Narrator: Imagine an architect, a professional who designs efficient and inspiring office spaces for others, sitting in his own office, completely unable to focus. He feels distracted, but he can't quite put his finger on why. His coach gives him a simple task: for the next two days, just keep a tally of every time a team member interrupts him with a non-urgent question. The result was a voicemail left for his coach: “I can’t believe it. One person on my team interrupted me 27 times during the past two days. I knew I was getting distracted, but I had no idea how much!” This feeling of being constantly pulled in a thousand directions, of being busy but not productive, is a modern epidemic. It’s a state of professional overwhelm that leaves even the most successful people feeling like they’re falling behind.

In his book, Your Best Just Got Better: Work Smarter, Think Bigger, Make More, author and workplace performance expert Jason W. Womack provides a clear and practical roadmap to escape this cycle. He argues that true productivity isn't about finding more hours in the day, but about fundamentally changing how we approach our work, our goals, and ourselves. The book is a guide to moving from a state of reactive busyness to one of proactive, purposeful achievement.

Narrator: Before any meaningful improvement can happen, a person must first understand how they currently operate. Womack introduces a simple but powerful framework called I.D.E.A., which stands for Identify, Develop, Experiment, and Assess. The process begins with identifying a clear goal. This concept is powerfully illustrated by a story from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. When Alice asks the Cheshire Cat which way she should go, the cat wisely replies, "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to." Without a destination, any path will do. Similarly, without a clear goal, any action can feel productive, even if it leads nowhere.

Once a goal is identified, Womack emphasizes that the most common hurdle is simply starting. He rejects the "Just Do It!" mentality, which can feel overwhelming, in favor of a gentler but more effective mantra: "Just get started!" This philosophy is about breaking down large, intimidating goals into small, manageable actions. The key is to build momentum. This requires understanding your personal resources—your time, energy, focus, and tools—and recognizing your own working style. Are you a "noun person," who thinks in big-picture ideas, or a "verb person," who is oriented toward action? By understanding these personal mechanics, you can develop experiments and assess what truly moves you toward your goals, creating a sustainable cycle of improvement.

Narrator: Many professionals believe that to achieve more, they must move faster. Womack challenges this notion, arguing that to speed up, you must first learn to slow down. He uses a personal story from a triathlon to illustrate this point. During the run portion of the grueling Wildflower Triathlon, he felt strong and started at a blistering pace, far faster than he had planned. By mile five, he "hit the wall," completely exhausted. He ended up walking and resting, his final time much slower than it could have been. The lesson was clear: a frantic start leads to burnout. Sustainable productivity, like an endurance race, is about pacing.

This principle applies directly to the workday. Womack encourages readers to take inventory of their daily routines, tools, and habits. He introduces the powerful idea of breaking the day into 96 distinct 15-minute blocks. This reframes time, making it feel more tangible and manageable. By being "Always Be Ready" (ABR) with small tasks, even unexpected delays can become productive. In one story, Womack was kept waiting for 15 minutes before a meeting. Instead of getting frustrated, he used that small window to write a thank-you card, review his calendar, and draft an article outline. By mastering these small pockets of time and maintaining a sustainable pace, individuals can avoid burnout and achieve far more in the long run.

Narrator: Working smarter creates the space to think bigger, but this requires a fundamental shift in mindset. Womack focuses on the concept of self-efficacy—the belief in your own ability to succeed. He shares a story of his own failure to illustrate its power. In an early triathlon, his mentor asked if he thought he could place in his age group. Womack’s internal voice was full of doubt, and he replied that he was just aiming for a good time. He finished the race just 45 seconds away from a podium spot, realizing his lack of belief had capped his performance. He didn't see placing as a real possibility, so he never truly pushed for it.

To build this belief, Womack argues that you must curate your environment. This means not only managing your self-talk but also managing your social network. He tells the story of how he landed the very book deal for Your Best Just Got Better. He attended the SXSW conference with the specific goal of meeting someone in publishing. He identified an editor on a panel, introduced himself, and followed up. That brief, intentional connection, born from a desire to expand his network, led directly to his book contract. The lesson is that the people you surround yourself with either expand or limit your thinking. To think bigger, you must intentionally connect with people who challenge and support you.

Narrator: In the midst of daily tasks and competing priorities, it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. Womack introduces a powerful tool to combat this: the "So that..." statement. This is a personal mission statement that clarifies the ultimate purpose behind your actions. It answers the question, "Why do you do what you do?" He discovered this concept while attending a "Time Management for Teachers" seminar early in his career. The presenter’s first assignment was to summarize their teaching philosophy in a single sentence. After a full evening of reflection, Womack crafted his statement: "I teach so that students see beyond Ojai," the small town where he worked.

This simple sentence became his North Star. He posted it in his classroom, and it guided his decisions, from lesson planning to extracurricular activities. It filtered out distractions and kept him focused on his core purpose. Womack explains that when you are clear on your "So that...", it becomes easier to prioritize, to say no to things that don't align with your mission, and to stay motivated during difficult times. It transforms your work from a series of tasks into a meaningful pursuit.

Narrator: The final piece of the productivity puzzle is about creating a system for continuous growth. Womack argues that this comes from two key activities: seeking feedback and engaging in deliberate practice. He reframes feedback not as criticism, but as vital information that directs future improvement. He shares a story from 1997 when a respected community member, Martha Ringer, sat in on his Spanish classes. Afterward, she offered him some unsolicited feedback: "Jason, you’re an excellent teacher, but you’re losing time, energy, and focus because you can’t find what you need when you need it." This single observation about his disorganization became a driving force for his future work in productivity.

This feedback loop is powered by practice. However, Womack offers a crucial reframe of a common saying: "Practice doesn't make perfect; it makes comfortable." The goal of practice is to build new habits until they feel natural. He suggests using five-day experiments to test new behaviors, like saying no to non-essential requests or blocking out "think time." By practicing on small, repeatable actions, you build the comfort and consistency needed to perform on bigger, more important tasks. This iterative cycle of practice and feedback is what allows you to truly make your best even better.

Narrator: The single most important takeaway from Your Best Just Got Better is that profound improvement is not the result of a single, monumental effort, but the cumulative effect of small, consistent, and intentional actions. Jason W. Womack demystifies productivity, breaking it down into a manageable process of self-discovery, strategic planning, and deliberate practice. It’s about understanding yourself, defining your purpose, and then building the habits and systems that support that purpose, one 15-minute block at a time.

The book's most challenging idea is that we are often our own biggest roadblock. We are held back by our limiting beliefs, our poor pacing, and our lack of a clear "why." The ultimate question it leaves us with is not how we can do more, but how we can become more effective with the time we already have. So, what is the one small experiment you can start in the next five days, so that you can begin the journey of making your best, better?