Reviews (3)

Perfect for the Busy Executive!
If you work 50-75 hours a week, this book is a must-have! It teaches you to be more productive during the day, get your work done in less time, and get home to your life sooner. This is the most complete guidebook on personal productivity I have ever read. It's not just about time management or getting organized or life balance...it's a complete picture of all the things you need to do to improve output, lower stress, and save time at work and home.

Using the word "PRODUCTIVE" itself as a foundation, Stack devotes a chapter to each of the ten key productivity factors: Preparation, Reduction, Order, Discipline, Unease, Concentration, Time Mastery, Information, Vitality, and Equilibrium. Readers determine their own Productivity Quotient (PQ) ™ by answering ten questions per factor, resulting in a cumulative score out of 500 possible points.

I really like the way the book is organized. It's not designed to be read from beginning to end: Stack has used a great hyperlink concept that allows you to "jump" right to the chapter and section where you most need help and begin working on those skills. This modular format is really helping me improve my personal productivity, one habit at a time!

Stack is also collecting the results of the Productivity Quotient (PQ) on her website, so you can compare your performance to others in your industry, income, gender, job function, and age. Cool! You can also register for a FREE monthly follow-up email, which provides support and coaching on productivity concepts. You can sign up on her website at www.TheProductivityPro.com.

If you know someone who works too many hours or needs to improve performance, this will be a great gift...and a must-have addition to your personal library.

I Learned a Lot of Very Useful Tools
It is obvious Laura Stack has a lot of hands-on experience working with people like me who are not naturally organized. Her style is a wonderful mix of stories, examples, theory, practice and concrete tips. It's a great read, completely current and I took notes all through. I stopped from time to time to learn more about resources she mentions that I had never heard of. Naturally the book itself is masterfully organized. My only complaints are that she uses memory tools to help remember her steps that are too long for me to remember. Also there is no index. Get it anyway. I expect to return to this book again and again.

Superb Book
This is a superb book that will help you do your work and live your life with balance, focus, and congruence. Laura Stack shows us how to be extraordinary in business while also being wonderfully invested in the essence of family and community. Read these pages with the warmth of your heart and soul, not only with the intellect of your mind. You'll then live the width and depth of your life not merely the length of your years.

Nido Qubein, Chairman, Great Harvest Bread Company
Founder, National Speakers Association Foundation ... Read more

Book Description

The bestselling author of How to Think Like Leonardo DaVinci shows how learning to juggle literally and metaphorically will help you become better at what you do, both in business and in life.

As we struggle to get more done in less time, to balance our work and our personal life, and to adapt to constant change, we often feel that we're "juggling too many balls." Now, in More Balls Than Hands, leading organizational consultant Michael J. Gelb, a former professional juggler, shows us how to keep all those balls in the air.

The first lesson in juggling is...let the ball drop. Beginning with this first counterintuitive lesson, Michael J. Gelb offers proven methods that organizations can use to create a "mistake positive" culture, showing how any business can flourish and succeed if it sets the stage for learning, growth, and innovation in the workplace. In addition, Gelb introduces five "Keys to High Performance Learning" that offer immediately applicable strategies for strengthening anyone's learning speed and power. For people eager to increase their learning potential, ratchet up their productivity, and teach others to do the same, More Balls than Hands communicates life lessons in a vivid, completely original, and utterly entertaining way. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

I'm Inspired!
Every time I read one of Michael's books, I feel inspired for greatness, and this book is no exception. Michael has a gift of taking things that are familiar and looking at and applying them in unique ways. In this book, Michael talks about the importance of creating mistakes in a safe environment and using them to accelerate learning to become a better leader, coach, parent, or person. He makes it feel safe to venture out into new territory by teaching that success means pursuing your goals and dreams with much childlike passion that success and failure become irrelevant. I especially love how he frames examples throughout the book with expert quotes that provide meaningful and often thought-provoking context. The quote by Dr. Glenn Doman, Institute for the Achievement of Human Potential, provoked a great family discussion about how important it is for a child to view learning as fun and the positive impact a person can have to help inspire that belief. In the last section of the book, Michael takes a unique approach to teaching juggling, in which he applies all the principles in the book. I never would have thought that dropping balls on purpose would help me learn to juggle, but it did. And it gave me a new confidence that I can do anything!

