Powerful ideas from top nonfiction
Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 5,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Start your free trial
Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
Making It All Work summary
David Allen
Winning at the Game of Work and the Business of Life
Listen to the first key idea
Key idea 1 of 10
4.1 (106 ratings)
21 mins
10 key ideas
Audio & text
What is Making It All Work about?
These blinks build on the principles laid down in David Allen’s previous time-management smash hit, Getting Things Done (also available in blinks). It explains how you can manage your tasks and pursue your meaningful life goals.
About the Author
David Allen is an author and consultant who specializes in effective time management. His productivity method Getting Things Done attracted disciples from many walks of life, not least workplaces and businesses. He gives consultations to individual and organizational clients, empowering them to make the most of their time.
Table of Contents
Key idea 1 of 10
We are easily distracted and therefore lose track of our priorities.
How often has this happened to you: You’re working on an important document when all of a sudden an incoming email pops up. What do you do?
If you’re like most people, you’ll probably instantly forget about the high-priority document and answer the email.
But why is this?
It’s basically because our minds are fickle.
These days we’re bombarded with new information in fantastic quantities, from tweets to emails to text messages.
And when this new information arrives, we have no way of knowing if it is important unless we divert our attention to it: If your email inbox goes “ping” to signify a new email, you won’t know whether it’s spam or a job offer until you look at it.
This means we are perpetually distracted, and therefore struggle to focus on the important task for long enough to finish it.
What’s more, the constant influx of new information and new tasks means that the quantity of work done is increasingly emphasized as a metric for productivity: salespeople have sales targets, teachers have student graduation targets, etc.
But the quantity of tasks done is not a good metric to focus on. Though sending lots of emails and attending lots of meetings may make an employee feel busy and productive, it in fact says nothing about the quality of their work. A far better barometer for your productivity would be to see how much progress has been made on the predefined important goals.
This focus on quantity can also cause us to get so bogged down in the nitty-gritty day-to-day tasks that we lose track of our larger life goals.
For example, say your dream is to become a writer, but you’re always so distracted at your day job that you need to work evenings to make up for your low productivity. In this case, you simply owe it to yourself to get organized, at work and at home, to be able to focus better and have the time to work toward your personal ambitions.
Want to see all full key ideas from Making It All Work?
Key ideas in Making It All Work
More knowledge in less time
Read or listen
Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
Find your next read
Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
Shortcasts New
We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.
Who should read Making It All Work
- Anyone who feels like they spend their days doing meaningless tasks
- Anyone who feels they are not getting any closer to their life goals
- Anyone who wants to achieve a better work-life balance
Categories with Making It All Work
Books like Making It All Work
What our members say
Sven O.
It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.
Thi Viet Quynh N.
Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.
Jonathan A.
Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.
Renee D.
Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.
Start growing with Blinkist now
25 Million
Downloads on all platforms
4.7 Stars
Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
91%
Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*
*Based on survey data from Blinkist customers