Since the early 00s boom in productivity optimization, today’s guest John Zeratsky has seen how much our relationship with time has evolved. As a writer and speaker, John is on a mission to help people make time for what matters.
How do you manage your time? There’s no one-size-fits-all tactic, but John Zeratsky‘s latest book ‘Make Time’ runs through tried and tested approaches for us to cherry pick, so I was super excited to catch up with him and run through some of these exercises. Tune in as we discuss reflection time, the power of default settings and breaking bad habits with friction.
John’s quest for mastering time management was born from his career in design, web development and copywriting. He’s worked with numerous startups including Netflix, Slack, Airbnb, Uber, 23andMe and Medium, and his writing has appeared in publications like Wall Street Journal, Wired and Fast Company.
Talking Points
- How he formed his partnership with Jake Knapp and where their fascination of time came from
- Making everything in the book simple and doable
- Approaching work as a designer
- Distinction between simple and easy
- The role of friction and how it breaks habits
- What ground hogging means to John
- What is a time crater and what are the time craters John struggles with?
- Taking caffeine naps to boost energy
- The first productivity app John ever used
“When it comes to our own time, this finite precious resource that we have, we don’t often look back and say, what did I really do today?“
– John Zeratsky
Helpful Links
- Make Time | Amazon
- Jake Knapp
- Time Dorks
- Google Ventures
- Design Sprint Process
- Design Sprint | Amazon
- Getting Things Done | Amazon
- Episode 203: The Evolution of Getting Things Done with David Allen
- Episode 229: Exploring Digital Minimalism with Cal Newport
- Sleep Cycle
- 43 Folders
- Indistractable | Amazon
- Philips Wake Up Alarm Clock
- Austin Kleon’s caffeine nap
- Mori App
- TeuxDeux
- MakeTime.blog
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