Metaphor of the Millennium
Michael Gelb has captured the metaphor of the millennium in juggling. It is something that jugglers and non-jugglers alike can relate to at a gut level, because most of us have anything but time on our hands. A single issue of the New York Times is said to contain more information than the average person in the Middle Ages was exposed to in a lifetime. And it just starts there. MORE BALLS THAN HANDS gives you more than just the metaphor, but stories and testimonials from the workplace, as well as practical coaching on how to juggle. The book is readable and doable, and can be enjoyed on many levels. The only thing that could make it even better would be illustrations for the tips on the advanced juggling beyond 3 balls. ... ... Read more

Book Description

200,000 copies sold worldwide!

Get more done-faster and easier than you ever dreamed possible!

Kerry Gleeson's Personal Efficiency Program is the famed system for multiplying productivity that has already revolutionized the work lives of over 300,000 people around the globe. Now, in The Personal Efficiency Program, Gleeson offers an updated and expanded edition of his classic guide to working faster and smarter, giving you all the tools you need to get control of your workload--and your career. You'll learn how to:
* Save a month of work a year by following the simple Do It Now! rule
* Conquer an endless stream of interruptions and paperwork
* Create easy, effective methods of organizing paper and computer files
* Manage meetings, schedules, and other horrific time wasters

This Second Edition also includes expanded information on conquering information overload, using the Internet to save time and energy, and managing today's faster-paced and multi-located work environments. Whether your goal is to be more productive, build a more rewarding career, or just leave the office on time (at last!), The Personal Efficiency Program can help you achieve it. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

A Big Help
This book really inspired me to clean up my act at work. I always say that I have better things to think about than where is the proper place to put a particular item...but I followed the instructions in this book and got everything in order and it has definitely made me more efficient, as well as improving my professional image. I've been following the other advice and in just the first week of putting it into practice I have received a lot of compliments from the people I work with/for, which has inspired me to work even more on improving my personal efficiency through this program!

Cheaper than the Program, great value for the money
Kerry Gleeson's Personal Efficiency Program is the famed system for multiplying productivity that has already revolutionised the work lives of over 300,000 people around the globe. In this book Gleeson offers an updated and expanded edition of his classic guide to working faster and smarter, giving you all the tools you need to get control of your workload-and your career.

This second edition also includes expanded information on conquering information overload, using the Internet to save time and energy, and managing today's faster-paced and multi-located work environments. Whether your goal is to be more productive, build a more rewarding career, or just leave the office on time, The Personal Efficiency Program can help you achieve it.

Kerry Gleeson is creator of the Personal Efficiency Program, whose clients include executives from world class companies. His work as today's premier expert on personal productivity has been featured in leading business publications.

Highly Recommended
Author Kerry Gleeson, a specialist in white collar efficiency and productivity, describes a do-it-now program for becoming more organized and effective. As might be expected, this is a well-organized book. Gleeson outlines some familiar approaches to getting organized, such as setting up an office system that deals with paperwork effectively. The book becomes more informative when it discusses some less familiar organizational techniques, such as planning chunks of time to deal with similar tasks, using technology and establishing routines for maintaining your organizational system. The book's major strength is the detail it offers about setting up files and systems, and following through on organizational initiatives. We enjoyed Gleeson's case histories of reorganizing various offices. She uses many of her basic principles in common sense ways - and the messes she repairs will make you feel like the top of your desk may not be hopeless after all.

New edition is wonderful
I read the first edition of this book from the library and loved it. Very simple, easy to understand pictures even. Covers just about everything you'd want to cover on getting organized at work. This new edition is especially good with getting your electronic files organized and discussing how to deal with e-mail. Do It Now! as the author says.

How to be organized and efficient in the workplace
The Personal Efficiency Program is exactly that, a program to help you get organized and stay organized so that you can get more done in less time. The overriding theme is to do things now and don't put them off. The book covers all the bases for organization from developing a routine, planning processes, following through, managing and maintaining. The area that it does not cover is the psychological factors in getting things done. For example, one of the books that I read noted that one of the problems with a "to-do" type list is that we tend to look at it and do the easiest or most fun things first. So, as a result our reward for completing one of the items on our "to-do" list is that we get a less desireable and more difficult task to do next. Rearranging the "to-do" list so that you do the most difficult and least fun things first you set yourself up for success because as a reward for doing the difficult item you get a less difficult item or more fun item to do. I know it is just playing games, but it does affect how well people get their "to-do" list completed. I wish that he had included research like that in the book in addition to all of the good ideas for organizing and keeping track of things.

