The New Corner Office by Laura Vanderkam Summary

The New Corner Office by Laura Vanderkam is a guide to optimizing productivity and creativity in remote work environments. It emphasizes designing a work life around personal priorities, with strategies like intentional weekly planning, focusing on high-impact tasks, and leveraging mornings for deep work. The book combines time-management principles with actionable advice for building sustainable routines in flexible work settings.

Remote workers, freelancers, and professionals transitioning to hybrid or home-based roles will benefit most. It’s also valuable for managers seeking productivity frameworks and fans of Vanderkam’s previous time-management books like 168 Hours or What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast.

Key concepts include:

• Focus on high-value work: Prioritize tasks with the greatest career or business impact.
• Design your ideal schedule: Align work hours with energy peaks and personal commitments.
• Maximize mornings: Use early hours for strategic thinking before distractions arise.

Vanderkam advises blocking time for high-value tasks first, scheduling meetings in batches, and leaving buffer periods for unexpected tasks. She stresses that “what gets scheduled gets done”—structured planning prevents urgent but unimportant tasks from dominating.

High-value work refers to projects that align with long-term goals, such as client acquisition, skill development, or innovative initiatives. Vanderkam encourages delegating or automating low-value tasks (e.g., repetitive emails) to free up time for these priorities.

The book advocates blending work and life intentionally rather than rigidly separating them. Examples include integrating exercise into breaks, scheduling family time, and creating “shut-down rituals” to mentally transition out of work mode.

• Start the day with 15 minutes of strategic planning.
• Use time-blocking to dedicate focus periods to priority tasks.
• Create a dedicated workspace to signal “work mode” mentally.

While 168 Hours focuses on time-tracking and What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast emphasizes morning routines, The New Corner Office adapts these principles specifically for remote and hybrid work challenges. It also introduces new strategies for virtual collaboration and managing digital distractions.

Some readers note the advice may oversimplify challenges for those in rigid jobs or caregiving roles. Others suggest combining Vanderkam’s methods with task-management tools like Trello or Asana for better implementation.

With remote work now a permanent fixture, the book’s frameworks help professionals navigate evolving workplace norms, AI-driven productivity tools, and the demand for flexible schedules. Its emphasis on intentionality aligns with trends toward personalized work structures.

Managers can adopt Vanderkam’s meeting strategies (shorter, agenda-driven calls) and encourage “focus hours” where teams mute notifications. Individuals might share time-blocking templates or high-value task lists to align priorities.

• “The key to working from home is designing a work life that fits the way you live”.
• “What gets scheduled first gets done first”.

These highlight the book’s core themes of intentionality and proactive planning.