Make Time

How to Focus on What Matters Every Day

By: Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky

Narrated by: Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky

Length: 4 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

From the New York Times bestselling authors of Sprint comes “a unique and engaging listen about a proven habit framework [that] readers can apply to each day” (Insider, Best Books to Form New Habits).

“If you want to achieve more (without going nuts), read this book.”—Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit

Nobody ever looked at an empty calendar and said, "The best way to spend this time is by cramming it full of meetings!" or got to work in the morning and thought, Today I'll spend hours on Facebook! Yet that's exactly what we do. Why?

In a world where information refreshes endlessly and the workday feels like a race to react to other people's priorities faster, frazzled and distracted has become our default position. But what if the exhaustion of constant busyness wasn't mandatory? What if you could step off the hamster wheel and start taking control of your time and attention? That's what this book is about.

As creators of Google Ventures' renowned "design sprint," Jake and John have helped hundreds of teams solve important problems by changing how they work. Building on the success of these sprints and their experience designing ubiquitous tech products from Gmail to YouTube, they spent years experimenting with their own habits and routines, looking for ways to help people optimize their energy, focus, and time. Now they've packaged the most effective tactics into a four-step daily framework that anyone can use to systematically design their days. Make Time is not a one-size-fits-all formula. Instead, it offers a customizable menu of bite-size tips and strategies that can be tailored to individual habits and lifestyles.

Make Time isn't about productivity, or checking off more to-dos. Nor does it propose unrealistic solutions like throwing out your smartphone or swearing off social media. Making time isn't about radically overhauling your lifestyle; it's about making small shifts in your environment to liberate yourself from constant busyness and distraction.

A must-listen for anyone who has ever thought, "If only there were more hours in the day..." Make Time will help you stop passively reacting to the demands of the modern world and start intentionally making time for the things that matter.

©2018 Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Too often, we get bogged down in the demands of each day and struggle to find time for what really matters. In this powerful book, Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky explain how small changes in the design of our days can give us more time for the people and activities that energize and fulfill us.  Essential reading for anyone who wants to create a happier, more successful life. –Gretchen Rubin, bestselling author of The Happiness Project and The Four Tendencies

“As someone obsessed with time and how to spend it wisely, I loved this fun and useful book. Not your normal productivity fare.” —Ev Williams, founder of Medium and Twitter

"I defy you to read this book and not come away with ideas that make you happier and/or more effective in accomplishing what you want in life. It’s smart, entertaining, and packed with field-tested insights." —Dan Heath, bestselling co-author of The Power of Moments and Switch

Multiple Times

I listen to the book multiple times and every time I get more nuggets of information. The advise is simple and easily applicable. Recommended read if you are looking to take back control of your life and live in peace. This of course if you apply the tactics in the book.

Great insights, practical tips, and well narrated!

Loved it! Great insights, practical tips, and well narrated by the authors that keep it moving, fun, and interesting!

Beginning with Time itself...

'Make Time' is my first real foray into the Audible world. For a couple of chapters, I was distracted by trying to find out which voice belongs to which one of the two narrators (and authors). The overall information wasn't that critical in these 'pages' and didn't deter me from continuing with the book. It did make me think that, as much as possible, the authors should narrate their own books. It makes a better connection with the readers.
On to the contents... this is an ideal beginning of the year read/listen. You are in the right frame of mind to delve into the ideas presented here around organizing your life. The ideas can be condensed into something my mom used to tell me during school days - 'Ondre sei, Nandre sei, Adhai indre sei!' - 'Do one thing, Do it well, Do it now' - she, of course, didn't offer me a printed list of tactics but these guys do. They use my mom's tenets but under the names 'Highlight, Laser and Energize'. I implemented one tactic straight away and I have to say, it really gave me focus and energy to me every day. The rest of the tactics here lie between 'tried it' and 'not doing it'.

Simple tips to make life better!

Wow! Simple proven tips to help get your life in order and accomplish your goals and dreams. Jake and JZ figured out for us. The best part was realizing I was already doing it and now I can make it even better!

Practical

Great to see a really practical book, written for real people, with real lives. Lots of suggestions and ways to implement the ideas.

Serious of blog posts put into book form.

Struggled to finish this book at the end but overall it had some good tactics and ways to be more intentional.

Get Productive

From the source, glad to read the useful personal experiences and actionable responses and new routines for making time.

Fun book, realistic actions you can take

Great book with easy take-always. The authors are realistic in noting not all suggestions will apply.

Simple framework to “create” more time on things that Mattel

Very light reading and the reading makes it fun. Would recomend to anyone trying to regain control of their lives timewise

Huh! A Book of… Tactics?

Honestly, I think this was a wonderful book. I think that the presentation was a little bit unorthodox, instead of higher level philosophy, it’s more specific tactics to implement into your life. I love Jake and JZ (John Zeratzky’s) presentation, and it’s an incredibly “down to earth” book. I wish I would’ve picked up the physical copy from my local library, as it’s difficult to remember the tactics after hearing them, as there’s many of them. So, it feels like a constant note taking game. But, I’ve felt the same with other books.
Overall, I’d recommend the book to anyone! And I’m absolutely going to be trying some tactics. It doesn’t seem like a gimmick to me, it seems like a well intentioned book to spend your time more intentionally.