing that you will be focused on in the day, but it should be the highlight of the day
Laser:
Distractions are everywhere: you will need to find a way to control them and escape the distractions using design thinking
Energize:
To achieve focus, we need energy. That requires us to stay active and take care of our bodies
Reflect:
We need to reflect to understand what we need to improve for the system
Determine which tactics you want to continue and which tactics you want to drop
Start off by using the following tactics as highlights as you gradually implement each one into your system. Refine and improve as you keep moving forward
Don’t try to chase perfection because that is simply a distraction: you need to make the system incredibly personalized to your own body, mind and goal
The best tactics are ones where it is easy to fit in your schedule
Highlight
Busy Bandwagon forces us to do more and become more efficient, but that often just makes us more busy; rather, we should have some medium-sized goals that we can look forward to each day
The Highlight is quite literally the highlight of the day. This is what you will be focusing on.
It’s not the only thing you will be focusing on; it’s simply a priority. This is where you want your attention to be drawn to every day
Choosing the highlight:
Urgency: what’s the most pressing thing that you have on your plate?
Satisfaction: which thing will give me the most satisfaction by the end of the day?
Joy: what will bring me the most joy?
Choose a highlight that will take 60-90 minutes
Tactic #1: write down the Highlight
Tactic #2: Groundhog it
Repeat the highlight from the day before for a second shot
Repetition can also be used to build new skills, build momentum or keep doing something you particularly enjoy
Tactic #3: Stack Rank your Life
Make a list of the big things that matter in life → choose the most important thing → choose the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, … until you build a stack → use this to choose highlights
Tactic #4: Batch the Little Stuff
Batch the small work into one highlight
Tactic #5: The Might-Do To-do List
Just a list of things you might do. Up to yoiu to take it off the list and make it a highlight
Tactic #6: Burner List
Put one project on the ‘front-burner’ with all related to-do tasks (left hand column of the page). Shouldn’t take up the whole column; white-space is important
Put 1-2 projects on the back burner (right hand column) and then a ‘kitchen sink’ that catches all other tasks
Focus on the front burner task and occasionally tend to the back burner and kitchen sink tasks
Scrap it every few days when you are finished with the front-burner project and move on to the next project and reallocate resources
Tactic #7: Run a Personal Sprint
Choose the same highlight every day to prevent context switching costs
Tactic #8: Schedule your Highlight
Prevents schedule from being taken over by other things
Tactic #9: Block your Calendar
Prevent others from blocking up your own calendar
Don’t fill it up entirely with ‘me’ blocks, prevent anyone from booking over the meeting
Tactic #10: Bulldoze your Calendar
Play around with your schedule such that you create time for your highlight
Question why meetings and chats have to be long
Tactic #11: Flake it till you Make It
Bailing out is fine if you’re doing something worthwhile with that time
Use this sparingly and provide a reason when you are flaking
Tactic #12: Say No
Best way to get out of low-priority obligations is to say no
Saying no seems much more uncomfortable than saying yes, but it’s all about gracefully turning down a situation and being honest about it
You can use the Sour Patch Kids technique: offer something sweet after you say no
Tactic #13: Design Your Day
Basically timeblocking
Tactic #14: Become a Morning Person
Establish a morning routine that eases you into the morning. Give yourself someting to do, regardless of how small it is
Design the night before to create the best sleeping environment
Tactic #15: Nighttime is Highlight Time
If you’re a night owl, optimize the time that you spend awake deep at night
Refresh your brain with a real break from the work, turn off Internet, and wind down
Tactic #16: Quit When You’re Done
Cut the day before you start to feel unproductive
Laser
Why are infinity pools so hard to resist:
Passion for technology: tech people love to put their top efforts into this, leading to incredibly sticky products
Evolution: constantly running experiments to see if new features are working
Competition: when one service releases a new feature, another service is forced to release as well to prevent people from putting attention in another service
Caveman brains: takes advantage of our attention-seeking brain psychology
Key to laser focus is to bring barriers back
Every time we switch costs, our brain has to load up different things and it becomes hard to get into the zone
While FOMO may exist for people that are afraid of taking back control and missing out, we should also recognize that this is also making us stand apart from the others
Tactic #17: Try a Distraction Free Phone
Remove all distractions from your phone: social media, any other Infinity Pools, delete email, delete web browser
Smartphones still have valuable technology, like music or maps. Keep the ones you find most useful for daily life
Remember to start using your phone intentionally
Tactic #18: Logout
