1 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:07,040 Speaker 1: Welcome to How I Work, a show about the tactics 2 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:09,680 Speaker 1: used by leading innovators to get so much out of 3 00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:13,159 Speaker 1: their day. I'm your host, doctor Amanda Invera. I'm an 4 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:17,320 Speaker 1: organizational psychologist to the CEO of Inventium, and I'm obsessed 5 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:21,200 Speaker 1: with finding ways to optimize my work date. Today, I 6 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:25,680 Speaker 1: thought I'd try something different and shares some cool stuff 7 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:27,440 Speaker 1: that I learned from a book that I just read 8 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 1: this weekend. It's called Make Time by Jake Knapp and 9 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:35,479 Speaker 1: John Zaratsky. So those are the guys from Google Ventures 10 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:38,360 Speaker 1: who wrote a book called Sprint a few years ago, 11 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:40,680 Speaker 1: which is another great book if you haven't read that one. 12 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:46,000 Speaker 1: So in Make Time, the basic premise that Jake and 13 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:49,920 Speaker 1: John put out is that we're all on the busy bandwagon. 14 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: So we're all busy and we're trying to fill every 15 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:56,680 Speaker 1: minute with stuff, and when someone says how are you, 16 00:00:56,760 --> 00:00:59,520 Speaker 1: we're so busy, and that's just kind of how we are. 17 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:03,320 Speaker 1: And then the second thing that's going on is that 18 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:05,759 Speaker 1: we're in this world where we're dealing with what they 19 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaker 1: call infinity pools. So infinity pools are the infinite scroll 20 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 1: that you have in the most I guess addictive apps 21 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 1: that are out there, like Facebook and Instagram and so forth, 22 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:24,959 Speaker 1: like you literally never get to the end of the content, 23 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 1: and both of these things have become our default way 24 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:33,520 Speaker 1: of being, and we sort of spend our lives reacting 25 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:36,120 Speaker 1: to other people's stuff and reacting to the content that's 26 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:38,039 Speaker 1: put in front of us, but we never really stop 27 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:42,000 Speaker 1: and proactively think about how can we design a better 28 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:45,520 Speaker 1: day for ourselves and therefore a better life. So the 29 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:48,800 Speaker 1: book has a bunch of different tactics to help us 30 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:52,480 Speaker 1: focus on what matters and eliminate the stuff that doesn't. 31 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:56,160 Speaker 1: So Jake and John or he refers to himself as 32 00:01:56,240 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 1: jay Z not to be confused with the rapper are. 33 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:01,440 Speaker 1: They suggest trying out one or two different tactics at 34 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:04,560 Speaker 1: a time and seeing what sticks and what makes an impact, 35 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 1: so essentially experimenting on yourself, which is what I'm going 36 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:11,120 Speaker 1: to do. So I thought i'd share some of the 37 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:13,280 Speaker 1: things that I've taken from the book that I'm going 38 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 1: to incorporate into my life. So to start with, a 39 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 1: major idea in the book is that every day we 40 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 1: should pick what the guys call a highlight, So just one, 41 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:28,760 Speaker 1: and this is something that I have tried to apply 42 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:31,480 Speaker 1: to my life where I sort of think about what's 43 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: the most important thing that I want to achieve today, 44 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:36,639 Speaker 1: but generally I actually think about the two or three 45 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:39,480 Speaker 1: most important things. So I'm kind of picking two or 46 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:42,919 Speaker 1: three highlights, which I refer to as my deep work 47 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:47,320 Speaker 1: or stuff that I do during maker time. And this 48 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:49,520 Speaker 1: is interesting because I thought, wouldn't that that'd be kind 49 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:55,359 Speaker 1: of almost relaxing to pick one highlight because I think 50 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: my extreme type A personality has just been coming out 51 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:02,399 Speaker 1: and trying to be all achieversh with picking two or three, 52 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: But for the next week, I'm going to experiment with 53 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 1: every day just picking one highlight, which the guys say 54 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:14,680 Speaker 1: is a task that's either urgent, will bring you satisfaction 55 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:16,760 Speaker 1: and will bring you joy, or it might do a 56 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:21,120 Speaker 1: combination of all three. So, for example, my highlight today 57 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:24,360 Speaker 1: was doing a podcast interview with Patty McCord, who's the 58 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 1: ex chief Talent officer at Netflix and who co wrote 59 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:33,120 Speaker 1: their very famous culture Deck. And that's it. I don't 60 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 1: have to strive to conquer more highlights or feel like 61 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 1: I'm underachieving if I only do shallow or less productive 62 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: work for the rest of the day. So I did 63 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:48,520 Speaker 1: my highlight this morning, and that's that. Another tip in 64 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:51,400 Speaker 1: the book is on your mobile phone, and there's quite 65 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:53,520 Speaker 1: a few tips around the mobile phone, is to clear 66 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 1: your home screen, so literally have it blank, like remove 67 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:01,480 Speaker 1: all of the different apps from your home screen and 68 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:06,960 Speaker 1: basically just have the phone and the messenger app right 69 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:09,880 Speaker 1: at the very bottom. So I've done this took a 70 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:13,080 Speaker 1: few minutes, and I must say, now when I open 71 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:16,400 Speaker 1: up my phone and I'm doing it right now, it 72 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:22,440 Speaker 1: looks completely bizarre, but also quite peaceful because all that's 73 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:25,560 Speaker 1: staring at me is a picture of my daughter Frankie. 