How to Make Time to Do Important Things

Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day, ft. my tips on taking it to the next level

For your convenience, this is ordered as follows:

1. What made me read this book
2. Summary of the book
3. Notes on the book & my comments
4. How the book impacted me

1/4 What made me read this book

Being more productive didn’t mean I was doing the most important work;
it only meant I was reacting to other people’s priorities faster.

How can you be doing everything…

…and still feel like you did nothing at the same time?

When I was getting eaten alive by engineering school and the workforce, I knew I was doing a lot.

And yet, I felt unfulfilled.

Is this you too?

Here’s how Make Time helped bring joy back to my busy days.

2/4 Summary

It boils down to these 4: highlight, laser, energize, reflect.

Highlight

Figure out what matters most to you (i.e. groups, values).
Make that your single activity to prioritize and protect in your calendar.

Laser

Stay focused on your chosen highlight.
Find out what distracts you, and then reduce it in order to be less distracted.

Energize

Keep yourself in good condition so you stay focused.
This means:

1. exercising
2. eating well
3. sleeping well
4. having quiet time
5. having face-to-face time

Reflect

Look back at how the day went.
See what worked (and what can be changed) so you can stay more focused on your chosen highlight for tomorrow.

Make Time covers a lot of ways to implement this 4-step system.

I’ll dive into the methods I used (plus tips on how I took it further) under Notes & Comments.

3/4 Notes & Comments

Note: the book has other tips on top of these.

These are just the ones that worked best for me.

Highlight

#3 Stack Rank Your Life

1. Make a list of the big things that matter in your life.
2. Choose the one most important thing.
3. Then sort the rest by priority.

This helped me feel less guilty about my decisions.

It also prompted me to communicate more proactively.

For example — say I have a week with lots of work deadlines.

I’d give my capstone team (team of classmates you work with on a year-long project) a heads up that my priorities for the week have changed.

I’d also make sure to leave my capstone team in a good spot before pulling back to help out more with work engagements.

#8 Schedule Your Highlight

1. Think about how much time you want for your highlight.
2. Then when you want to do your highlight.
3. Then put it on the calendar (and protect that time).

I make my highlight as close to the first thing in my day as possible.

That feeling of accomplishment first thing in the morning energizes the rest of my day.

I take this a step further by trying to organize my day by importance.

For me, this is:

1. Prayer
2. Exercise
3. Personal highlight (ex. milestone on work project, going to a social event)

Sometimes some events have to happen at certain times:

• work meetings
• appointments
• other social events

But I’m happier knowing I did my best to give my peak energy and focus to my most important things.

Taking time for prayer and exercise (i.e. things that are very important to me) makes me feel accomplished even if I don’t finish my personal highlight.

#9 Block your calendar.

Schedule time with yourself to get your most important tasks done.

This gives you the best chance of actually doing things related to your highlight.

This also let me clearly see how much spare time I really had once I accounted for my own personal goals.

Just don’t go overboard — your team still needs you.

But know you have more influence over your schedule than you think.

#13 Design your day

1. Plan your day hour by hour.
2. Get as detailed as possible.

This is the most powerful tip I ever put in practice.

Sure, my calendar looks insane at first glance:

Example Sunday. Yes, I even scheduled in showering and sleeping.

But it’s because I put everything into my calendar.

I love using Google Calendar to plan my week since I can:

• clearly allocate time for events that need to happen that day
• quickly reschedule time to do things if something comes up
• sanity check whether I actually have time for something or not
• keep myself accountable in the form of a casual time study
• better estimate how long events usually go for in the future

Combine this with Stack Rank Your Life, Schedule Your Highlight, & Block Your Calendar and your default day is generally happier.

This also helps me reflect on how the day went and how I felt about it.

(See Reflect later in this section for more details.)

Laser

#17 Create a distraction-free phone

Delete social media apps, email, and your web browser.

I thought I would be ok deleting these.

I don’t use social media apps like Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok anyways.

But I had to re-install Facebook Messenger, email, and my web browser after trying to go without them for a week.

(I needed them for work and connecting with certain friends).

However, doing this purge helped me determine that my web browser was responsible for 80% of my phone time.

So I just added a hard time limit on my mobile web browser.

#18 Log out

Log out of everything once you’re done for the day.

That extra step to login actually worked to deter me.

Even better: don’t let your browser auto-fill your login info.

This gives you extra time to pause and think…

Do you really need to be on Instagram right now?