Intentionally add as much friction as possible: logout, don’t remember, crazy psswd
Tactic #19: Nix Notifications
Tactic #20: Clear the Homescreen
Another speed bump that forces you to think whether checking the phone is necessary
Tactic #21: Wear a Wristwatch
Replaces the need to check your phone for time, which often leads to a distraction spiral
Tactic #22: Leave Devices Behind
Tactic #23: Skip the Morning Check-in
Postpone it, because it often leads into a distraction spiral
Tactic #24: Block Distraction Kryptonite
Distraction kryptonite: something that overwhelms you more than anything else
How to identify: if the activity leaves you with regret after you have consumed it, that’s your kryptonite
Put in friction, block the website, turn off Internet
Tactic #25: Ignore the News
Check once a week. Daily news has no impact on you
Tactic #26: Put Your Toys Away
Close all tabs and windows before shutting off computer
Sign out of accounts
Tactic #27: Fly Without Wi-Fi
Close all airplane screens and don’t buy WiFi. Planes create enhanced Focus periods
Tactic#28: Put a Timer on the Internet
Cancel Internetafter a certain time period by creating a vacation timer
Tactic #29: Cancel the Internet
Tactic #30: Watch Out for Time Craters
Time craters are small distractions that create much larger holes in the day
Try to eliminate as many as you can
Tactic #31: Trade Fake Wins for Real Wins
If the task is not scheduled but ‘pseudo-productive’, then it’s not a real win
Only tasks working towards the highlight is a real win
Tactic #32: Turn Distractions into Tools
The trick is to purposefully use social media tools
Identify the root cause of you joining the social media → think about amount of time you are willing to spend on the activity and whether the medium is the best way → figure out a plan on how you will be using the app for your own benefit
Tactic #33: Become a Fair-Weather Fan
Watch games only on a special occasion
Tactic #34: Deal with Email at the End of the Day
You can use your most important time focusing on a piece of work rather than email
Tactic #35: Schedule Email Time
Prevents you from taking up too much of your time clearing your email
Tactic #36: Clear Inbox Once a Week
Only respond to really important emails
Ask people to contact you by text/phone,
Tactic #37: Pretend Emails are Letters
Snail mail works perfectly fine: you don’t need to instantly respond when you get a paper letter
Tactic #38: Be Slow to Respond
This requires a shift from “as fast as possible” to “as slow as you can get away with”
When you email instantly, you are unconciously giving the signal that their priorities are more important than yours
Tactic #39: Reset Expectations
Could say something along the lines of: “I’m slow to respond because I need to prioritize a few projects; if your message is urgent, send me a text.”
This message provides a sufficient and vague reason for slow emails and also gives an emergency route
Most jobs will be OK with you being slow as long as that is made up with better quality of work
Tactic #40: Set up Send-Only Email
This helps you if you need to send emails on your phone but prevents you from being sucked into the time crater that is email
Create a new account → set up email forwarding so replies sent to your original account → add new account to phone rather than original
Tactic #41: Vacation Off-grid
Tactic #42: Lock Yourself Out
Use an app like Freedom to restrict usage of email checking
Tactic #43: Don’t Watch the News
Just make it a habit to read the news once per day/week
Tactic #44: Put Your TV in the Corner
Put the TV in an awkward postition in the living room so that the default is conversation, not TV
Tactic #45: Ditch the TV for a Projector
It’s a pain to setup, but that prevents you from making TV watching the default
You will only want to set it up for special occasions
Tactic #46: Go À - La Carte vs. All-you-can-eat
Problem with Netflix all-you-can-eat services is that it’s just a buffet of distraction
Instead, buy movies or shows one episode at a time, preventing you from having a default
Tactic #47: If You Love Something, Set it Free
Go cold turkey for a month (no TV) and see how that affects you
Tactic #48: Shut the Door
You’re telling yourself and people around you that you’re in Laser mode
Tactic #49: Invent a Deadline
It’s a lot easier to get into the flow state if there is a looming deadline
Create your own deadline for your own Highlights
Should make yourself accountable and tell others about your deadline or include them (i.e. invite friends for a pasta dinner before you have even learned it)
Tactic #50: Explode your Highlight
Explode Highlight into little tasks: small, relatively easy, action item
Making the Highlight a doable task makes it easier to enter flow
Tactic #51: Play a Laser Sound Track
Create a cue to enter into laser flow
Only play a certain song when you wnat to enter laser mode
Tactic #52: Set a Visible Timer
Set a time which makes it very visible how much time you have left
Creates false sense of urgency which makes you quite focused
Tactic #53: Avoid the Allure of Fancy Tools
Choosing the perfect tool is a distraction to your focus
Tactic #54: Start on Paper
Paper induces more focus and let’s your mind run freely
If you’re struggling to focus on creating a ppt or something, just do it on paper first
Tactic #55: Make a Random Question List
Naturally, you may be twitchy when you’re in the zone and you may have random questions
