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Make Time cover art

Make Time

Written by: Jake Knapp,John Zeratsky
Narrated by: Jake Knapp,John Zeratsky
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Publisher's Summary

From the New York Times best-selling authors of Sprint comes a simple four-step system for improving focus, finding greater joy in your work, and getting more out of every day.

"A charming manifesto - as well as an intrepid do-it-yourself guide to building smart habits that stick. If you want to achieve more (without going nuts), read this book." (Charles Duhigg, best-selling author of The Power of Habit and Smarter Faster Better)

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

What the critics say

"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. Make Time is essential reading for anyone who wants to create a happier, more successful life." (Gretchen Rubin, best-selling author of The Happiness Project and The Four Tendencies)

"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, best-selling coauthor of The Power of Moments)

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What listeners say about Make Time

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Simple and Effective

This is a great, easy listen packed with advice that, for me, felt simple yet insightful and helpful. I chose it on a whim as my next Audible read, and found it to be a very motivating and delightful listen. The two authors used themselves and the principal guinea pigs in developing a lot of their tactics (though they also reference studies and their work experience leading teams at Google and Youtube), and the personal examples which often worked for one but not the other really helped to humanize these tactics, deeming them feasible but not over-simplified, cookie-cutter methods. The style of the book is a mix between almost bullet-form, numbered tactics followed by explanations/elaborations.

I felt most impacted by the boundaries that the authors suggested we place between us and our technological traps, or 'infinity pools', as referenced in the book, and by the emphasis that was placed on the power of prioritizing. There was great insight into how the mindless spending of our time is time directly taken away from our priorities- which don't have to be, and often are not necessarily work-related. I already feel that my days have become more productive and that these practices will only grow and become more sustainable with time. Definitely will listen again to refresh my brain on further tactics as I make progress and wish to implement more!

Also, the authors have a great reading pace with a pleasant, charismatic tone!

3 people found this helpful

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Love it! A life saver

Reading this book has changed my life and put priorities back where they belong. Thanks!

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Did they work for Google?

I found most of the book to be very repetitive and largely anecdotal without any real evidence behind their findings.

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Great read with lots of practical tips

Enjoyed this book with a compilation of little tips to get more energy, reduce distractions and fit in your top priority daily. Is there a summary document somewhere? I feel like that would be great as it’s a lot of little things to remember. I may give it another listen to try to better remember all that I’ve learned

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Brilliant

So smart and useful for addressing work-life-social media balance, just brilliant! Strongly recommend this

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Great book, but nothing really new

I loved the book. Great concept and easy reading. But nothing really new on the topic of productivity. They rehash old productivity/time management principles that were already teached in so many books.

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Thanks

I've genuinely got a better grasp on how I can and should manage my time. My adulthood feels like it's zooming by because of all the distractions available, but at the end of the day, it's manageable after breaking long time habits.

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well worth the read

This is not only an excellent book, but an excellent Audible book as well. It was super easy to grasp and it held my attention the entire time which is rare for me.

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A bit repetitive and I think on purpose

The authors make this book really entertaining and the stories are compelling. There is quite bit of repetition, which I guess would work when reading it. As an audiobook it doesn't work as well. Still love the content and hacks to be more productive presented without being lesson givers.

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Eating their own dog food

The Make Time book is a cookbook of recipes to disrupt your own "fake win"-seeking "default" behaviours and enable you to instead focus on what is important to you. I liked the fact that the authors had a happy ending in that they applied their own tactics in order to change their own lives. What the authors were doing when they started the book is not what they were doing when they finished it -- and they transformed their lives little-by-little by following the tactics enumerated in this book. Initially, I found the switching between authors voices to be jarring, but eventually became accustomed to it as the book went on.

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  • Elena
  • 2019-03-18

it's awesome but not to use it in audible.

You cannot see a lot of pics, so I don't recomend this book in audible, you loose one of tho most important parts.

