Hey friends,
Nowadays, most of our time is spent by default. We are stuck between two forces that compete for our time. Being busy, efficient, productive activities, getting more stuff done, and the distraction of endless content apps. The idea of Highlights from the book Make Time provides a solution to help us break out from these forces.
The Highlight of your day is the activity, accomplishment or moment in your day you want to look back to and savour. An activity you can plan for, look forward to, and appreciate it when it is done. Our daily Highlight is what we define at the beginning of the day to pay attention to that day. It isn't the only thing we get to do that day. But setting a highlight at the beginning of the day gives each day a focal point.
Choosing our daily Highlight starts with asking ourselves a question: "What do I want to be the highlight of my day?" The book advises that we choose one activity to be our Highlight for the day, but choosing this Highlight is not always easy. Some activities are important, some are exciting, and some are also urgent. There are three strategies to help us pick our Highlight.
Urgency
We need to ask ourselves, "What's the most pressing thing I have to do today?". The idea here is to check for one task that has a pending or urgent deadline. Tasks that fit these criteria are time-sensitive and important projects.
Satisfaction
The second highlight strategy is to think about satisfaction. While the first strategy focuses on what needs to be get done, this strategy focuses on what you want to get done. So, we need to ask ourselves, "At the end of the day, which Highlight will bring me the most satisfaction?" Activities that fall in this category are ones that are important but not urgent—projects you have been meaning to do but haven't found the time yet.
Joy
The third strategy focus on Joy. Not every hour has to be optimized for maximum efficiency. We need to be able to do some things just because we like doing them. To other people, your Joyful Highlight might look like a waste of time, but you only waste your time if you're not intentional about how you spend it. So, we need to ask ourselves, "When I reflect on today, what will bring the most joy?"
I have been choosing a daily Highlight for a while now. After reading about it and its benefits again from this book, I'll be taking it more seriously now. Choosing a daily highlight might seem strange at first, but trust your gut to decide what Highlight is best for today. The best part is you can't screw it up, no matter what happens, you can always tweak your approach and try again tomorrow.
Have a great week!
Daniel
My Favourite Things This Week
1 - Podcast - I listened to this episode of What You Will Learn podcast on The Dip. The podcast is a summary of the book The Dip by Seth Godin. The book in one sentence: quit the wrong stuff, stick with the right stuff, and have the guts to stick with one or the other. Listen to the podcast to learn how to quit strategically and also the benefits of knowing when to stick and when to quit.
Notes of the Week
Quote of the Week
When changing your habits means challenging the tribe, change is unattractive. When changing your habits means fitting in with the tribe, change is very attractive.
From Atomic Habits By James Clear. Resurfaced with Readwise.
Thank you for this☺️💕