Make Time

🚀 The Book in 3 Sentences

1. How to make more time in the day to do the things you want to do.
2. Have a Highlight every day will make you more satisfied at the end of the day.
3. Many different tips and tricks on how to focus on your work, get energized and reflect.

🎨 Impressions

Make Time was an inspirational read that helped me think more about how I use my time. The book covers a lot of tips and tricks on how to feel fulfilled at the end of the day, how to focus and how to energize. You are not meant to do everything the book suggests, but pick some of the tips to try to improve your life.

How I Discovered It

I discovered it through Ali Abdaal. He said it was one of the most influential productivity books he had read.

Who Should Read It?

Everyone who feels they need more time in their day to do the things they want, whether that is spending more time with family and friends or working on a side project.

☘️ How the Book Changed Me

• I now want to make space for a Highlight everyday
• Made me think more about how I spend my time on schoolwork and how I should try to be more efficient.
• Gave me some good and simple tips on how to feel more energized.

✍️ My Top 3 Quotes

• You only waste time if you’re not intentional about how you spend it
• The first thing we learned was that something magic happens when you start the day with one high-priority goal.
• Asking yourself “What’s going to be the highlight of my day?” ensures that you spend time on the things that matter to you and don’t lose the entire day reacting to other people’s priorities. When you choose a Highlight, you put yourself in a positive, proactive frame of mind.

📒 Summary + Notes

I will try to summarize the different tactics showcased in the book

Highlight Tactics

Choose Your Highlight

1. Write it down → Write your highlight down. You could write it down on a piece of paper or in an app.
2. Groundhog It (or, «Do Yesterday Again») → Repeat the highlight you did yesterday. Maybe you didn’t do it properly or you want to build a habit.
3. Stack Rank Your Life → Make a list of the most important things in your life and prioritize them. This can help you choose a Highlight if you are unsure what to pick.
4. Batch the Little Stuff → Batch all the small tasks for one day of the week and make that your Highlight for that day.
5. The Might-Do List → Make a list of things you might do, choose one and make that your Highlight
6. The Burner List → A limited list that forces you to focus on your tasks, before taking on more.
7. Run a Personal Sprint → Choose the same highlight several days in a row to make progress on a project easier. You could break up the highlight into steps each day.

Make Time for Your Highlight

8. Schedule Your Highlight → Put your Highlight in the calendar at the time you want to do it.
9. Block Your Calendar → Put «do not schedule» blocks in your calendar to make room and time for your Highlight.
10. Bulldoze Your Calendar → Move events or shorten meetings to make time for the highlight.
11. Flake It Till You Make It → Push back a deadline or cancel a meeting to make time. Bailout of something
12. Just Say No → If you say no to stuff you’ll have more time in your calendar.
13. Design Your Day → Block your calendar the entire day with everything you are going to do
14. Become a Morning Person → Go to sleep early and wake up early to have time to do your Highlight.
15. Nighttime Is Highlight Time → If you’re more of a night person, do your Highlight in the evening or at night
16. Quit When You’re Done → Quit when you are done with your Highlight or before you’re exhausted.

Laser Tactics

Be the Boss of Your Phone

17. Try a Distraction-Free Phone → Remove email, Infinity Pool apps (YouTube, Instagram, Facebook etc) and the Web browser.
18. Log Out → Logging out of apps creates friction for you when you want to use them again. This makes you more likely to ignore checking social media every 5 minutes.
19. Nix Notifications → Turn notifications off so you don’t get distracted.
20. Clear Your Homescreen → If you open your phone to find a blank home screen it gives you a couple of seconds to think why you opened your phone. This also creates friction for you.
21. Wear a Wristwatch → Wear a normal (not-digital) wristwatch so you don’t have to check your phone if you want to know what time it is.
22. Leave Devices Behind → If you leave your devices behind at the office or at home, you can’t be distracted by them.

