Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

Making time for what matters | Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky (authors of Sprint and Make Time, co-founders of Character Capital)

February 11, 2024

AI Summary

5 min read

Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky explain how typical productivity advice fails by emphasizing efficiency on urgent tasks like email and meetings, rather than prioritizing meaningful "Project A" activities—big, non-urgent efforts that people intuitively know they want more time for. Drawing from their structured sprints with teams, they developed a simple daily framework: pick a Highlight (one 60-90 minute focus block), Laser in on it with distraction barriers, Energize your body and mind, and Reflect curiously on results. This counters the "busy bandwagon" (pressure to match others' constant reactivity) and "infinity pools" (endless apps like email or social media engineered to pull attention), where willpower alone crumbles due to attention residue and dopamine from quick tasks.

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What you'll learn

1 `* (00:37) **Guest intros and book origins**`
2 `* (07:01) **Common productivity pitfalls**`
3 `* (15:04) **Hosts' real productivity struggles**`
4 `* (20:10) **Make Time 4-step framework overview**`
5 `* (20:30) **Deep dive: Creating a daily highlight**`
6 `* (48:37) **Laser: Tactics to block distractions**`
7 `* (79:03) **Energize and Reflect steps**`

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky are the authors of best-selling books Sprint and Make Time. They have helped more than 300 teams design new products and bring them to market, including those at YouTube, Gusto, One Medical Group, and Slack. Jake and John are co-founders of the venture capital firm Character, where they support startups with capital and sprints. Previously, they were operating partners at Google Ventures and, before that, design leaders at Google, where John worked on Google Ads and YouTube and Jake helped build Gmail and co-founded Google Meet. In our conversation, we discuss:

• “Busy bandwagon” and “infinity pools”

• Creating one “highlight” each day

• Their four-part framework for productivity

• How to use the calendar to design your day

• How creating friction can help you avoid distractions

• Tips on creating a distraction-free phone

• Strategies for managing email and distractions

• The importance of reflecting on the day and making time for meaningful work

• Design sprints

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