Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day

by Jake Knapp

8. Schedule Your Highlight If you want to make time for your Highlight, start with the calendar. Like writing down your Highlight (#1), this tactic could hardly be simpler: Think about how much time you want for your Highlight. Think about when you want to do your Highlight. Put your Highlight on the calendar. When you schedule something, you’re making a commitment to yourself, sending yourself a tiny message that says: “I’m going to do this.” But scheduling your Highlight has another important benefit: It forces you to confront the trade-offs in how you spend your time. Imagine today’s Highlight is to buy groceries and cook dinner for your family. You think, “Dinner should be ready at 7 p.m. or the kids won’t get to bed in time. And I need to start cooking at 6 p.m. That means I have to leave the office at 5 p.m. so I have time to stop at the store on my way home.” You add an event to your calendar at 5 p.m. and label it “Leave work.” Once you’ve scheduled your Highlight, that time is taken. You can’t schedule any meetings or commit to any other activity. When other things come up, you get to decide whether to schedule them in the remaining time around your Highlight or whether they can wait. You can see your priorities take form right there on your calendar.