Who: John Zeratsky

Claim To Fame: John Zeratsky is a veteran technology designer, keynote speaker, and the bestselling author of Sprint and Make Time. He has worked with more than 200 of the world’s most important and innovative organizations, including Google, Harvard University, Slack, IDEO, and Netflix.

Where To Find John: His Website, Amazon, Twitter

Praise For John: “Every business leader I know worries about the same thing: Are we moving fast enough? The genius of Sprint is its step-by-step breakdown of what it takes to solve big problems and do work that matters with speed and urgency. A sprint is a cure for what ails companies in an ever faster world.” —Beth Comstock, vice chair of GE

When do you like to write? Are you regimented about your writing routine?

I write in the mornings. That’s when I have my best creative energy, but it’s also when I have my best shot at avoiding distraction and staying focused for several hours. Every day—but especially when I’m writing—I try to wake up with a clear purpose, avoid the “morning check-in,” keep my phone stowed, and immediately get to work. I’m playing defense against the interruptions of the outside world, but I’m also playing offense by focusing on my writing goal for the day. It doesn’t always work, but this routine always sets me up for success.

Where do you like to write? What does your ideal work environment look like?

I have deliberately established defaults, habits, and mindsets that allow me to be productive anywhere. I think most people overvalue their physical workspace and undervalue the workspace inside their heads. When I’m at home (pretty much all the time due to the COVID-19 pandemic) I switch between the dining room table and a standing desk with external monitor. When I’m traveling,  I’ll grab space wherever I can find it. As long as I’m motivated by a clear sense of mission and purpose, and not distracted by Infinity Pools, I find that I can write well anywhere.

Do you have any pre-writing rituals or habits before you sit down to write?

Sometimes I feel like most of my writing takes place before I sit down at the computer. By the time I get to that stage, I’m mostly just typing things up! I’m joking, of course. Well, half-joking anyway. I take tons of notes on my phone throughout the days and nights. I take notes when I’m walking, exercising, cleaning the dishes, waiting in line, or trying to fall asleep. I start with little notes and build up to outlines and sentences and paragraphs before I ever sit down at the computer. I am a big believer in the power of passive thought, especially when you live distraction-free with plenty of space in your days, but this approach also makes it much easier to get started: You’re not WRITING, you’re just taking some notes.

What do you do when the writing isn’t coming easy? Do you struggle at all with that dreaded enemy of writing: writer’s block?

The strategy of starting small (which I described above) helps me avoid writer’s block, because I’ve already done a bunch of the thinking work. But when I do feel stuck, I take a break. And I’m not talking about a break to check Twitter. I’m talking about a real break that provides rest for both mind and body: standing up, walking around, looking out the window, doing some menial chores, stuff like that. If I’m still stuck after several breaks, I’ll sometimes give up on writing for that day and shift my attention to another project.

In all your research and writing on making time, prioritization, and productivity, what have been the greatest insights you’ve applied to your writing routine?

[*] Choose a daily Highlight. The single activity or task that deserves your best energy and attention. When I’m in writing mode, I always choose a Highlight that’s related to whatever I’m working on. It helps me structure my time and energy around the work that matters most that day.

[*] Go distraction-free by uninstalling apps and logging out of websites. Removing the temptation—and ability—to check email, social media, the news, etc is amazingly powerful. I got this idea from my friend Jake Knapp back in 2012, and I was skeptical that it’d make a difference. But it really does, and now it’s been one of my essential tactics since then.

[*] Schedule everything. When you make a plan for your day and put it on the calendar, you’re more likely to do the things you say and less likely to get distracted. You’re also forced to confront the tradeoffs in how you spend your time. Too many people set a goal, fail to schedule the work required, and then beat themselves up for not making it happen! Honest, detailed, daily scheduling is the secret.

[*] Take care of your body. There are SO many things we do—from sitting all day, to constant snacking, to sleeping with smartphones—that take away from our ability to do our best writing. I’ve done them all, and I’ve seen the benefits from changing these habits. Taking care of your whole body is a daily investment that pays huge dividends in the quality and quantity of your work.

Along with books, you contribute places like The Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review. Does your writing routine change at all when you’re writing a book versus when you’re writing an article? Is there any change in routine depending on what publication you’re writing an article for?

The biggest change to routine is that, when I’m working on something longer, I know I need to schedule sequential blocks of focused time. In our book Make Time, we call this a “personal sprint”—choosing a string of daily Highlights that are all related to the same goal—and it works really well for building momentum on those bigger projects

All of your work is meticulously researched. What is your method for researching and organizing material you might want to use for your future writing?

I read a lot—about 30 books a year and who knows how many articles—and I’m always saving snippets that seem useful or interesting. I don’t have a great system. I use the highlighting features in Kindle and Pocket, and I use an actual highlighter in physical books. If I know where a given reference is going to be useful, I’ll put it in a note on my phone for that project

What books or writers have most influenced the way you think and the way you write?

I know it’s a cliche, but Ernest Hemingway is probably the single biggest influence on my writing style. There are many others:

[*] Business: Charles Duhigg, Chip & Dan Heath, Jason Fried

[*] Money and life: Vicki Robin, Pete Adeney, Tanja Hester

[*] Creativity and work: Steve Pressfield, Ryan Holiday, Annie Dillard, Cal Newport

What is your advice to aspiring writers?

There has never been a better time to be a writer, because we have so many ways of exploring, developing, testing, and publishing our work today. But there’s also never been a harder time to be a writer, because many traditional channels have been disrupted. Plus, we’re all super distracted all the time, so it’s hard to do great work.

My advice: Play offense with your work and defense against distractions. Start small. Test your work. Ask for feedback. Don’t take it personally. But most of all, be clear in what you want to say and why—if you get that part right, the rest of it doesn’t matter.

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