Stay Out of Infinity Pools

23. Skip the Morning Check-In → Don’t get distracted by Social Media and Infinity Pools in the morning. Wait until 9 a.m. or later
24. Block Distraction Kryptonite → Block websites and applications where you spend your time by not being productive. I use a tool called Freedom to achieve this.
25. Ignore the News → If you ignore the daily news you won’t get anxious and distracted. Rather check the news once a week.
26. Put Your Toys Away → Hide your phone and close all distracting tabs before you start your work. This way you won’t get distracted.
27. Fly Without Wi-Fi → Don’t use the Wi-Fi on the plane and be distracted by Social Media and other co-workers. Instead, use this time to work on a project or do something you enjoy.
28. Put a Timer on the Internet → Turn off the Internet or block sites at specific times to help you stay productive.
29. Cancel the Internet → If you want to take it a step further, think about cancelling your Internet service.
30. Watch Out for Time Craters → Avoid «time crates», which are small distractions that take more time than you initially thought. Example: Posting a tweet, but ending up staying on Twitter for 30 min.
31. Trade Fake Wins for Real Wins → Stop procrastinating by doing tasks that take focus away from what you really are meant to be doing with your time.
32. Turn Distractions into Tools → Use apps for their purpose and not as an interruption from your work. There are many good features in distracting apps.
33. Become a Fair-Weather Fan → Only watch the most important games of your favourite team. For me, this is definitely not an option, as football is an integral part of what I enjoy.

Slow Your Inbox

34. Deal with Email at the End of the Day → Check your email at the end of the day instead of in the morning.
35. Schedule Email Time → Set aside time in your calendar for when you will check your email.
36. Empty Your Inbox Once a Week → Make it a goal to go through every email at the end of the week, and not every day.
37. Pretend Messages Are Letters → Treat email like letters you get in the post. You would only go and send mail out once a day.
38. Be Slow to Respond → Don’t feel like you have to respond to emails as fast as they come in. Don’t spend every minute of your day answering other peoples questions.
39. Reset Expectations → If you stop answering emails at the moment they appear in your inbox, people will stop expecting you to answer at once. If it is urgent they will find other means to contact you.
40. Set Up Send-Only Email → Find an app or browser extension that will help you send an email and additionally not get you distracted by your unanswered email.
41. Vacation Off the Grid → Do not work when you are on vacation.
42. Lock Yourself Out → Lock yourself out of email (by using Freedom for example).

Make TV a «Sometimes Treat»

43. Don’t Watch the News → Mostly for the same reasons as tip #25 – ignore the news so you don’t get anxious and distracted.
44. Put Your TV in the Corner → Put the TV in an inconvenient place. This way, it’s easier to do something else.
45. Ditch Your TV for a Projector → Get a projector instead of a new TV. It’s more of a hassle to put up the projector, but more fun for special occasions.
46. Go á la Carte Instead of All-You-Can-Eat → Cancel your streaming subscriptions. If you really want to watch something, sign up for that subscription for only one month, before cancelling it again.
47. If You Love Something, Set It Free → Go a month without TV. When the month is up, what did you spend your time on? How much time do you want to give back to the TV?

Find Flow

48. Shut the Door → Nothing says «don’t disturb me» like a closed door and a pair of headphones.
49. Invent a Deadline → Set a deadline and get someone to hold you accountable for getting it done.
50. Explode Your Highlight → Break your Highlight into small tasks if you don’t know where to start.
51. Play a Laser Sound Track → Use music as a cue to get into Laser mode. Play the same type of music every time to make it a working habit. It is important to listen to something you love because then it becomes a cue and a reward.
52. Set a Visible Timer → Use a clock to visualise time. That way you can see that time is elapsing and get you to focus.
53. Avoid the Lure of Fancy Tools → If you only need something simplistic, don’t use a fancy tool where you get distracted by all its features.
54. Start on Paper → If you need to focus or struggling to get into Laser mode, start by writing things down on a piece of paper. This way you won’t get distracted by technology.

Stay in the Zone

55. Make a «Random Question» List → When questions pop into your mind while you work, write them down on a piece of paper and find out more about them later. This way you won’t get distracted by searching for the answer straight away.
56. Notice One Breath → If you feel yourself losing attention, take a moment to stop and breathe.
57. Be Bored → When you don’t get distracted, you could be bored. But this is a good thing; let your mind wander and you might find the answer you are searching for.
58. Be Stuck → When you are stuck on something it’s easy to go on your phone. But if you continue to struggle, you will eventually get unstuck and be happy you didn’t give up.
59. Take a Day Off → If you can’t reach Laser mode and focus, take the day off to recharge by doing other stuff.
60. Go All In → «The antidote to exhaustion is wholeheartedness». Work wholeheartedly on something, and you may be filled with loads of energy.

