Penguin Michael Joseph pre-empts book on ‘game-changing’ time management method

Penguin Michael Joseph has acquired Timeboxing: The Power of Doing One Thing at a Time by Marc Zao-Sanders.

Senior commissioning editor Karolina Kaim pre-empted world rights from James Gill at United Agents. Timeboxing is set to publish in January 2024 and 14 international rights have been pre-empted and sold at auction with “more under negotiation”.

The book will set out the principles of a “fundamental modern-day time management philosophy” that can be used in personal and professional life for anyone feeling spoiled by choice every hour of every day – for both greater productivity and peace of mind. Timeboxing is described by the publisher as “a highly effective time management method” used by the likes of Elon Musk and Bill Gates, which forms the fundamental habits and generates quality as well as quantity. The promise is very simple: do less, achieve more.

Zao-Sanders is a UK-based entrepreneur and a co-founder of Filtered, a learning tech company, and the author of a viral article on timeboxing published by Harvard Business Review in 2018.

He said: “There’s a massive, global appeal to timeboxing, and I’m thrilled to be writing the book for Karolina and a growing list of international publishers – the potential of a title written for the billion of us who are spoilt by choice every hour of every day makes Penguin Michael Joseph the perfect home for it. I can’t wait to publish this book together (which will be bang on schedule, thanks, of course, to timeboxing).”

Kaim said: “In a time of endless choices, calming the monkey mind and focusing on doing just one thing, and doing it well, can not only result in getting more done, but also clear the way to a more meaningful lifestyle – and this is precisely what Marc’s philosophy is about. I’m extremely pleased to be working together with him and Jim on bringing this tool and message to readers.”