make time (book)

Connect

🔼Topic:: Wellbeing (MOC) 🔼Topic:: Productivity (MOC)

✒️ Note-Making

💡Clarify

🔈 Summary of main ideas between the endless distractions, and the constant need to be productive, you have to remember to take care of yourself, and make time to what's important to you

🗒️Relate

⛓ Life lessons, action items

🔍Critique

✅ by following this method, what will happen?

1. A simple guide to useful habits and wellness tactics
2. very self aware, approachable language, eye level
3. practical

❌ the logical jumps, holes or simply cases where it is wrong... perhaps too simplistic, the theory is minimal and downplayed, meant to be a guide for those who didn't read anything before and looking for a simple solution

🧱 Implementations and limitations of it are...

🗨️Review

💭 my opinions on the book, the writers style... some of the tactics are worthwhile, others are very specific

🖼️Outline

📒 Notes

Introduction

Two powers are always affecting us - the "busy bandwagon" Hustle Culture which is the expectation to always do more, to be more productive, but the more you do, the more you have to do.
The second is the infinity pool Attention Economy, which is the endless distractions from our devices.
To make time we have to resist these forces, but not with will power, but with changing the defaults (Nudge), such as deleting the app from your phone. The purpose of make time is to make time to what you want to do (such as family or side projects), like the big stones in the analogy, not to have more time for those forces.

The key ingredients of make time:

1. Daily highlight The One Thing (book)
2. Laser focus on the daily highlight
3. Energize throughout the day
4. Review - review your progress

INTRODUCTION

• Both forces—the Busy Bandwagon and the Infinity Pools—are powerful because they’ve become our defaults.
• While the Busy Bandwagon defaults to endless tasks, the Infinity Pools default to endless distraction.
• The trouble is, there are always more tasks and requests waiting to take their place. The faster you run on the hamster wheel, the faster it spins.
• Being more productive didn’t mean I was doing the most important work; it only meant I was reacting to other people’s priorities faster.
• this “system” would work only if it changed our defaults, making distractions harder to access instead of relying on willpower to constantly fight them.

HOW MAKE TIME WORKS

• The first step is choosing a single highlight to prioritize in your day. Next, you’ll employ specific tactics to stay laser-focused on that highlight—we’ll offer a menu of tricks to beat distraction in an always-connected world. Throughout the day, you’ll build energy so you can stay in control of your time and attention. Finally, you’ll reflect on the day with a few simple notes.
• Your Highlight might be something you don’t necessarily have to do but want to do,
• The best tactics are the ones that fit into your day. They’re not something you force yourself to do; they’re just something you do. And in most cases, they’ll be things you want to do.
• begin each day by thinking about what you hope will be the bright spot.
• The first strategy is all about urgency: What’s the most pressing thing I have to do today?
• The second Highlight strategy is to think about satisfaction: At the end of the day, which Highlight will bring me the most satisfaction?
• The third strategy focuses on joy: When I reflect on today, what will bring me the most joy?

Highlight

A middle point between your daily to-dos and life long goals. it can be something urgent+/important, something that brings joy or sense of accomplishment.
Preferably something that takes 60-90 mins, long enough to make progress, but still doable.
Tactics for choosing Daily highlight:
A. just writing what comes up
B. Groundhog day (do yesterday's highlight again)
C. List life priorities, and choose the top priority (such as family/friends/project)
D. Cleanup day - batch together a lot of tiny tasks
E. Choose one of your "someday" projects
F. Take the most important task of your to do list for the day
G. Start a weekly "sprint", breakdown a project into several daily highlights.

Schedule your highlight in your calendar, it will focus you. Make sure to not let anything else disturb this sacred time. Decide when the day is done and continue tomorrow, don't exhaust yourself. Time Blocking

Highlight

• Most to-dos are just reactions to other people’s priorities, not yours. And no matter how many tasks you finish, you’re never done—more to-dos are always waiting to take their place. To-do lists just perpetuate the feeling of “unfinishedness” that dogs modern life.
• a completely planned day provides the freedom to focus on the moment. Instead of thinking about what to do next, you’re free to focus on how to do it.
• The best way to defeat distraction is to make it harder to react.
• It’s like compound interest. The longer you remain focused on your Highlight, the more engaging you’ll find it and the better work (or play) you’ll do.
• The key thing here is that you’re using your phone intentionally—it’s not using you.
• Look at the top headlines and think critically about each one. Will that headline change any decisions you make today? How many of those headlines will become obsolete by tomorrow, next week, or next month?
• choosing the perfect tool is usually a distraction, yet another way to stay busy instead of doing the work you want to be doing.
• The defaults of today’s world assume that the brain is the one driving the bus, but that’s not really how it works. When you don’t take care of your body, your brain can’t do its job.
• walking may be the world’s simplest and most convenient form of exercise, but despite being easy, it packs a powerful charge for your battery.
• Fasting (to a point) makes your mind clear and your brain sharp, which is great for staying focused on your priorities.
• If you want to improve your sleep, keep the phone out of your bedroom—at all times.
• When you create a practice of setting your own most important priority, daily life changes.

Laser focus

in order to be focused on your highlight, you need to reduce Distractions, don't depend on will power, adjust the environment such that it will have fewer distractions to begin with, and harder for you to reach them Environmental design Minimalism Task Switching do actions such as:

1. delete apps from phone and disable notification
2. clear your home screen
3. lock phone and computer and tv away
4. log off from social media
5. check email only once/twice a day
6. be off the grid/respond slowly
7. create deadlines for yourself
8. avoid being temped by "fancy tools", stick to pen and paper

Energize

the brain cant function without a healthy body.
Take Nature walk, eat healthier food, sleep well without screens. Take naps, do some exercises and meditate.

Reflect

at the end of the day, measure how was your level of energy, of focus on your highlight, did you complete it, which tactics did you try and were they helpful, and what are you grateful for Gratitude

summary: This book provides a simple approach to taking control of time and your own wellbeing, by focusing on what is important to you and reducing distractions. It provides tactics to choose the right daily highlight, stay focused, energize yourself throughout the day, and reflect on your progress. The book emphasizes that you have to resist the forces of busyness and distractions by changing the defaults (nudge) rather than relying on will power.