This book is designed solely for the work environment and getting things organized and done at work. Still many of the items can be applied at home too. It is a good book and a good read with a program that works if you implement and practice it. ... Read more

Amazon.com

At some point in our lives, we all wish life had come with an instruction manual; a little something to help us navigate the labyrinth of this complex world with a touch of grace and dignity. Is it so much to ask? Luckily for us, Kirsten M. Lagatree has risen to the challenge.Checklists for Life offers 104 lists that can help you with all those nagging little uncertainties, from organizing your closet to choosing a lawyer."Show me a successful person," asserts Lagatree, "and I'll show you a list-maker.... Lists ensure that the job gets done correctly and completely--and with the added finesse that springs from an uncluttered mind."

Categorized into personal safety, getting organized, stocking up, home maintenance, housework, flowers and plants, social life, correspondence, death, children, moving, travel, health, the law, your money, professional life, your computer, and your car, many of the lists in this book consist, as she points out, of commonsense advice. Others, though, are less obvious.For instance, her advice on extras to pack when you go abroad (electricity converters, adapters, pre-addressed envelopes and Benadryl, just to name a few) and choosing realtors (Do they insist on a buyer/broker contract? Do they use a computer to help find homes?) are clearly the product of experience. While all the lists are highly helpful--the checklist for organizing your workspace alone is worth the price of the book--the best seem to be those for less common events, such as buying and moving to a new home or preparing for court. Lagatree has clearly done her research on these topics and her advice will save you time, money, and a great deal of stress.--Laszlo Simonyi ... Read more

Reviews (28)

Great Reference Book
I found this book to be full of useful information, presented in an accessable, fun format. The author refrains from giving the reader too much information, thereby increasing the reader's confusion or feelings of ignorance. Many of the lists deal with topics that not everyone has experience with or knows where to go to get the needed information. This book is the perfectl resource to have on hand whenever you're faced with a new experience or something you have to deal with infrequently. It makes an especially welcome gift for someone graduating from high school or college, or for someone getting married or moving out on his/her own for the first time.

A Clever and Extremely Useful Book
Checklists for Life should be on everyone's shelf. I have bought several copies of the book for members of my family. I found it witty and extremely useful. The author clearly knows her subjects -- and an amazing array of subjects they are. This book will always be on my shelf as a reference guide and an amusing read. I'm making sure it's on my niece's shelf as well, as she's going off to college next year and will need the advice on household chores, and important legal, medical, and financial managment matters. All of the important subjects in life are included. The book provided a wealth of useful, original and always practical information.

A Good Reference for a Range of Situations
I bought this book years ago and still enjoy referencing it for the occasions that I had yet to encounter. The author's style is simple and concise, yet friendly. No one book, without being incredibly bulky, will cover every possible checklist, but this one proves itself to be extremely helpful.

Very Useful
I consider this book very useful. I am glad that I bought it. I found many useful checklists in it. I was able to use these checklists as a starting point to organizing many aspects of my life. I particularly found the checklists regarding safety deposti boxes, first aid kits, and finances very important to have.I also appreciated that she provided extra resources for more information.

I had two complaints about this book which is why I rated it a four instead of a five.
-The checklists cover too broad a range of information- from How to unclog your sink to how to pick a lawyer to first aid kits. I think this book would have been stronger if it had zeroed in on two or three types of checklists (finances and survival for example) and left the others out.
- The author felt the need to explain many of the items on her checklist. Sometimes these explanations were necessary and important and provided more information about something. However, many of these explanations were unneccesary.

I would suggest that this is a good book to have if you are trying to organize your life and your environment.

