1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Someday Is Today
Everyone dreams of achieving extraordinary things. However, Matthew Dicks argues that most of us end up being mediocre because we see our goals as abstract and distant—things we might be able to achieve at some point, but not right now. This mindset makes us delay taking action toward our goals, and consequently, we never reach them. In Someday Is Today, Dicks argues that achieving your dreams and overcoming mediocrity is possible, but only if you learn to maximize your time, efficiency, productivity, and creativity, and start acting now.
Dicks works in many fields, but first and foremost, he’s a productivity expert. He had a challenging childhood and learned how to be highly productive while working two full-time jobs and simultaneously completing two full-time university programs. Currently, he works full time as an elementary school teacher while also pursuing numerous creative outlets. He’s a best-selling author of non-fiction books...
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Someday Is Today Summary Part 1: Maximize Your Time and Efficiency
To reach your full potential and accomplish extraordinary things, Dicks says you must first learn how to make the most of your time. Stop wasting time on unnecessary tasks, accomplish necessary tasks as quickly as possible, and reap the most benefits from the tasks you spend time on. In this section, we’ll explore Dicks’s five main principles for doing so.
Principle #1: Differentiate Between Important and Irrelevant Tasks
First, Dicks recommends disregarding irrelevant tasks and focusing on things that are truly important to you—not to your boss, your friends, or any other outside entity. He explains that we waste time on irrelevant tasks because we make decisions based on our current thoughts and feelings, which are largely influenced by our environments (like the people around us), not what we truly want or what’s best for us long term.
(Shortform note: In Essentialism, Greg McKeown also recommends eliminating nonessential tasks to make more time for things that are truly important to you—not someone else. However, [his explanation for why people struggle to do this differs from...
Someday Is Today Summary Part 2: Maximize Your Productivity and Reach Your Full Potential
Now that you’ve eliminated time-wasters and increased your efficiency on necessary tasks, Dicks argues you must learn how to maximize your productivity and reach your full potential so you can become as successful as possible, as soon as possible. In the following sections, we’ll discuss Dicks’s top six principles for doing so.
Principle #1: Use Every Spare Moment to Do Something Productive
First, Dicks suggests using every spare moment to make progress toward your goals. He explains that most people struggle to make progress because they feel like they don’t have time to be productive, or they’re waiting for the right conditions—for example, a quiet space, an hour’s time block, the “right” hour of the day, and so on. However, these are just excuses to delay taking action. You don’t need perfect conditions to get started: All you need is a few minutes of free time.
For example, if you’re waiting for your professor to start her lesson, pull out your notebook and start brainstorming your next creative project—even if you only have a few minutes, you’ll be a few minutes closer to reaching your goal.
(Shortform note: Using every spare moment to do something...
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Shortform Exercise: Create More Time for Productivity
Dicks recommends boosting your chances of success by using every spare moment to do something productive. But to have more spare time, you must maximize your time and efficiency. In this exercise, we’ll identify the time-wasters that you can eliminate and tasks that you can complete efficiently to create more spare time for working toward your goals.
Record five to 10 routine tasks that you perform daily and the amount of time you spend completing each one: for example, scrolling on your phone before getting out of bed—10 minutes, making breakfast—15 minutes, reading your email—10 minutes, and so on.