#19 Nix notifications

Turn every single notification off, except for critical ones.

I started by turning everything off except for calendar reminders and texts from parents and close friends.

Now, most of my notifications are still off (including emails).

This tip has helped me become more present in general.

Turning off most notifications keeps me focused on the people I’m with or the task I’m trying to do.

#20 Clear Your Homescreen

Make your home page entirely free of apps.

Use a picture of nature as your background.

I felt surprisingly soothed by a phone background of just nature & no apps.

I did find it too blinding sometimes (ex. at night on the sidewalk or on a bus with dim lighting).

My home page now has:

• a minimalist background (nearly entirely black)
• apps I’m consciously trying to spend more time on (ex. Duolingo & The Economist)
• grayscale turned on (the less colourful your phone is, the easier it is to put it down)

#23 Skip the morning check-in

Don’t immediately reach for email, social media, or news as soon as you wake up.

It’s easier to replace an action with another action rather than leave a void.

For me, I chose to start the day with prayer and exercise instead.

It gave my mood a huge boost.

Try replacing your morning news with something that you like more.

Perhaps coffee.

Or getting fresh air.

#27 Airplane mode

Take advantage of your isolation on an airplane to get work done.

Don’t have any upcoming flights?

You can pretend you’re in an airplane instead.

Here’s how I do it:

1. Play airplane white noise
2. Turn off my phone entirely
3. Use StayFocused’s nuclear option to block distracting websites

#33 Become a fair-weather fan

Let go of your obligation to watch every single live sports game and replay.

For example — Formula One races can be up to 2 hours long.

Just watching highlights (usually under 10 minutes) meant I could keep up with the championship and get more meaningful work done.

#35 Schedule email time

At work, I only check email twice:

1. In the morning, after I’ve had coffee and caught up with co-workers
2. Lunch, after I finish eating

This is usually enough for me to respond to emails in a timely manner.

If you’re in sales or customer service, this might not be as helpful.

#43 — #47: Manage TV time

These days, I just don’t watch TV unless:

• it’s not in English (it’s my lazy way of learning non-English words), or
• I’m watching with friends and/or family

For YouTube, I use an add-in to block YouTube shorts.

#48 Shut the door

My office is open concept.

If I really need to focus on something, I wear headphones.

Even if I’m not playing any music.

People see my headphones and decide to:

1. Text me or
2. Just talk to me later instead.

#49 Invent a deadline

This is especially good for tasks with no external deadline (i.e. because it’s related to a personal goal).

For example — this post.

I told myself I’d post this by the end of the week.

Here it is!

#51 Play a soundtrack

Play a soundtrack to get you in the mood for working (but save it for that work only).

For my capstone course, my playlist was 95% Billy Talent.

(Last year, Spotify told me I was a top 0.1% Billy Talent listener. I was shocked too).

Even now, when I need extra motivation to get through gruelling paperwork…I still put on Billy Talent.

Energize — Take care of yourself

#61 Exercise every day

I went to the university gym every morning before work when I still had student access.

It was relaxing to have some other goal beyond graduating and making it through Q4 at work.

Since graduating, I’ve switched to just doing a small workout at home before work — pullups, ab holds, and glute bridges with a resistance band.

#62 Walk

Walking can be peaceful and therapeutic.

I try to walk around or stand as much as possible in my day — for example:

• walk from the train station to my office, and vice versa
• do a lap around the office when I need a break
• stand while having a meeting (if it’s not in the boardroom)
• stand while working
• walk around outside while on a phone call

#64 Super Short Workout

My favourite mini-exercises at my office are:

• doing light arm exercises with stock material outside the machine shop (stainless steel bars have good weight to them)
• going two-by-two up the stairs
• calf raises
• bodyweight exercises off of YouTube

#65 Eat like a Hunter-Gatherer

Focusing on eating whole foods and non-processed ingredients helped boost my mood and energy levels.

I still eat dessert with friends if we’re out though.

#66 Put salad on your plate first, then add everything else around it

I confess I only started doing this recently.

My hairstylist told me eating mostly vegetables and diligently moisturizing her face was what helped keep her skin in good condition.

So, I decided to try ordering more salads for my meals…

and found out I actually really enjoy salads.

I also feel a lot lighter and less sluggish afterwards.

As a bonus, my skin looks clearer too.

#67 Intermittent Fasting

I thought I had to eat breakfast all the time.

