Make Time: How to focus on what matters every day

by Jake Knapp

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.

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

by challenging the standard behaviors in our efficiency-obsessed, distraction-saturated world, you can get the best of technology and put yourself back in control. And once you take control, you can change the game.

You can’t wait for companies or government regulators to give your focus back. If you want control, you have to redesign your own relationship with technology.

And yet it would be a relief in a way not to be bothered with it any more … Sometimes I have felt it was like an eye looking at me … I found I couldn’t rest without it in my pocket. —BILBO BAGGINS

How many of those headlines are designed to provoke anxiety?

It’s a cruel irony of modern life that we’re surrounded by people yet more isolated than ever.

A newborn baby is kind of like a loss of cabin pressure, and if you don’t take care of yourself (at least a little), you can’t be a great caretaker.

Do not ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.