Compile those questions into another paper and spend some time later searching it up
Tactic #56: Notice One Breath
Paying attention to the cycle of breath can help regenerate focus
Tactic #57: Be Bored
Sit there unstimulated, it actually helps you become more creative
Tactic #58: Be Stuck
Getting stuck is an opportunity to train your brain
Keep the focus on the project at hand and don’t leave until you are unstuck
Tactic #59 : Take a Day Off
Take breaks here and there to replenish the creative energy that you have
Tactic #60: Go All In
Throw yoursef into the moment with enthusiasm and sincerity
Let the project fill you with energy, even if the project itself is boring
Energize
If you have energy, it’s easier to remain focused on your Highlight
People think that the body is merely a means to sustain and move the head and we end up having an unfit lifestyle
If you want energy for the brain, you need to take care of the body
Our modern lifestyle isn’t meant for our bodies. Look back at the prehistoric human
Some tactics to satisfy our prehistoric bodies
Keep moving throughout the day
Eat real food
Optimize caffeine
Go off grid
Make it personal: get together with friends in person
Sleep in a cave: sleep quality is more important than quantity
Tactic #61: Exercise Every Day (but don’t be a hero)
You only need to exercise 20 minutes to get the benefits of exercise for the mind
Mood boost from exercie lasts about a day, so make exercise daily
We have to be ok with ‘just enough’ exercises
Tactic #62: Pound the Pavement
Try to find as many opportunities as possible to walk
Tactic #63: Inconvenience Yourself
Cook dinner, take the stairs, don’t use wheeled suitcases. Preventing conveniance helps create more exercise
Tactic #64: Squeeze in Short Workouts
Use high-intensity interval training, which packs in more benefits than hour long medium-intensity workouts
Use 7-minute workouts as a starting point
Tactic #65: Eat like a Hunter-Gatherer
Don’t eat processed foods
Tactic #66: Build your Plate Like Central Park
Put all veggies in the middle and then add stuff. Prevents you from eating too much
Tactic #67: Stay Hungry
Skip a meal or a snack (intermittent fasting) and see what benefit you can get from that
Tactic #68: Snack Like You’re a Toddler
If you decide to snack, then choose high quality snacks and only snack when you need to
To determine when is an optimal time to snack, determine when your mood is changing and snack then
Tactic #69: Go on Dark Chocolate
Allow dark chocolate as your only dessert
Tactic #70: Wake Up Before you Caffeinate
Let cortisol do most of your awakening and only drink coffee after cortisol high (8-9 am)
Tactic #71: Caffeinate Before You Crash
If you wait until you get tired, you are too late and caffeine won’t help
Have coffee before you energ dips
Tactic #72: Take a Caffeine Nap
Drink caffeine, have a 15 minute nap, and you will be good as new
Tactic #73: Maintain Altitude with Green Tea
Replace coffee with more frequent low doses of green tea to prevent energy valleys and dips
Tactic #74: Turbo Your Highlight
Use the caffeine so you have maximum energy when you are working on you highlight
Tactic #75: Learn Your Last Call
Figure out when you can have caffeine at the latest (remember, half life of caffeine is 5-6 hours!)
Tactic #76: Disconnect Sugar
Try to separate caffeine from sugar
Tactic #77: Get Woodsy
Take nature walks → helps re-energize you
Tactic #78: Trick Yourself into Meditating
Meditation is just a breather for the brain and should not be embarrassing
Science shows us that meditation is like exercise for the brain
Experiment with short guided sessions
Tactic #79: Leave your Headphones at Home
You need quiet in your life. Headphones constantly is taking that away
Tactic #80: Take Real Breaks
Don’t use the screen as a break
Tactic #81: Spend Time with Your Tribe
Need to spend time via voice. Seek out friends who give you energy
Tactic #82: Eat Without Screens
Less likely to mindlessly eat, talk with people, and you are relaxing your brain
Tactic #83: Make your bedroom into a bed room
Remove all electronics from your bedroom
Use books or magazines instead to help you fall asleep
Only have an alarm clock, which should be across your room to force you to get up in the morning
Tactic #84: Fake the Sunset
Big problem is that our electronic devices mimic the sun, making it harder to sleep
Dim the lights a few hours before you go to sleep, turn on night mode on devices, use eye masks to simulate darkness if needed
You can use dawn-simulated lights for the opposite effect in the morning
Tactic #85: Nap
Tactic #86: Don’t Jet-lag Yourself
Keep a regular sleep-wake cycle for the weekends and weekdays
Tactic #87: Put on Your Oxygen Mask First
Your self-care is important so that you can help others when needed
Reflect
Use the scientific method to help you refine your system
Observe → guess → test → measure
You need to test out the above tactics so that you find the perfect system for you
Create a page to make data easy to track:
Some tactics will work right away, others will take time and trial-and-error. If you fail, don’t be too hard on yourself. Perfection is not the goal
Gratitude part puts a positive spin on your day and you’re more incentived to do it again
Use reminders to help you get into the habit of setting tactics and reflecting
Remember to focus on the small things, because they can make a big difference