20 people found this helpful

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  • Anonymous User
  • 2023-03-03

Realistic actions you can take

Great book with easy take-always. The authors are realistic in noting not all suggestions will apply.
Super helpful and has great detail. Definitely will be trying a lot of the techniques in this book.
These two guys are a little corny, but it works. buy credits audibledeals dotcom They give the book personality. This is a fantastic listen and I definitely learned from listening to it.

18 people found this helpful

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  • David Alvo
  • 2019-03-10

good for newbies

if you have read James clear or any gtd book won't find anything new. I personally preferred focus hyperfocus by Chris Bailey

16 people found this helpful

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  • bobby
  • 2018-11-02

A few good ideas...

Great energy in the read. Overall it was nothing new. It would have been helpful to have more examples of daily highlights. That's the biggest takeaway for me but I'm struggling to find meaningful highlights and would benefit from some guidance.

12 people found this helpful

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  • The Rahwans
  • 2020-11-09

Good System for Self-Development

The authors synthesize tips and tactics from the self-help, lifestyle design, and pop neuroscience genres. The end result is three hypotheses and one reflection:
1) Life will not slip by if you set a dedicated 60-90 min time block for a “highlight” each day.
2) Block out distractions of the modern era to protect your “highlight” so that you focus on on thing at a time.
3) Build sustainable sleep, diet, and exercise habits so that you have the energy to enjoy your highlight and time with loved ones.
4) Apply the scientific method on yourself, performing experiments in each of the three hypothesis above.

The authors could have gone without their corny humor and organized the book better. Specifically, I believe they should have taken more time to generalize across the laundry list of tips and spelled out the “Make time” system better.
Overall, the authors have assembled the most comprehensive and yet simple assembly of lifestyle design tips I have found. I believe the most unique and powerful takeaway from the book is to practice the daily system of determining tomorrow’s “highlight” and using the calendar and freedom app to make it happen.
Best paired with “Atomic Habits” by James Clear and Cal Newport’s books for execution. Add in Tim Ferris’ “Four Hour Workweek” and David Goggin’s “Can’t Hurt Me” for mindset.

9 people found this helpful

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  • Randee Nicolay
  • 2020-05-16

Great for motivated individuals who can’t EXECUTE!

These guys really help you to get your ducks in a row. It’s accessible—practical advice that has assisted me in getting to my next level professionally.

9 people found this helpful

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  • Kindle Customer
  • 2021-04-10

Aimed for the younger white collar demographic

This audiobook has some good advice, but it is mostly aimed for the younger white collar demographic, delete apps from your smart devices, have a time limit responding to emails, sleep well, eat well, exercise, enjoy nature, etc...

8 people found this helpful

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  • Elena G
  • 2018-11-29

Real life advice from real people

I read many books about efficiency and time management and many of them tell you right things - stop doing this and that, focus on what matters to you but they don't tell you HOW. The most precious thing is TIME. It doesn't matter where you focus is if your time isn't allocated correctly to be committed to your goals. This book specifically describes ~90 rules to help you shut down the noise, raise productivity and efficiency and make time for whatever you want to focus on. Some steps are easy, others are tricky but they actually work!

8 people found this helpful

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  • A. Yoshida
  • 2020-01-06

Typical Techniques for Increasing Productivity

There isn't anything original about concepts and techniques. It is probably useful for those who haven't read any books on productivity or time management. The basic premise is to repeat these 4 steps:
1. Identify a daily goal
2. Focus on the daily goal (such a scheduling time on your calendar)
3. Energize (health and sleep)
4. Reflect, meditate

7 people found this helpful

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  • RanDee
  • 2021-02-05

Good read and advice

They do a great job of breaking down the techniques simply and in a way you can actually implement in life. Things will be a challenge but seems worth the work.

3 people found this helpful

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  • Asb
  • 2021-06-07

Simple and useful tips

The tips presented in this book helped my to organize my time and be more focused. A must read !!

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  • aloysie
  • 2021-01-17

it's a good book

I found some interesting and useful information that I am going to apply in my life. I didn't like the book from the beginning to middle of the book, I actually stopped reading for a period of time and then I started reading it again, the book gets better.