January 21st, 2019

I recently finished the book Make Time by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky. It markets itself as ‘four steps to finding focus and energy in your daily life.’ Reading it reminded me of reading Alan Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking; both books work to dismantle the ‘brainwashing’ that users suffer which helps justify their addictions–either to smoking or to Internet and social media. Alan Carr was a three-pack-a-day smoker. Knapp and Zeratsky helped create Gmail and YouTube. Now, they’re here to tell you how to stop.

The most important thing to know before you start Make Time is it is not about increasing productivity. In fact, the authors argue, you might end up doing less if you implement their recommendations. It’s about protecting your time from the websites that have been designed to take it. It’s about being in the world more than being online. The most powerful tool (they say) will be deleting almost every app from your phone, including all social media and email. Out in the world now, waiting for a bus, you might start noticing things again, like three different sources of colour spilled and hung around you.