What's their problem?
I bought this book a while back and have used it probably a dozen times over the past year -- including lending it to various friends who were clueless about how to do something (recently it was how to choose a mover). I'm just puzzled by some of the reviews here that are pretty nasty. In fact, a couple of these actually misrepresent what's in the book. What's up with that? Anyway...it's a good book and a great gift for anyone from a young person just starting out to a divorced man or woman, just starting over, to anybody who digs reading lists. ... Read more

Book Description

One of the world's premier business consultants and personal success experts, Brian Tracy has devoted 25 years to studying the most powerful time management practices used by the most successful people in every area. In Time Power, Brian reveals his comprehensive system, designed to help you increase productivity and income exponentially -- in just weeks!

Filled with hundreds of powerful, practical, proven strategies, tools and techniques, Time Power will help you take complete control of your time and use it to get more done -- faster than you ever dreamed. You'll learn how to:

* Gain two extra productive hours per day * Make better, faster decisions * Set clear goals and concentrate your energies on high-value activities * Manage multi-task jobs more efficiently * Overcome the people problems that can sap your time * Learn the psychology of outstanding time management * Use the five tools and techniques that will make you more productive for the rest of your life * and much more!

Rich with proven success methods, Brian Tracy's Time Power reveals the secrets to earning more money and getting more satisfaction in every area of your life. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Another powerful program by Brian Tracy
When I read the inside cover describing this new book by Brian Tracy, I expected to gain at least 2 hours of extra time per day by following Brian's strategies. I actually gained more than that.

Like most people, I assumed all there was to time management was to get a Daytimer, set up a To Do list etc. No wonder I never got anywhere! Brian has an easy to follow system that is based on over 20 years of research....and his system really works.

Why a book just on Time Management? As Brian explains in Time Power, those who get more done in less time get more out of life....more rewards, more success, and more free time to pursue their dreams and enjoy themselves.

The fact of the matter is, as Brian Tracy says, "The quality of your life is largely determined by the quality of your time management."

For many people, getting organized is a real chore. Not if you follow Tracy's dynamic system. In Time Power, you will find that you don't have to be cold and calculating to be well organized. Time power does not mean letting the clock rule your life. In fact the opposite is true. : time power gives you absolute freedom to do what you want, when you want to do it, ironically, you even learn to make time for spontaneity. The more time you make for yourself, the more free time you have.

Unlike many programs and books on time management, Time Power has no charts, no forms, no dailty schedules. Brian Tracy believes in them but knows that you are quite capable of developing them for yourself. His purpose in this book is to teach you the philosophy of time management, to help you internalize it,a nd to help you develop a belief system that will m ake your every moment very efficient.

Time Power is the result of over 20 years of experience---of research and teaching with more than 200 corporations. The program was designed to give you everything you need yo know about mastering your time for your personal life and career.

Tracy will show you how to become excellent at time management...to concentrate on the highest payoff tasks. Your life will simply begin to work better.

After following the advice in Time Power including the many exercises, you will learn to:

* Use positive self talk and affirmations
* Change your self concepts about time
* Use powerful mental rehearsal techniques
* Model your own behavior after time management leaders
* Learn to lead others
* Become results oriented
* Learn to work smarter, not harder
* Delegate more effectively
* Become more adept at prioritizing
* Energize yourself with the positive results of your labor

By using the techniques in Time Power, you'll greatly improve the sense of control you have and in turn improve your well being in every aspect of your life. I know it's working for me.

Time is indeed your most precious and perishable asset. You can begin investing it more wisely by reading Time Power, doing the exercises and putting this time tested wisdom to use.

I have read many books, listened to many tape programs and even attended seminars on time management. Time Power is the most results driven program that I have ever used.

Use it. It will make a major difference in your personal and professional life.

Another winner by Tracy
I purchased Tracy's tape set on time management many years ago and that is what this book is based on. What a pleasure to have a hard copy printed version to easily access the gems of wisdom like only Tracy can deliver.

You will easily add two hours to your day by following Brian Tracy's suggestions. The prgram works.

Another winner by Tracy - increased effectiveness.....
I used to think that I didn't have time, now thanks to Brian Tracy's new book, I have discovered several hours per week that I was previously wasting. I get more done. I am more effective. And I have more free time.

The Book is Good, But Not Superior
I would give it 7.5 out of 10. In Time Power, Brian repeats same or similar ideas many times in different chapters. One new chapter is supposed to bring in a new idea not explained before, and not necessarily repeat previous chapters' ideas.

