The Better Show
Make Time - How to Focus on What Matters Every Day
Episode Summary
Do you ever look back and wonder "what did I really do today?" Living life on auto-pilot is a rut many of us eventually fall into. Getting out of that rut is the focus of the book: Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky. In this episode we take a look at their latest book about focusing on what matters. We discuss the insights and strategies from the book and figure out which ones we can apply to our own lives.
Episode Notes
Order your copy here: Make Time by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky
Show Notes
- 1:42 — The authors’ backgrounds and why they were uniquely qualified to write a book about focus.
- 3:31 — Ian discusses why this book, in particular, is a valuable resource in helping you make improvements in your system of focus and why the method in this book is different than other productivity methods.
- 8:30 — March discusses his personal strategies for maintaining his focus including the way he uses his calendar and estimating the time required for each task on his to-do list.
- 12:52 — Darren reflect on his favorite tool for maintaining focus — The Productivity Planner — and some of the similarities between its method and the method outlined in Make Time.
- 14:45 — Ian talks about his desire to be more intentional in the way he spends his time.
- 15:59 — Ian provides an overview of the 4-step Make Time process beginning with the highlight of your day.
- 18:41 — What is the “busy bandwagon” and what is an “infinity pool”?
- 23:40 — Setting new defaults for yourself starting with selecting your daily highlight.
- 28:10 — What are the characteristics of a good daily highlight?
- 30:50 — Ian describes several of the methods offered in Make Time for how to make time for your highlight.
- 32:50 — How to get (and stay) laser-focused on your highlight during your day.
- 34:17 — March’s tip for using YouTube’s “watch later” list to batch his distractions.
- 35:10 — Ian describes a super-tip offered in Make Time called “random question time.”
- 37:02 — The importance of staying energized to reinforce your focus and productivity.
- 39:30 — How the Make Time method uses the scientific method for continuous improvement.
- 44:01 — Darren, March and Ian’s key takeaways and the things they are going to incorporate in their lives.
- 39:30 — We identify the “better next step” for listeners who want to incorporate one key thing from this episode.
Mentions