Make Time

Let’s be real: we all know that feeling of being constantly busy while simultaneously achieving absolutely nothing. You are moving, you are working, you are „doing,“ but at the end of the day, you can’t point to a single thing that actually feels right. I have been stuck in that cycle lately, which is exactly why I picked up Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day* by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky. I haven’t even finished the last chapters yet, but the book has already triggered so many thoughts that I had to get them out of my head and onto this page. This isn’t just a review: it is an exploration of how I am hacking my own time management strategies.

The War Against To-Do List Burnout

The first few chapters of the book dive into how traditional to-do lists are often broken. For a lot of people, those lists are just a recipe for to-do list burnout. The authors suggest that maybe we should look at them differently, but I have to be honest: their specific „to-do lists are bad“ angle doesn’t quite sit right with me.

As I have mentioned before, your brain is for having ideas, not holding them. If I don’t write something down, it is gone. Period. So, I write everything down. Every tiny task becomes a to-do. Does my list stretch to the moon like my podcast queue? Absolutely.

But here is my personal „Mayhem“ twist on productivity: I have realized that pushing a task back for weeks until I finally delete it is actually a form of success. If I have ignored a task for a month and the world hasn’t ended, that task probably didn’t need to exist in the first place. Deleting it provides a massive amount of mental relief. It is about clearing out the basement so my brain has space for the „Pulse“ projects that actually matter.

Adaptation over Perfection

One big takeaway from the book is the idea of blocking time in your calendar for yourself. The goal is to create a „Grid“ for your day where nobody else can dump their meetings. While the literal implementation of a strict calendar doesn’t always work for me – I tend to hit a wall when things don’t go exactly to plan – the core philosophy is solid.

It is about protecting your energy. Instead of following a rigid system like a straightjacket, I am trying to adapt the „Make Time“ mindset to fit my own productivity habits. For me, that means being more radical about what stays in my active workspace.

The Power of a Clear „No“

The most impactful thing I have taken from the book so far is the importance of honesty. Not just with others, but with myself. When you don’t want to do something, stop making up excuses. Stop saying „I don’t have time.“ Just be honest about why you aren’t doing it.

In a work context, we all have tasks we hate but have to finish. That is life. But that doesn’t mean we have to let a two-hour meeting actually take two hours just because it was scheduled that way. We need to stop letting „perfect“ be the enemy of „good enough“ and just focus on the work that moves the needle.

Final Thoughts (For Now)

I am definitely going to finish this Make Time book review once I close the back cover, but even if I don’t agree with every single tactic, the trigger was worth it. Reading non-fiction is less about following a manual and more about finding the sparks that help you refine your own system.

If you feel like your phone is eating your day and you are looking for a way to stay present, this book is a great place to start. It’s about making sure your daily decisions actually align with your long-term strategy.

_{*Disclaimer:
Some of the links on this page are referral links, meaning that if you make a purchase through them, both you and I may receive a small benefit (such as a discount, credit, or bonus). This comes at no extra cost to you. Prices remain the same whether you use the link or not. These links simply help support my work while also giving you something in return. I only recommend products or services that I genuinely believe in.} If you would like to support me, you have the option to „buy me a coffee„, but that is absolutely not a requirement and you should only consider it if you have nothing better to do with your money!