For example, the following sentences are repeated plenty of times in the book, in several different chapters:
- What's the best use of my time right now?
- What can I, and only I do, that if done well will make a real difference?
- Why am I on the payroll?
In addition, when Brian explains about the same topic in a new chapter, he does it in a way so that as if the topic has not been explained before in a previous chapter; he treats the already explained topic as a new, fresh idea.

Another drawback, Brian explains minor ideas, everyday-experiences or general techniques that I believe that everyone already knows too often. If this is not done, along with not repeating the same ideas in different chapters as mentioned above, the book's size can be reduced by 100 pages!

Well, actually I'm a big fan of Brian Tracy. I read his articles and newsletters everyday. But it is obvious to me that reading his newsletters could be more interesting and not boring since the newsletters are not prolix and they contain the essence of ideas Brian wants to convey.

I just finished reading the book this afternoon, and now I've got a 4-page summary (I wrote this during reading the book) containing important points I have not learned before, that would be very useful in developing my skill in time management and helping me do my jobs in new, improved ways.

So the conclusion, In general, I would recommend Brian's Time Power for you. If you're new in time management, this book would be very useful - even a mandatory. If you already mastered time management at somewhat high degree, I would still recommend Time Power for your nice reference.

Work 14 hrs a day!!!!
I found this book to be very poor in quality and substance.
It is simply a list of the same old tired techniques.

But now he also tells you to get to work and hour earlier, work though lunch, and stay an hour later!!
Also, get up at 5am, and work until 8am!
So basically he is saying that good time management is working from 5am, until 7pm everyday!

There are other absurd contradictions like this in this book.
I would NOT not recommend this book to anyone who has any experience at all in self-management. Reading this book is a waste of time! ... Read more

Book Description

Don't Count Time, Make Time Count!

Tick ... tick ... tick ... can't find enough time? Find out how to use it far more wisely by the man who successfully run multiple business ventures simultaneously. Dan Kennedy has been called the "Professor of Harsh Reality" because he doesn't deal in glib, pabulum solutions and eye-rolling cliches you've heard incessantly on time management.

He takes on the world of cell phones, PDAs, faxes, e-mails, and every other communication device that pervade our lives, suggesting when to tap it, and when to give it the heave-ho. This entrepreneur/consultant/author/speaker has a whirlwind business life, yet manages to fit everything in using a handful of home-brewed time management tools he swears by.

He shows how to maximize your time with a fresh take on the mantra that "time is money." It's all about using disciplined productivity strategies Kennedy has devised over 30 years of managing highly-profitable businesses with only minimal help.

Who is Dan Kennedy?

His business adventures have included ownership of six businesses. He appeared for nine consecutive years on THE #1 seminar tour in America sharing the platform with former U.S. President Reagan, Ford, and Bush, General Colin Powell, and business leaders such as Debbi Fields and Jim McCann. He was been in trenches and survived.

Reviews (2)

The "Backbone" Implant Every Entrepreneur Must Read...
This is by far the best "hands on" tools book I've read in time management. Most time management books give you guidelines, rules, and tools that you never use-- relying on a detailed multi-level guideline-- and I'm just not wired that way. As a result of the many years of reading these books I lowered my confidence in believing I was not a functional business person. This book, however, shows you how-- precisely-- we rob ourselves of time-- our most valuable asset. To waste time is the waste life and Dan Kennedy hones in on all the ways we waste life through choosing "time vampires" that drink the life right out of us. A HUGE eye-opener for anyone serious about transforming their life through the value of time, energy, and PROFIT.

Before reading this book I felt I had a "high regard" for my time, but found more than 10 crucial points that made me clearly see and realize how much time, energy and money I wasted. Now I'm able to know in the first contact, situation, or new business relationship whether or not it's worth the "time" investment.

This book made me really look at myself and all the "time management mistakes" I made-- not easy to do, but if you're serious about taking self responsibility and becoming a self-actualizing success, this is A MUST READ!