Then I tried just having black coffee & a protein shake before work.

Surprisingly, I felt lighter and functioned the same as if I had breakfast to begin with.

I do sometimes eat breakfast if I know my day ahead will be more active than normal (ex. full day of machining).

#72 Caffeine Nap

When you feel tired, drink some coffee, and then nap for 15–20 minutes.

This worked for me in high school, university, and after graduation.

If your body doesn’t handle coffee well though, stick to regular naps.

#75 Last Call for Coffee

Drink coffee responsibly — consider the half-life of coffee before drinking.

Start your cut-off point at lunch (1–2PM), then go from there.

After a year of experimenting, I figured out I can still sleep if I cut myself off by 4PM.

Side story: In 3rd year, I once convinced myself that drinking a Vietnamese Iced Coffee at 8PM would keep me awake enough to study for a midterm.

It kept me awake all right.

But none of that time went towards studying.

Don’t be 3rd year me.

Be wise.

Have boundaries on your coffee intake.

#76 Disconnect sugar

Eating sugary foods usually makes me feel anxious.

I save it for special occasions (ex. dessert with friends, parties).

My anxiety has decreased a lot since this change.

#80 Take real breaks, without screens

My optometrist once told me (politely) that

my eyes are drier than the Sahara Desert.

However, my work requires long hours at the computer.

He told me to do the 20/20/20:

Look at something 20 meters away for 20 seconds every 20 minutes.

(I love outsourcing my willpower.

So yes, I use an app to remind me instead.

It blurs my screen and directs me to take a break.)

#81 Spend time (ie. have real conversations) with your tribe

1. Think of someone who energizes you when you spend time with them.
2. Go have a real conversation with them — phone is fine as long as your voice is involved.
3. Reflect on your energy level afterward.

This can be anything from:

• a meal with a friend
• a phone call to your parents
• a coffee chat with someone you met yesterday

This is how I discovered I actually enjoyed talking to people more than I thought I did.

(Or maybe it’s just over-compensation after the pandemic.)

#83 Make your bedroom a bed room

Keep your phone (and anything with a bright backlight) out of your bedroom.

Use a dedicated alarm clock instead.

Want even better sleep?

1. Install blackout curtains
2. Use earplugs
3. Use a sleeping mask

Especially if you:

• live beside a major road (mine is notorious for late-night street racing and car accidents)
• live in a neighbourhood with bright street lighting
• live with roommates who have a different sleeping schedule than you

#87 Put on your own oxygen mask first

Scheduling in self-care is important.

If you don’t take care of yourself, how will you have the energy to take care of other people?

Reflect

My most useful criteria is to ask myself:

1. Was this activity in line with my goals and values?
2. Did the activity fill me with energy? Or drain me?
3. Based on that knowledge, how can I make tomorrow a better day?

I also colour-code events as I go — for example:

• purple, if it’s related to my personal values (ex. church), gives me energy (ex. lunch with friends, dinner with family), and/or is non-negotiable (end-of-day reflection)
• orange, if it’s neutral or passive time (transit)
• blue, if it’s specifically related to learning a skill (ex. time I set aside to read a book, or listen to a podcast)
• dark green, if it’s exercise (exercise has its separate category because I count vacuuming the house in here)

This gives me a good visual indicator of how I spent my week.

Then I look back at my calendar and adjust my schedule to take advantage of where my energy levels usually peak or dip.

For example, I find that my best weekdays tend to fall into 4 parts:

1. early morning (5AM–8AM), which I save for prayer, exercise, and a task related to my highest priority personal goal
2. morning (8AM–12PM) for work requiring lots of focus
3. afternoons (12PM — 6PM) for work requiring less focus (ex. documentation, some work meetings and calls) and social events
4. evenings (6PM — 9PMish) for social events only — I don’t usually make much progress on work at night anyways, so just have fun.

Then I try to repeat that schedule for better days ahead.

4/4 How the book impacted me

My biggest takeaway?

Reframe your to-do list as a highlight + bonuses.

Shifting my mindset from:

(sigh) I didn’t finish everything.

I only got 9/10 things done.

to:

Wow. I did the one thing I really wanted to do.

And eight other things on top of that!

made me feel much more happy and motivated throughout my day.

Using these tips also gave me the headspace and courage to ask:

Is this still how I wanted to spend my time and energy after graduation?

I’m still figuring that out for myself.

But now, I know how to make time to explore life beyond engineering.