Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day

by Jake Knapp

Do you ever look back and wonder “What did I really do today?” Do you ever daydream about projects and activities you’ll get to someday—but “someday” never comes?

Make Time is not about productivity. It’s not about getting more done, finishing your to-dos faster, or outsourcing your life. Instead, it’s a framework designed to help you actually create more time in your day for the things you care about,

According to the Busy Bandwagon mindset, if you want to meet the demands of the modern workplace and function in modern society, you must fill every minute with productivity. After all, everyone else is busy. If you slow down, you’ll fall behind and never catch up.

The second force competing for your time is what we call the Infinity Pools. Infinity Pools are apps and other sources of endlessly replenishing content. If you can pull to refresh, it’s an Infinity Pool. If it streams, it’s an Infinity Pool. This always-available, always-new entertainment is your reward for the exhaustion of constant busyness.

There are defaults in nearly every part of our lives. It’s not just our devices; our workplaces and our culture have built-in defaults that make busy and distracted the normal, typical state of affairs. These standard settings are everywhere.

React to what’s in front of you. Be responsive. Fill your time, be efficient, and get more done. These are the default rules of the Busy Bandwagon.

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.

Make Time is a framework for choosing what you want to focus on, building the energy to do it, and breaking the default cycle so that you can start being more intentional about the way you live your life. Even if you don’t completely control your own schedule—and few of us do—you absolutely can control your attention.

But I didn’t have a good answer. I mean, sure, there was probably some excuse for checking my email right at that moment. But not a great one. All day, I’d been looking forward to spending time with my kids, and now that it was finally happening, I wasn’t really there at all.

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.

was his constant calm. John was never stressed. He completed important work ahead of schedule yet somehow found time for side projects. He woke early, finished work early, went home early. He was always smiling.

Jake’s distraction-free iPhone was a bit extreme, and I admit I didn’t try it right away. But once I did, I loved it. So the two of us began searching for other redesigns—ways to switch our default setting from “distracted” to “focused.”

something magic happens when you start the day with one high-priority goal.

Another lesson from our design sprints was that we got more done when we banned devices. Since we set the rules, we were able to prohibit laptops and smartphones, and the difference was phenomenal.

Without the constant lure of email and other Infinity Pools, people brought their complete attention to the task at hand, and the default switched to focus.

Despite our stumbles, Make Time was resilient. We found ourselves with more energy and headspace than we’d ever had, and we were able to take on bigger projects: the kinds of “someday” things we’d never been able to get around to before.

the changes do not require tons of self-discipline. Instead, change comes from resetting defaults, creating barriers, and beginning to design the way you spend your time. Once you start using Make Time, these small positive shifts become self-reinforcing. The more you try it, the more you’ll learn about yourself and the more the system will improve.

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.

Highlight: Start Each Day by Choosing a Focal Point The first step in Make Time is deciding what you want to make time for. Every day, you’ll choose a single activity to prioritize and protect in your calendar.

Laser: Beat Distraction to Make Time for Your Highlight

Energize: Use the Body to Recharge the Brain To achieve focus and make time for what matters, your brain needs energy, and that energy comes from taking care of your body.

charge your battery with exercise, food, sleep, quiet, and face-to-face time.

The lifestyle defaults of the twenty-first century ignore our evolutionary histo...

Finally, before going to bed, you’ll take a few notes. It’s super simple: You’ll decide which tactics you want to continue and which ones you want to refine or drop.2 And you’ll think back on your energy level, whether you made time for your Highlight, and what brought you joy in the day. Over time, you’ll build a customized daily system tailored to your unique habits and routines, your unique brain and body, and your unique goals and priorities.

Perfection is a distraction—another shiny object taking your attention away from your real priorities.

Keep in mind that neither of us uses all the tactics in this book all the time. We use some tactics all the time and some tactics some of the time, and we each use some tactics none of the time. There are things that work for JZ that do not work for Jake and vice versa. We each have our own imperfect formula, and that formula can change depending on what’s going on.

slow down a little, turn down the noise of the modern world, and find more joy in each day.

We do not remember days, we remember moments. —CESARE PAVESE

Doing more doesn’t help you create time for what matters; it just makes you feel even more frazzled and busy. And when you’re busy day after day, time slides by in a blur. This chapter is about stopping the blur, slowing down, and actually experiencing the moments you want to savor and remember

It didn’t work. I was so focused on small tasks that the days slipped by even faster than before. The blur was getting worse. It sucked.

Instead of obsessively managing my minutes, I turned my attention to the long term. I created lists of one-year, three-year, five-year, and ten-year goals,

I realized I didn’t need perfectly planned task lists or well-crafted long-term plans. Instead, it was simple but satisfying activities that helped stop the blurring of time.

I started thinking less about my to-do list and more about substantial projects like leading design workshops and spending a day fixing software bugs with engineers.

We want you to begin each day by thinking about what you hope will be the bright spot. If, at the end of the day, someone asks you, “What was the highlight of your day?” what do you want your answer to be? When you look back on your day, what activity or accomplishment or moment do you want to savor? That’s your Highlight.

At the end of the day, which Highlight will bring me the most satisfaction?

instead of thinking about deadlines and priorities, take a different approach: Think about the sense of accomplishment locked inside each potential Highlight.

We think the best way to choose a Highlight is to trust your gut to decide whether an urgent, joyful, or satisfying Highlight is best for today.

A good rule of thumb is to choose a Highlight that takes sixty to ninety minutes.

I decided to scrap my editing goal for the day and instead focus on enjoying the dinner with friends. When I made that choice, my whole day turned around. I could let go and enjoy.

My solution to the to-do-list problem is to separate the decision about what to do from the act of doing it. I call my approach the Might-Do List.

Projects sit on your Might-Do List until you decide to make them your Highlight and schedule them on your calendar.

Yes, it’s detailed. Very detailed. He actually blocked time for making coffee and showering! JZ designs his time like this nearly every day. In the evening, he looks back and quickly evaluates his schedule for what worked and what didn’t and compares his plan with how he really spent his time. Then he adjusts his future schedule to account for what he’s learned.

recommended by Cal Newport in Deep Work: writing my schedule on a piece of blank paper, then replanning throughout the day as things change and evolve, like this: It worked.

Tech companies make money when you use their products. They won’t offer you small doses voluntarily; they’ll offer you a fire hose. And if these Infinity Pools are hard to resist today, they’ll be harder to resist tomorrow.

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.