Hard core
It's "back to basics" on how Dan Kennedy finds the time to run his highly successful consulting/writing/speaking business. This is probably the tenth time management book I've read and I took away a few good ideas. Dan would certainly say I am wasting time writing this review on a time management book. I guess the reason I'm giving it four stars is that he does not discuss the time management techniques that he uses to make his family/personal life successful. ... Read more

Book Description

In a panoramic study that draws on diverse sources, Jerry Jacobs and Kathleen Gerson explain why and how time pressures have emerged and what we can do to alleviate them. In contrast to the conventional wisdom that all Americans are overworked, they show that time itself has become a form of social inequality that is dividing Americans in new ways--between the overworked and the underemployed, women and men, parents and non-parents. They piece together a compelling story of the increasing mismatch between our economic system and the needs of American families, sorting out important trends such as the rise of demanding jobs and the emergence of new pressures on dual earner families and single parents.

Comparing American workers with their European peers, Jacobs and Gerson also find that policies that are simultaneously family-friendly and gender equitable are not fully realized in any of the countries they examine. As a consequence, they argue that the United States needs to forge a new set of solutions that offer American workers new ways to integrate work and family life.

Book Description

Written in an easy-to-read format,this book offers numerous helpful tips on how to better manage your work time to become more productive. Drawn from the author's personal experiences as a management consultant, the stories are based on what really works, not on theoretical concepts. You will learned the five action steps for managing paper, e-mail and voice mail. You will learn how to better manage yourself, reduce your number of meetings, spend less time on the telephone and delegate more effectively. When you implement the ideas presented in this book, you will get more done in less time, with less stress...forever! ... Read more

Reviews (15)

First time management book I've read cover to cover!
Written from a new slant, this book is interesting and entertaining enough to get you through the steps it takes to truly get organized and make more time for yourself and your family! It has already changed my work habits, and I'm still learning from it. Highly recommend this quick read to anyone who is sitting overwhelmed behind a desk that is piled high with paper.

I was the "Oxymoron"
Rolston's book became valuable in two areas. The first area was the transition I undertook from line employee to supervisor to division manager. His filing system for project management, daily activities, etc. helped me in the transition from receiving work orders to issuing work orders and then to long range planning in my current job.

This was especially important as these changes have occurred over a twenty year tenure at my current job as a Facility Manager for one of the fastest growing cities in America. His advice has helped me become a better manager and, most importantly, KEEP A CLEAN DESKTOP!

The second area is in the leadership roles I play in other areas such as Church and American Cancer Society. His methods have allowed me better use resources and time in my daily life thus allowing me to be active in the things I enjoy outside work.

It is also important to note that I see Rolston's philosophies he relates lived out in his daily life. He has been a great role model and confidant. The implementation of his ideas has been made easier by his exampling.

In short, this is a "must read"!

Small to big; this one works
Maynard Rolston's book is a must-read. Even in today's email/voicemail/PDA/cellular world, some basics never change: take action, delegate or trash -- and if action is needed -- prioritize!

While I mostly work on small to medium sized projects as a consultant, the work habits Maynard promotes can help any person in any sized business. And the way to handle meetings, delegate, schedule and priortize can apply in a consultant-client relationship just as well as between employees.

My desk top (both real and virtual) will be getting cleaner and more efficient.

Become More Productive
Maynard Rolston provides some great common sense organizational strategies to help you increase your productivity and save you time. It's an easy-to-read, enjoyable book that will help reduce your stress level. As a writer, small publisher and author of There Is Eternal Life For Animals, I can use all the help I can get to make the most of my time and become more efficient.

Common sense is uncommon sense
Fantastic book! This author helped my employees become much more efficient and gave us more time to spend on more important issues. If you detest paperwork this is a must read title. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Another necessity of life.
Whether you are totally unorganized or not, you are bound to find this book useful. I consider myself to be fairly organized and I found many valuable nuggets of information here. This book is to the point, easy to follow and written for the reader. Want to optimize your work day? Get this book.

Great book on organizing yourself
I bought this book thinking it would be just another book on cleaning out your mess type of talk. I've been there and done that, but seeing some of the content first I realized there was more to it. I have gotten several tips from the book that will help me a lot. For example, having a file for a staff meeting to collect ideas of things to talk about for an agenda. The only problem is that the book is very centered around filing and paper, and not enough on the electronic systems. Everything mentioned with regards to paper files can be used on a computer as well, but I think this book needs yet another update to get into more details. Overall, I really liked this book, must be a compulsion for organization on my part!

