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The first thing we learned was that something magic happens when you start the day with one high-priority goal. Each sprint day, we drew attention to one big focal point: On Monday, the team creates a map of the problem; on Tuesday, each person sketches one solution; on Wednesday, they decide which solutions are best; on Thursday, they build a prototype; and on Friday, they test it. Each day’s goal is ambitious, but it’s just one thing.
This focal point creates clarity and motivation. When you have one ambitious but achievable goal, at the end of the day, you’re done. You can check it off, let go of work, and go home satisfied.
Another lesson from our design sprints was that we got more done when we banned devices. Since we set the rules, we were able to prohibit laptops and smartphones, and the difference was phenomenal. Without the constant lure of email and other Infinity Pools, people brought their complete attention to the task at hand, and the default switched to focus.
We also learned about the importance of energy for focused work and clear thinking. When we first started running design sprints, teams worked long hours, fueled by sugary treats. Late in the week, energy would plummet. So we made adjustments, and saw how things like a healthy lunch, a quick walk, frequent breaks, and a slightly shorter workday helped maintain peak energy, resulting in better and more effective work.
Lastly, these experiments taught us the power of, well, experiments. Experimenting allowed us to improve the process, and seeing the results of our changes firsthand gave us a deep confidence that we never could have built just by reading about someone else’s results.
Our sprints required a whole team and a whole week, but we could see right away that there was no reason individuals couldn’t redesign their days in a similar way. The lessons we learned became the foundation for Make Time.
Of course, it wasn’t a yellow brick road to perfection. We still got swept up in the Busy Bandwagon and sucked into the Infinity Pools of distraction now and again. Although some of our tactics turned into habits, others sputtered and failed. But taking stock of our results each day helped us understand why we tripped up. And this experimental approach also allowed us to be kinder to ourselves when we made mistakes—after all, every mistake was just a data point, and we could always try again tomorrow.
Despite our stumbles, Make Time was resilient. We found ourselves with more energy and headspace than we’d ever had, and we were able to take on bigger projects: the kinds of “someday” things we’d never been able to get around to before.
Jake
I wanted to start writing in the evenings, but realized that the lure of watching TV was a big problem. So I experimented and made a serious change to my defaults, putting the DVD player in the closet and unsubscribing from Netflix. With the freed-up time, I started working on an adventure novel, and I stuck with it, pausing only when we wrote our book Sprint . Writing was something I’d wanted to do since I was a kid, and making time for it felt awesome.
JZ
For years, my wife, Michelle, and I had dreamed of taking long sailing trips together. So we bought an old sailboat and started spending our weekends fixing it up. We applied the same tactic of choosing one daily task and putting time on the calendar to get it done and as a result made time to learn about diesel engine maintenance, electricity, and ocean navigation. Together we’ve now sailed from San Francisco to Southern California, Mexico, and beyond.
We were so excited about our results that we started blogging about the Make Time techniques that worked for us. Hundreds of thousands of people read the posts, and many of those readers wrote to us. Of course, some of them wanted to inform us that we’re self-righteous morons, but the vast majority of responses were inspiring and awesome. People experienced dramatic changes from tactics such as removing apps on their smartphones and prioritizing one task each day. They found renewed energy and felt happier. The experiments worked for lots of people, not just for us! As one reader told us, “It’s weird how easy the switch was.”
And that’s just it: Reclaiming your time and attention can be weirdly easy. As Jake learned from his distraction-free iPhone, the changes do not require tons of self-discipline. Instead, change comes from resetting defaults, creating barriers, and beginning to design the way you spend your time. Once you start using Make Time, these small positive shifts become self-reinforcing. The more you try it, the more you’ll learn about yourself and the more the system will improve.
Make Time isn’t anti-technology; we’re both tech nerds, after all. We won’t ask you to disconnect entirely or become a hermit. You can still follow your friends on Instagram, read the news, and send emails like a modern person. But by challenging the standard behaviors in our efficiency-obsessed, distraction-saturated world, you can get the best of technology and put yourself back in control. And once you take control, you can change the game.