Jake Knapp & John Zeratsky

"Focus improves when you design your day instead of drifting through it."

"When your battery is full, staying focused becomes easier."

"Intentional leisure is as important as intentional work."

"If you don’t choose what to focus on, something else will choose for you."

"A single daily highlight can change how the whole day feels."

"Energy determines whether you can protect your focus."

"Notifications are not your friends; they are attention thieves."

"Reacting to what’s in front of you is always easier than doing what you intended."

"Even if you don’t control your schedule, you can control your attention."

"Most of our time is spent by default, reacting to messages and notifications instead of choosing what matters."

"Notifications are not your friends. They don’t exist to keep you informed; they exist to keep you hooked. Every ping is a tiny nudge away from the thing you chose to make important, and over time those nudges add up to a life lived in other people’s priorities instead of your own."

"Most of our time is spent by default. We wake up and immediately start reacting—to messages, to notifications, to other people’s priorities—and before we know it the day is over. Make Time is about breaking that default loop and deliberately designing your day around a single highlight that truly matters to you."

"Your Highlight isn't the only thing you'll do each day, but it will be your priority."

"With a full battery, you can be present, think clearly, and spend time on what matters instead of defaulting to what's right in front of you."

"If you have energy, it becomes easier to maintain your focus, protect priorities, and resist distractions."

"Notifications are not your friends; they're nonstop attention thieves."

"Reacting to what's in front of you is always easier than doing what you intend."

"Most to-dos are reactions to other people's priorities, not yours."

"Even if you don't completely control your schedule, you can control your attention."

"The lifestyle defaults of the twenty-first century ignore our evolutionary history and rob us of energy."

"Asking 'What's going to be the highlight of my day?' helps you avoid spending the whole day reacting to other people's priorities."

"You only waste time when you're not intentional about it."