A Classic Text, Superficially Updated
The cover claims that the book has been "revised and updated for the digital age," but Winston's information on technological tools is both superficial and already dated. The term, "PDA," does not even appear in the index.

A Job Saver
I was promoted at work and inherited a one-person office in which paperwork was simply scooped up and thrown in banker's boxes by the previous management. You can't imagine the chaos. I had few organizational skills of my own (having always just followed someone else's plan), and no assistant. I got this book about the time that I found out I was getting a government audit of these messed-up files in 6 weeks. I would not have a job if it wasn't for this book. It taught me, a first-time manager, how to assess what needed to be done, how to prioritize (I don't have to do all the stressful things first!), how to break down and schedule projects, and how to follow-up with the (non-administrative) employees I have. I got the office and files ready, despite being out one of the weeks with whiplash, and passed the audit with flying colors. This isn't just about what to name your files. My desk is clean, I know where all my files and important papers are, and my reports have been on time. If disorganization is wasting your time, buy this book.

Disappointing....
This book has no great insights, and spends to much time telling you what a disk drive is, rather than discussing a system to help you manage a flow of information and materials. It should have been a paragraph, rather than a book. Keep a to do list, figure out a filing system, delegate what you can, make a decision on what you cannot delegate, do not just pile it up. Thats about it, I expected more. ... Read more

Book Description

Do you have a habit of coming to work early, staying late, and working on your weekends? How many times have you used the excuse "There's just not enough time in the day to get everything done?" Probably more often than you'd care to admit! Well, now you don't need any excuses for not accomplishing everything you've set out to do -- not when you have Time Management For Dummies, 2nd Edition, as your trusty resource. You'll be amazed at what you can get done each and every day when you discover the timesaving tips, techniques, ideas, and strategies in this book.

If you want to become more effective, efficient, and productive, then this book is one of the best time investments you can make. Dubbed ìMr. Neat the Clutterbusterî by USA Today, author Jeffrey J. Mayer gives you hundreds of timesaving tips that can help you save at least an hour a day. You also find the latest word on time-management tools as well as valuable tips on organizing your life at home and improving your ability to communicate effectively. So if you want to be more productive, get better organized, and still make it home in time for dinner, then discover how to pace yourself with Time Management For Dummies, 2nd Edition. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Laughable
I laughed out loud when listening to this audio book. The author is *employed* by the ACT software people, yet Dummies allowed him to spend at least five minutes of this tape plugging his own product. He even includes contact information! This isn't an audio book, it's an infomercial, and to be charged for it is incredible. As for the time management techniques, many of them are self-evident (clear off your desk, bring a pen to meetings). The best time management trick I can think of is not to listen to this tape.

The front cheat sheet is why this book got 2 stars!
After researching Time Management skills for a recent seminar, I stumbled across this book. What a waste of time.... I just didn't find any consistent information that I would want to share with others regarding Time Management.

The author is too unclear about what he does recommend... and then he doesn't stick with the recommendations that he is clear with. He contradicts himself too much. Makes you wonder if anyone ever proofed the book BEFORE it went to press.

Also, this book is a bit old now .... but the subject is still relevant. I hope that a new T.M. for Dummies comes out again... but with a different author.

.... oh, and the only reason I gave this 2 stars was for the cheatsheet at the beginning of the book. The email & voice mail hints are basic and simple common sense...but there are some that never quite get those hints until they are pointed out to them.

*Very* little content about actual time management
Well, like the title of my review says, there is surprisingly little actual time management strategies in this book - in fact, the majority of the book deals with other subjects, like sales pitches, making presentations, even subjects as banal and irrelevant to the topic of time management as "how to choose a cell phone"...To be frank, there were so many "how to choose (insert product name here)" primers that I began to wonder whether I was reading a how-to book or a catalogue; bad form on the publisher's part for including all these product reviews - perhaps they would have been helpful in a different context, but Mayer talks about technology products mostly, and almost all of these sections are outdated ("try to get a cell phone with a retractable antenna"...when's the last time you saw a cell phone with one of those erect, immovable antennae sticking out?) - I am not schooled in the pool of time management books out there, but there are better ones to be had

Also disappointed.
I'm a big fan of the "For Dummies" series so I was disappointed that the author only touched briefly on time management and disdained the "For Dummies" structure.

