Daily Highlight Method
Time management strategy from the book 'Make Time' where you choose one specific 60-90 minute task as your daily focal point to prioritize and protect, ensuring progress on what matters most.
About this tool
Overview
The Daily Highlight is a productivity method conceived by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky in their book "Make Time", where you choose one specific task, goal, or activity to make the focal point of your day.
Core Concept
The Highlight is described as "a single activity to prioritize and protect in your calendar," allowing you to prioritize time on things important to you rather than going through your day reactively to other people's needs and priorities.
Duration Guidelines
A rule of thumb is your daily highlight should take 60-90 minutes to complete—long enough to meaningfully affect your life and get into a flow state, yet short enough to fit into your schedule.
Three Criteria for Choosing Your Highlight
The creators use three different criteria to choose their Highlight:
- Urgency: What needs to get done today
- Satisfaction: What will bring you the most satisfaction
- Joy: What you want to do (not just what you have to do)
Implementation
- Each morning (or night before), identify your one highlight
- Block dedicated time in your calendar for it
- Protect that time from interruptions and distractions
- Complete your highlight before addressing less important tasks
Benefits
- Acts like a compass, guiding you through distractions and urgent but less important tasks
- Provides end-of-day satisfaction knowing you accomplished what mattered most
- Prevents the trap where everything feels important
- Maintains intentional focus throughout your day
- Reduces reactive time management
Philosophy
Choosing a Highlight makes focusing on your priorities the default, so you can spend time and energy on what matters, not on reacting to the distractions and demands of modern life.
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