Picked this up as Cal Newport wrote the forward and mentioned it on his blog. I took away a few key points. A lot of the book I was able to skim read, but if I can keep myself in the frame of mind of choosing where to invest my time rather than it getting spent – it’ll be worth the read.
Here are my notes:
Plan your day, week, month – make sure you invest your time where you want to.
When frustrated by everyone else think “what can I work on that is under my control and can make a different”
Don’t compare yourself to others – you don’t know how much help they get, or sacrifices in other areas they have made.
Set realistic expectations of yourself – don’t set ridiculous project deadlines
Be compassionate to yourself
Don’t be a perfectionist! (unless it is truly important to you) – the cost of wanting everything to be perfect is horrible!
Don’t over commit – and only choose the things you want to invest your time in. Find out what you like saying Yes to and doing.
Set expectations – don’t answer emails too quickly – train others what to expect from you.
Big projects – people are scared of doing them and making progress as often these projects are public and very important.
Routines – help you make consistent progress on big projects without sacrificing health and key relationships.