Afterpage

Make Time

Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky

For people whose days disappear into email, feeds, and meetings, who want a light, experimental way to win back an hour or two. Good if big productivity systems haven't stuck for you.

A week with this book

A short summary today, then one small action a day for six days. Free for your first book.

Make Time Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky

Free for your first book. No card. One click to stop.

Day 1

The ideas the week uses

Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky, former Google designers, argue that the defaults of modern life, endless feeds and always-busy schedules, steal our time. Instead of more willpower, they offer a simple daily routine and a menu of tactics to try.

  1. Two forces steal your time. The Busy Bandwagon is the culture of filling every minute with tasks and meetings. Infinity Pools are apps and content that never run out. Both are defaults you can redesign.
  2. Choose a daily Highlight. Each day, pick one activity you want to protect and prioritize. The authors suggest choosing it for urgency, satisfaction, or joy, and giving it 60 to 90 minutes.
  3. Laser in. Protect your Highlight by making distraction harder. Log out of apps, delete the worst ones from your phone, and put speed bumps between you and the Infinity Pools.
  4. Energize your body. Focus depends on energy, and energy depends on movement, food, sleep, and real time with people. Small, simple changes count.
  5. Reflect and experiment. Every evening, note how your Highlight and tactics went. Treat the whole thing as a series of experiments, keeping what works and dropping what doesn't.

Where it overreachesThe tactics are many and light, and some, like deleting email from your phone, aren't practical in every job. The book assumes some control over your schedule.

Days 2 to 7

How to apply Make Time

10 to 20 minutes each, with a two-minute version for a bad day.

Printable week card (one page)

  1. 2Choose today's HighlightChoose one Highlight for today and write it down before you check email.
  2. 3Schedule the HighlightPut tomorrow's Highlight on your calendar as a specific block of time, and protect it.
  3. 4Drain one Infinity PoolDelete or log out of the one app that most often pulls you away from your Highlight.
  4. 5Make your phone boringTurn off all notifications except calls and messages from people, and remove every non-essential app from your home screen.
  5. 6Energize for the HighlightDo one small thing for your energy today, timed to help your Highlight: a short walk before, water and protein instead of a snack, or an earlier night.
  6. 7Reflect and choose your tacticsWrite a short reflection on the week: which Highlights happened, which tactics helped, and which you'll keep.

Sample

Day 3, in full

This is what lands in your inbox that morning.

AfterpageDay 3 of 7 · Action

Schedule the Highlight

Today’s action · 10 to 20 minutes

Put tomorrow's Highlight on your calendar as a specific block of time, and protect it.

How

Choose your best time of day for it. Name the block clearly. If something tries to take that time, move the other thing instead. Treat it like a meeting with someone important.

Why this one

The authors argue that if you don't schedule your Highlight, the Busy Bandwagon will fill the time first.

If today is a bad day

Book a 30-minute calendar block for tomorrow's Highlight.

In short

Questions about this book

Who is Make Time by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky for?

For people whose days disappear into email, feeds, and meetings, who want a light, experimental way to win back an hour or two. Good if big productivity systems haven't stuck for you.

What are the main ideas in Make Time?

Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky, former Google designers, argue that the defaults of modern life, endless feeds and always-busy schedules, steal our time. Instead of more willpower, they offer a simple daily routine and a menu of tactics to try. Two forces steal your time; Choose a daily Highlight; Laser in; Energize your body; Reflect and experiment.

What do you do in the Afterpage week for Make Time?

Day 1 is a short summary. Then one action a day, each 10 to 20 minutes: Choose today's Highlight; Schedule the Highlight; Drain one Infinity Pool; Make your phone boring; Energize for the Highlight; Reflect and choose your tactics. Day 7 also has a recap.

Where does Make Time overreach?

The tactics are many and light, and some, like deleting email from your phone, aren't practical in every job. The book assumes some control over your schedule.

What is the first action in the Make Time week?

Choose today's Highlight. Choose one Highlight for today and write it down before you check email. If you only have two minutes: Write one sentence: “Today's Highlight is...”

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