74 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:28,560 Speaker 1: So what this tactic is meant to do is it 75 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: basically makes you think when you open up your phone, 76 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:34,000 Speaker 1: you know, do I really need to do whatever I 77 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 1: picked up my phone to do or am I just 78 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:40,200 Speaker 1: killing boredom? So we'll see how that one goes. Another 79 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:43,720 Speaker 1: thing that they recommend is deleting the web browser app 80 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:47,440 Speaker 1: from your phone. So I use Chrome a lot on 81 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 1: my phone, but I've literally, just before recording this podcast, 82 00:04:50,839 --> 00:04:53,520 Speaker 1: just deleted it. I must say I'm feeling quite anxious 83 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:56,920 Speaker 1: about that, which is crazy because I'm only a couple 84 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:00,920 Speaker 1: of clicks away from reinstalling it, so well, see how 85 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:04,680 Speaker 1: that one goes. The next thing that I'm going to 86 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:08,599 Speaker 1: try to do is empty my inbox once a week. 87 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:12,040 Speaker 1: So that might sound a little bit odd, but what 88 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:15,640 Speaker 1: this tip is about is rather than every day feeling 89 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:19,120 Speaker 1: like you have to conquer your inbox and clean it 90 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:22,359 Speaker 1: up and get it to inbox zero, rather than feeling 91 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:25,679 Speaker 1: that pressure every day, just setting aside once a week 92 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: to clean it out basically. And this is quite a 93 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:32,120 Speaker 1: big change for me because normally I spend most days 94 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 1: trying to get to inbox zero ish, so that might 95 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,200 Speaker 1: be inbox five or ten by the end of the day. 96 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:39,840 Speaker 1: But now what I'm going to do is I'm going 97 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:42,800 Speaker 1: to try, on a daily basis to just respond to 98 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:46,839 Speaker 1: the important and time critical emails and leave the rest 99 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 1: for a weekly tidy up, which I've actually scheduled in 100 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:55,320 Speaker 1: my diary to do for Thursday afternoon. The final thing 101 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:57,839 Speaker 1: that I'm going to try from the book, and in fact, 102 00:05:57,839 --> 00:06:00,960 Speaker 1: there are quite a few more, but for this week 103 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:03,080 Speaker 1: I don't want to overload myself. I'm just going with 104 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:06,920 Speaker 1: a few. I've downloaded the app Freedom, which you might 105 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:09,240 Speaker 1: have heard about. A lot of people have written about it, 106 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 1: and this is basically an app that you can download 107 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 1: online and I'll put a link in the show notes 108 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:17,680 Speaker 1: which locks you out of websites or the Internet for 109 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:21,520 Speaker 1: preset periods of time. So how I plan to do 110 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:24,240 Speaker 1: this is for me, I find that I'm pretty good 111 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 1: at staying out of my inbox in the morning, so 112 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 1: that's kind of become a habit. I generally only check 113 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:31,360 Speaker 1: email when it comes to late morning or lunch and 114 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 1: I've done my most important things for the day. But 115 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:38,000 Speaker 1: what I find is that in the afternoon, I'm constantly 116 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 1: in and out of my inbox. So I'm going to 117 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:45,240 Speaker 1: trial using freedom this week to block me from using Gmail. 118 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: So I literally can't open it from between one to 119 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:50,720 Speaker 1: four pm in the afternoon. So I'll do a check 120 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:53,479 Speaker 1: at lunchtime, then I'll lock myself out, and then I'll 121 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:55,520 Speaker 1: do a final check of email at about four pm 122 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:59,360 Speaker 1: every day. So that's how I'm going to try to 123 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:01,960 Speaker 1: change my behavior this week. I'll make sure that I 124 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:04,360 Speaker 1: report back in a future episode about how my little 125 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:08,240 Speaker 1: experiments have gone. And now, finally, before you skip on 126 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:10,640 Speaker 1: over to another podcast, I have a favor to ask, 127 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:14,760 Speaker 1: which I ask every episode, but it is fantastic getting 128 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 1: feedback from listeners such as yourself, and one of the 129 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 1: ways that new listeners can find this podcast is if 130 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:25,800 Speaker 1: you give it a review in iTunes. So I would 131 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:29,800 Speaker 1: love it so much. If you feel like giving this 132 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:32,560 Speaker 1: podcast a review in iTunes, maybe give it five stars 133 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:35,720 Speaker 1: if you think it's five star worthy, and maybe write 134 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: a few words underneath that I read every review and 135 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:42,160 Speaker 1: they always bring a smile to my face. Obviously, if 136 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:43,920 Speaker 1: it's a bad review, that wouldn't but so far they 137 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 1: will be lovely. And if you like this episode, make 138 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 1: sure you hit the subscribe button so that you can 139 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:53,200 Speaker 1: be alerted when new episodes are released. That's it for today, 140 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 1: See you next week.