This book is a take on Hidden Brain’s Taking Control of Your Time podcast episode that touches on the illusion of time scarcity and how it leads the human experience down the rabbit hole of stress and the struggle to make time.
Separated into three sections, psychologist Cassie Mogilner Holmes leads us through personal anecdotes, scientific studies, and a potential solution to how we can effectively spend our time.
Each section contains its own set of colors and mini typographic system within the broader design.Section 01 introduces the idea of time poverty, grounding it in Cassie’s personal experiences. It begins to explore how the presence or absence of free time shapes our happiness and sense of purpose.
Visually, this section emphasizes the overwhelming feeling of not being in control of time. Layers of overlapping text create visual noise and moments of illegibility, mirroring the frustration, stress, and mental clutter that come with feeling chronically rushed.
Section 02 explores two studies examining why we experience a sense of lost time and how it influences our behaviors and decisions. It shifts to an analytical understanding, unpacking the psychological and structural factors behind time scarcity.
With that, the visuals become more structured and diagrammatic. The compositions move toward symmetry and clarity, reflecting the transition into research, evidence, and a more scientific perspective.
Section 03 turns toward possibility and change, exploring practical strategies, mindset shifts, and approachable exercises to reframe how we think about and experience time. It emphasizes valuing what matters rather than reacting to surface-level pressures.
Here, the typography stretches across the page and the visuals open up, creating air, lightness, and movement. The atmosphere becomes hopeful and expansive, inviting the reader to slow down, breathe, and leave with a renewed sense of optimism and agency. Interspersed between each section are Exercise Sections that invite the reader to engage with their own relationship to time. Because managing time can feel overwhelming and habit change rarely happens easily, these brief pauses serve as gentle entry points and reminders that beginning the process doesn’t have to be intimidating.
Designed with intentional minimalism, they keep distractions to a minimum so readers can focus on the prompts and reflect with clarity.
The Binding & Cover
I carried the circular motif throughout the book, ultimately using it as a metaphor for sunrise representing renewal and possibility expressed through the gradual color shift. The “sun” subtly rises from the front cover to the back.
I chose an accordion binding to mirror the way we often visualize time, as something that stretches, extends, and unfolds. Because the book is relatively small, this format feels especially impactful, allowing the reader to physically expand the pages while maintaining an intimate, personal reading experience.
The Details
The book is wrapped in a bow, a gesture layered with meaning but grounded in one central idea: time is a gift, and it deserves to be treated with care and intention. Additional details include the exposed spine gradient that echoes the rising sunrise motif and timestamp marginalia that subtly anchors the reader, tying the entire experience together.
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