If you’re like me, you always feel you have a lot to do. It’s overwhelming. I’m learning French and Italian. I want to explore AI in more depth — like many people, I feel I’m falling behind. I want to read more. I bought a bunch of books from bookstores all over Europe and currently have over ten I haven’t touched. I want to write more, get better at photography, make more videos. But there never seems to be enough time.
I’ve read a bunch of productivity books over the years, but nothing really stuck. Make Time, a book I read recently, is actually simple and effective — at least for me.
The book points out two big reasons we’re not using our time well. The first is what the authors call Infinity Pools — basically social media. Apps designed to capture our attention, providing endless content to consume. For me, those apps are Instagram, Reddit, and stock apps like Xueqiu. The second reason is hustle culture — trying to fit more and more into our day, trying to do more.
The book proposes a simple antidote: a four-step daily loop.
Highlight
This idea has been the most useful for me. The concept is simple: choose one single highlight for the day. It’s the thing you most want to do, something that takes 60 to 90 minutes. Before the day starts — or the night before — you write it down.
You’ll obviously do other things during the day, but this is the one thing that will make you feel accomplished. The book suggests three ways to choose it: by urgency (something that needs to happen — for me, one day it was doing my Canadian taxes), by satisfaction (the thing that brings you the most satisfaction), or by joy (spending quality time with someone, hanging out with friends).
It’s totally okay to repeat the same highlight day after day. And the key: you schedule your highlight first, before anything else.
Laser
Laser is about focusing — keeping yourself away from the Infinity Pools. The book offers many tactics: delete social media apps, log out of accounts at the end of the day, get into the zone with a playlist, use a timer. Sometimes it helps to invent a deadline. There’s no real deadline to upload a video, but setting one — end of Friday night, say — creates focus.
The authors encourage experimentation. What worked for them might not work for you.
Energize
You’re focused, you’re doing your highlight, but you still need energy to perform at 100%. That means sleeping well, eating well, and exercising. You can also use caffeine strategically. I already eat pretty well, I exercise, and I drink coffee. The only thing I’m missing is consistent sleep. Some days I only get five or six hours, and the next day I’m operating at 60 or 70%. That’s one thing I want to improve.
Reflect
Every day before sleep, spend a few minutes thinking: what went well? What went badly? Did you get to your highlight? Were you able to focus? What did you try, and what worked?
What Changed for Me
The highlight idea really made a difference. I tend to want to do too much in one day — focus on work 100%, study French, and make a video. But you can’t be at 100% for all of it. As much as we want our energy and attention to be unlimited, that’s just not realistic.
Now I pick one thing as my highlight. It doesn’t mean I can’t do other things. But I’m aware that when I make a video, maybe I’m not at my best — and that’s okay.
I’ve been following this system for a few weeks. Some recent highlights: on Saturday in Florence, my highlight was enjoying the Uffizi — I used AI as a guide, and because I intentionally treated the visit as my highlight, I enjoyed it much more and learned much more about the artworks. On Monday, a half-day holiday, my highlight was writing a script.
Every morning when I wake up now, I don’t just grab my phone and check Reddit. I think about what my highlight should be. On working days, it’s usually a task at work. On Fridays and weekends, it’s a personal project.
I still have challenges. I check Instagram and Reddit too often. But since reading the book, it has improved quite a bit. The book recommends an experimental mindset — try things out and see how they work. I really like that spirit. Next, I might experiment with becoming a morning person so I can schedule my highlight before the workday starts.
One last thing: both authors used to work at Google. Through doing daily highlights, they eventually found their other passions and quit. I know this book sounds surprisingly simple. But it’s actually changed things for me. I’d highly recommend it.