Feel like your life could use an overhaul -- or a few tweaks -- but don't know where to begin? Designers specialize in coming up with better products and better worlds, and you can use their mindset to help you re-envision and revise, says design professor Bill Burnett.
Design thinking is a methodology to innovate new designs into products and services and can be applied to many other problems in our lives, including how we live them.
Getting stuck in obstacles is a constant, common process in life, and while building any new design. We can get unstuck by doing what designers do: Reframing our beliefs, assumptions and situations.
Have you ever tried to set your own record time while working on a boring task? Tried to beat your previous commute time? Do more in a half-an-hour session, or reward yourself after finishing a project? While even these simple ways of using gamification in life can bring tangible results, professional gamified products can go much further.
"A charming manifesto—as well as an intrepid do-it-yourself guide to building smart habits that stick. If you want to achieve more (without going nuts), read this book."—Charles Duhigg, bestselling author of The Power of Habit and Smarter Faster Better From the New York Times bestselling authors of Sprint, a simple 4-step system for improving focus, finding greater joy in your work, and getting more out of every day. Nobody ever looked at an empty calendar and said, "The best way to spend this time is by cramming it full of meetings!" or got to work in the morning and thought, Today I'll spend hours on Facebook! Yet that's exactly what we do. Why? In a world where information refreshes endlessly and the workday feels like a race to react to other people's priorities faster, frazzled and distracted has become our default position. But what if the exhaustion of constant busyness wasn't mandatory? What if you could step off the hamster wheel and start taking control of your time and attention? That's what this book is about. As creators of Google Ventures' renowned "design sprint," Jake and John have helped hundreds of teams solve important problems by changing how they work. Building on the success of these sprints and their experience designing ubiquitous tech products from Gmail to YouTube, they spent years experimenting with their own habits and routines, looking for ways to help people optimize their energy, focus, and time. Now they've packaged the most effective tactics into a four-step daily framework that anyone can use to systematically design their days. Make Time is not a one-size-fits-all formula. Instead, it offers a customizable menu of bite-size tips and strategies that can be tailored to individual habits and lifestyles. Make Time isn't about productivity, or checking off more to-dos. Nor does it propose unrealistic solutions like throwing out your smartphone or swearing off social media. Making time isn't about radically overhauling your lifestyle; it's about making small shifts in your environment to liberate yourself from constant busyness and distraction. A must-read for anyone who has ever thought, If only there were more hours in the day..., Make Time will help you stop passively reacting to the demands of the modern world and start intentionally making time for the things that matter.
Take control of your time by choosing where you direct your attention. And your daily Highlight is the target of that attention. Principles for picking your Highlight:
Urgency. Think about the most pressing thing you have to do today.
Satisfaction. Ask yourself which Highlight will give you the most satisfaction.
Joy. Ask yourself: When I reflect on today, what will bring me the most joy?