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daily highlight

concept · in 10 sources (2019–2024)

The one thing Ali picks each morning to focus on that day.

Sources by year: 2019: 2 · 2020: 7 · 2024: 1

Also known as: highlight of the day, my highlight for the day

Threads

Also named in the threads: Ali promises a video on how he uses his Leuchtturm1917 notebook as an analogue to-do list (2020)

Often together

What comes up in the same parts of the videos; the number is how many parts.

Leuchtturm1917 notebook (4) · Notion (8) · Workflow series (2) · Drafts (2) · Nebula (2) · Roam Research (2) · Instagram (2) · iPad Pro (2)

What the videos say

The most important statements of each year; all statements.

2024

  • 2024-05-16 · The Simplest and Most Important Productivity Tip 😉 — recommendation: Ali recommends the daily highlight: ask yourself what is the most important thing you need to do today. — 00:00:00
    • Ali phrases the daily highlight as "what's today's adventure going to be": to be productive you have to enjoy the process, and reframing a task as an adventure makes that more likely. — 00:00:00
    • Ali calls the daily highlight one of the simplest productivity tips but very effective, because few people actually focus on the most important thing. — 00:00:00

2020

  • 2020-01-07 · 15 Lessons that Improved My Life — recommendation: Ali: From Make Time by John Zeratsky and Jake Knapp, Ali sets a single daily highlight (the most joyful, urgent or satisfying task); tracking it in Notion for months, he gets more done on days he sets one. — 00:00:29
  • 2020-03-24 · How to be More Productive in Lockdown — announcement: Ali: Asked for a Notion template for to-dos and daily highlights, Ali says he has one and is planning a video about it at some point. — creator comment
    • A key insight of the book Make Time, Ali says, is that every day we should have a single highlight: the one thing we are going to focus on that day. — 00:02:14
    • Once you have worked out your daily highlight, Ali advises writing a to-do list of everything else you want to get done that day. — 00:03:36
  • 2020-04-07 · A Productive Day in Isolation — Ali's morning dump in his Leuchtturm1917 notebook: his highlight of the day (something to focus on), something to be grateful for and something to let go of, plus a quick to-do list and a rough calendar; it takes a few minutes and gives him clarity. — 00:01:50
  • 2020-04-19 · Productive Day in the Life in Lockdown // Behind the Scenes of my iPad Pro Videos — Ali's morning dump in his Leuchtturm1917 notebook with a Uni-ball Air pen starts with three things: something to focus on, something to be grateful for and something to let go of; today's highlight is filming the new iPad Pros. — 00:01:04
  • 2020-06-03 · All the Apps I Use in a Day — Ali: Each morning Ali fills out a daily check-in in Notion on his phone: what he dreamt, the one thing he will focus on that day (his highlight of the day) and what under his control will make the day better; he finds it starts his day well. — 00:00:00
    • After work Ali does the highlight he set for the day in Notion that morning; on days without one, he looks through Notion, Todoist, the sponsored-video schedule and the Skillshare class release schedule to pick the best use of the next few hours. — 00:06:19
  • 2020-06-23 · My Favourite Productivity Book of All Time — Ali: Make Time's highlight hypothesis predicts that setting a single intention at the start of each day will make you more satisfied, joyful and effective; each day you choose one activity to prioritise and protect in your calendar. — 00:03:50
    • A daily highlight can be anything, such as finishing a piece of work, a workout or a walk: it is not the only thing done that day, but the one thing you definitely make time for. — 00:03:50
    • Since reading Make Time a few months ago, Ali sets himself a daily highlight every single day and always makes sure he does it, whatever else is on his to-do list. — 00:04:19
    • Each morning, in his daily check-in on Notion or on paper, Ali writes a little H for his highlight of the day, then plans when to do it, for example between 2 and 4 p.m. — 00:04:48
  • …and 7 statements more in 2020 — all statements of 2020

2019

  • 2019-12-11 · What's on my iPhone 11 Pro Max (2020) — recommendation: Ali has started setting a daily highlight, a tip from the book Make Time: a single highlight to accomplish each day, since the point of productivity is doing what we actually want to do and not wasting time on the rest. — 00:04:10
  • 2019-12-27 (said on 2019-12-20, implied) · My Annual Review using Notion — Ali calls his Notion notebook his "life OS": he uses Notion as the operating system for his life, with his daily highlights, weekly reviews and annual reviews in it. — 00:00:29
    • Ali's daily highlight: every day you pick a single thing to focus on, which becomes your highlight of the day; he is working on a video about it. — 00:08:59