How I Redesigned My Day to Make Time for Something that Mattered
Finding joy in developing a new routine
Last month I wrote about how Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky’s Make Time method was an ideal solution for anyone looking to take back control of their day and to focus on things that mattered.
This time around, I’m writing about my experience so far in attempting to redesign my day to make time to proceed with a challenge I set for myself at the beginning of this year.
In their book, Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day, Jake and JZ recognize that many of us suffer from a lack of time to do the things we love, and attempt to resolve it. They do this by proposing we redesign our day so that time can be made.
The authors attribute our lack of time to busyness (Busy Bandwagon) and distraction (Infinity Pools). And explain the reason we so willingly feed into these forces is because we’re reacting to defaults, which refer to the systems that are pre-selected in our software and in our society.
The Make Time method is a practical approach to time management that equips readers with doable tactics that can help us adjust the default settings in our lives.
I wasn’t busy, I was super distracted
Towards the end of last year, I made a decision to start reading more non-work related material. Although my job involves a lot of reading, I realized how little reading I had done that wasn’t work related. And so, I made it my 2019 New Year’s resolution to complete the 50 book challenge. Which, for those who’ve never heard of it, is to read 50 books in one year.
For many people, reading 50 books in one year may seem impossible. But I worked out that if I read a book a week, then that’ll be the challenge accomplished. Easy. (Or so I thought!).
I started out really well, completing a book a week for about two months. I was being diligent about how I spent my spare time and ensured to dedicate a chunk of it to reading every evening. Then, I got sick with a cold. And although staying at home and resting seemed the perfect opportunity to do lots of reading, it proved to be the complete opposite.
For the three days I stayed home from work, I was unable to focus. My head got achy whenever I tried to read an excerpt of a text. So to kill time while I was trying to overcome this cold, I resorted to good ol’ Netflix to keep me company.
Since then, my reading has dwindled. I became really lax about how I spent my spare time. Not only did I start binge watching series after series on Netflix, but I also succumbed to my Instagram habit.
As a millennial, I love a bit of Instagram. I don’t know if it’s the pretty travel images, useful cooking videos, or horoscope parodies, but it’s my Kryptonite. If I’m not careful I can find myself spending hours on it. Hours I could be spending on the reading challenge.
Weeks passed and no books were read. I knew I was falling behind on my reading schedule but I still kept watching and scrolling instead of reading. My issue was not that I didn’t have time to read, I was just super distracted. I dove deep into the Infinity Pool that was social media and online streaming, and I saw Jake and JZ’s Make Time method as the lifejacket that could save me before I completely drowned.
How I redesigned my day
Redesigning your day involves following a four-step framework and applying certain tactics. You then repeat the process daily so that you develop a routine that will be unique to your habits and situation.
The four-step framework involves:
- Selecting a highlight (your aim for the day).
- Finding ways to be laser focused so that your highlight can be achieved.
- Keeping yourself energized so you don’t fall prey to distraction.
- Reflecting on your efforts and achievements.
There are over 80 tactics to choose from and you’re free to select however many or few as you want. There is no pressure to choose a certain number, which is what I personally like about this method. You’re free to go at your own pace.
And so, during the course of a week and a half, I went through several tactics. Of course I choose ones that not only appealed to me, but I felt could be helpful towards achieving my highlight. Through a bit of trial and error, I narrowed it down to the following four…
Schedule your Highlight (8)
The very first tactic I applied was to schedule my highlight. Pretty straightforward. I scheduled in either 60 or 90 minutes each day (usually in the evening after dinner) to dedicate to reading.
Not only did I write in my Zenkit calendar, but also on my wall calendar as well. There’s something about physically writing it down that made it seem more permanent and thus, making me really want to achieve it. (Maybe it was the permanent marker I was using?)
Block Distraction Kryptonite (24)
As you all know, my Kryptonite is Instagram. The social networking service that provides an abundance of images and videos at the swipe of my fingertips is the Infinity Pool I struggle to shake off.
In order to stay laser focused, I blocked this Kryptonite. Not only did I sign out of the app, but I also uninstalled it from my phone. I know myself well enough to know that this was the only way I could ensure that I wasn’t going to find myself scrolling through while I was 20 minutes into reading time.
Watch Out for Time Craters (30)
A “time crater” is a small distraction that can build into something bigger. For example, let’s say you allow yourself to reply to a comment on one of your Instagram pictures because it only takes a few seconds to do so. Then, because you’re already logged into the app, you think to yourself “a bit of scrolling won’t hurt anyone”. You start to scroll and come across a product that sparks your interest and click on the provided link for “more details”. Then you find yourself scouring an entire website of different bedding sets which takes a total of 30 minutes. There goes your few seconds of “just” replying to a comment.
When I sat down to read, I made sure I had a glass of water at the ready and anything else I needed that prevented me from getting up and going to another room during the 60 to 90 minutes I allocated. I made sure I was comfortable and that my phone was out of sight (put away in a drawer in another room).
Pound the Pavement (62)
While I’m not much of an exercise buff, I do realize the significance of staying active. Not only is it beneficial for my physical health, but it can help with focus and concentration—things that are valuable towards achieving my highlight.
This is why my I found the energize tactic of pounding the pavement to be my favorite. It encouraged me to move my body without having to exert too much strenuous activity. Whether it was during my lunch break at work or when I arrived home, I made a concerted effort to walk around the neighborhood for at least ten minutes.
Reflection time
When it came to reflection time, I took notes on the tactics I’d applied and how I went with them. Granted, not all of them worked straight off the bat (yes, I did reinstall Instagram on my phone 🙈), but hey, it’s all a work in progress.
It’s about 14 weeks into the year and I’ve read 9 and a half books so far. Sure, I have a bit of catching up to do, but if I didn’t attempt to make time in my day for something that mattered to me, the number of books wouldn’t be as high. Perhaps I’ll do a mid-year update on how I’m coming along with the challenge and whether or not I’m still using the same tactics.
Until then…
Cheers,
Dinnie and the Zenkit Team