Energize Tactics

Keep It Moving

61. Exercise Every Day (but Don’t Be a Hero) → Exercise for about 20 minutes every day, but don’t stress about perfection.
62. Pound the Pavement → Go for a walk
63. Inconvenience Yourself → Do things that are inconvenient, but a benefit for your health. Example: Take the stairs or use a suitcase without wheels.
64. Squeeze in a Super Short Workout → Exercise for a short amount of time. The book suggests:

The 7 Minute Workout:

JZ’s 3×3 Workout:

Eat Real Food

65. Eat Like a Hunter-Gatherer → «Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants»
66. Central Park Your Plate → Put the salad on your plate first, before adding everything else.
67. Stay Hungry → Don’t eat snacks whenever you feel hungry. Try to only eat three meals a day.
68. Snack Like a Toddler → Eat high-quality snacks (bananas, nuts) when you are hungry.
69. Go on the Dark Chocolate Plan → Dark chocolate contains way less sugar than milk chocolate, so you should eat that instead.

Optimize Caffeine

70. Wake Up Before You Caffeinate → The body produces lots of cortisol (wake up hormone) in the morning. So you don’t need to have coffee first thing in the morning.
71. Caffeinate Before You Crash → If you wait until you get tired, it’s too late. Drink a cup of coffee 30 min before you normally have a dip in energy.
72. Take a Caffeine Nap → Drink coffee when you are tired and take a 15 min nap.
73. Maintain Altitude with Green Tea → Substitute giant cups of coffee with cups of green tea to keep a steady energy level throughout the day.
74. Turbo Your Highlight → Intake caffeine before you start your Highlight
75. Learn Your Last Call → Learn when you can have your last cup of coffee so you don’t have trouble sleeping.
76. Disconnect Sugar → Minimize the intake of soft drinks and energy drinks.

Go Off the Grid

77. Get Woodsy → Go for a walk and get exposure to nature.
78. Trick Yourself into Meditating → Meditation is a breather and exercise for your brain. Try meditating using a meditation app and aim only for 3 minutes.
79. Leave Your Headphones at Home → Take a break from your headphone and listen to the sounds around you.
80. Take Real Breaks → Take a break without screens.

Make It Personal

81. Spend Time with Your Tribe → Have real conversations with people you love.
82. Eat Without Screens → Makes room for face-to-face conversations and gives you a break from the screen.

Sleep in a Cave

83. Make Your Bedroom a Bed Room → Keep all electronic devices out of your bedroom. The bedroom is for sleeping only.
84. Fake the Sunset → Dim down the lights and turn off the screens an hour before bedtime.
85. Sneak a Nap → Recharge by taking a nap.
86. Don’t Jet-Lag Yourself → Don’t sleep late on weekends, it confuses your internal clock.
87. Put On Your Own Oxygen Mask First → Take care of your own energy before you spend it on others.

Bonus Tactics from Energize

88. Pajamas to Spandex → Find your workout clothes the night before and exercise the first thing in the morning.
89. Kleenex to Spandex → If you exercise with a cold, it won’t prolong the symptoms.
90. Hara Hachi Bu (Don’t Clean Your Plate) → A Japanese saying meaning you should stop eating when you’re 80% full.
91. Eat Like a Hobbit → Try to eating five small meals per day. A light breakfast, a light «second breakfast» at 11 AM, a light lunch at 1 PM, a nutritious «tea time» snack at 4 PM, and a light dinner.
92. Hydrate for Pee Breaks → It is good to stay hydrated and it also gives you pee breaks.
93. Thanksgiving Every Day → Say or write down what you are grateful for every day.
94. Take a Breath of Fresh Air → Step outside for a couple of minutes to recharge your batteries.
95. Know Your Pumpkin Hour → Learn when your natural cutoff time is, and be in bed by then.
96. Set a Reverse Alarm → Set an alarm to remind you to go to bed at your pumpkin hour.
97. Read Books, not Clickbait → Spend your time reading books, instead of reactionary clickbaity articles.
98. Splash Your Face → Splash your face with cold water if you feel yourself losing focus.

Reflect

Take notes and reflect on whether you made time for your Highlight, you much you were able to focus and how your energy level was throughout the day. What worked and what didn’t?

Daily notes templates can be found on the book’s website.