Make Time by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky, is one of the books that I always recommend to CTOs and engineering leaders. It's concise, super pragmatic and actionable. A few lessons I learned from the book:
⏳ Most of our time is spent by default: our professional calendars are full of events created by others, our attention is captured by notifications sent by others, and our leisure is filled with content created by others.
🔄 The Make Time methodology is just four steps, repeated every day: choosing a highlight to prioritise your day, staying laser-focused on that highlight, building energy and finally reflecting on the day.
🔦 Focusing on a daily highlight creates a sense of purpose and achievement. It allows us to tackle bigger projects (one highlight after the other) and avoids spending the whole day on e-mails and Slack.
🚧 You can create barriers to distractions by scheduling 50 to 90 minutes focus times where you cut all notifications, and use breaks to check back e-mails and social media.
🔋 If you want energy for your brain, you need to take care of your body. Energy generation comes from exercise, diet, sleep and escapes moments.
🤔 To adjust and improve your system, it's important to reflect on your day before going to bed. For that, you need to take a few notes and decide which tactics you want to continue and which ones you want to refine or drop.
Get Make Time 👇
John Zeratsky