This is one of those books which inclined with me more on time management. As I am always interested in forming new habits and wish to be an stress-free person, this book helped me a lot to redesign my hours to get work done easily. The authors are Jake Knap and John Zeratsky who had spent more than ten years in Google and Youtube correspondingly. Based on huge experiences, the authors have discussed lots and lots of techniques which they had tried and tested before adapting and scheduling efficient working hours. They explained the experiences and the techniques which worked out for them. Obviously, for both of them no same technique had worked out and their personal struggles for flopped techniques had been too discussed.
To share the gist of the book, it was modeled in a simple flow diagram as shown in my customized image.
HIGHLIGHT
The authors say to prioritize the most important task of the day to be done as highlight. The highlight has to chosen in the way that it only requires one hour. It must be the work you are more satisfied of, which gives self approval of something you have done useful for that day. And it must be the work that should make your day.
It is not compulsory that the highlight must be something related to your professional work, it could be even your pre-prep for meals, or a good walk in the evening or it might be a peaceful afternoon nap. It solely based upon your choices. It should make you feel happy and satisfied. THAT’S IT.
After setting your highlight, choosing the time to do is important. Find out the best time you are more efficient of your day to do your highlight. Definitely, it varies from person to person, few might be more active in the morning, few wish to be a night owl.
Kindly, say big NO to other works delegated to you during your highlight time, and block your calendar for 1 hour to do your work. It is like you are assigning work to yourself.
LASER
The longer you remain focused on your highlights, the better your work will be. Small distractions demands time to get back to your work from where you left. So set a laser mode while doing highlight i.e., distraction free mode.
To stop distractions, turn off notifications during highlight time, get rid of infinity pools (social media) and make your phone distraction free. Make it tough to access the most wanted things (things you crave for) during highlight time. For example, you can log out from social media applications so that you will find lazy to login again.
To stay out of infinity pools, have clear home screen in mobile, hide your apps which get your attention, put your electronic devices away.
In general, if you are a person spending most of your time in internet, set timer to your internet access, ignore news, skip morning check in.
ENERGIZE
If you want energy for your brain, you need to take care of your body. Our ancestors have good physical energy which we lack nowadays. Both the mental and physical health are interconnected always.
Therefore, act like caveman, keep moving as much as possible. Take stairs when you can. Exercise for minimum 20 minutes. In the name of taking break, do not jump into social media, it will again clutter your mind. Take a walk and get in touch with nature, cook to have a meditative mind. Take your eyes away from screens and see the sky!
Maintain the internal clock of your body i.e., EARLY TO BED EARLY TO RISE. Fake sunsets by dimming lights and screening curtains after 6:00 PM, set night mode in your mobile, to trigger your brain rest signal. Automatically, your body will turn tired.
REFLECT
Daily night, write a journal to reflect on your highlights, laser, energize mode. Valuate it, try to improve if something went wrong. If it is done right, self congratulate yourself.
Initially, it might be tough to follow. Every morning, I do follow it by writing my highlight in my personal notebook. When days run by, it would eventually became a habit!
Unknowingly, the process of your goal would have already begun by doing your highlight each day.
BEST QUOTE OUT OF THE BOOK
SOMETHING MAGIC HAPPENS WHEN YOU START THE DAY WITH ONE HIGHT-PRIORITY GOAL
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Feel free to annoy me anytime, anywhere,
Shaaru😊