Fundamentally, this is not a time management book. The author spends a few chapters contradicting himself about the basics of time management (write a to-do list but that won't work so use a planner but that won't work so try your computer). He then focuses on a litany of topics unrelated to time management: "staying comfortable on your flight," "use pictures, graphs and charts to enhance your presentation," "ten ways to avoid killing a sale."

Oh, and he even mistold an anecdote on Calvin Coolidge. When confronted by a person determined to coax more than two words from him, Coolidge allegedly responded "You lose" (not "Nope").

One third of this is a sales pitch!
I think of this as time management 101. I was reminded of one tip I was currently not doing to effectively manage my time. I have been a bit more functional on a heavy day using this technique. The rest of the book is nothing new to someone who is busy and has survived thus far. I gave this tape to the library, and it has been checked out about six times since April, so someone is getting something out of it. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

The Best Time Management and Work Efficiency Book!
This book is the BEST "down to earth" and "real world" advice on how to get things done without any complex theories and reasonings. He simply defines what are "High Producers" from excuse makers. If you really want to successfully get more done in less time and enjoy yourself in the process, Don Aslett tells you how!

Inspiring Presentation of Common Sense
I work a lot. I spend my day teaching and then return to the school and spend my entire evening preparing to teach. I write my own materials and do not rely on the textbooks at all.

You can see something must have changed, because you are reading this. Clearly I have the time to write it.

As I read this book, I was struck again and again by how much of it I already knew. I was also struck by how little of it I did. For example, some evenings, I would convince myself it was vital to get my desk organized before I started writing. Then, of course, I need to put away those test tubes, and I might as well brew another cup of coffee, and then...

I still come back to school in the evening. Now I come back with a plan. I follow that plan. If putting away test tubes isn't in it, I don't do that. However, Aslett recommends combining jobs. So, if I need to grab a book off my shelf (which is near where the test tubes are stored), I take my test tubes with me.

Aslett also recommends just simply doing the job. I despise correcting papers. Sometimes they can build up into a huge stack. Now, I just do them. Once they're done, I can do the parts of teaching I like.

Another thing he points out is that the busier we are, the more we get done. That is true. I will accomplish nothing at home. Watching TV is a waste of time, so I don't have it. I realize how easy it is to sit down in front of it and do nothing. It is not relaxing.

As you can see from my selection of changes in my life, there is nothing here that is new. What Aslett does is take what we already know and articulate it and force us to confront it. That is the power of his writing. He puts the reader in the spotlight and, no matter how much they squirm, they are forced to face why they are not productive.

a bit unrealistic
I found this book to be inspirational but unrealistic - unless you are a type "a" workaholic"- then it's o.k. I bought this book several years ago and have read it a couple of times and the impression I get every time - compulsive, obsessive and unrealistic

Be More Productive With The Time You Have
I just read How to Have a 48 Hour Day again. It's authored by someone I interviewed several years ago, Don Aslett. I read it every once in a while to see if I am still following some of the ways to be more productive with my time. It is the best time management book I've ever read. The way Don teaches how to treat time is remarkable.

Excellent primer for getting a lot done!
Aslett's book is uniquely beneficial in my view. While most such books focus on some "method" of getting a lot done, Aslett focuses more on the obstacles to accomplishment, particularly people's common actions that waste time.

What is truly unique, however,is that his book exhibits a certain "philosophy" of accomplishment. Some of this comes through directly in things to do in order to get a lot more done. But other such aspects are more "between the lines," and in the end it really leads you a mindset that is keenly aware of how much more you could be doing.

The book does not contain such things as sample schedules and prioritization lists. This is not a book of techniques and tips, but rather seeks to make accomplishment more of an "inside-out" process.

The reviewer who complained that the book would make the reader into a workaholic if followed completely missed the point. This book is about doing more, but it's not about slaving away at the office. It does talk about doing your work quickly and well, but much more fundamentally, it talks about doing MORE THINGS, things you find personally fulfilling and important. It's for people who rather be doing something personally meaningful than smelling roses; most of the would-be rose-smellers will probably never "have enough time" to plant their garden anyway!

In short, it's made a tremendous impact on the way I see and conduct my life -- I get things done, and a MORE of them, than I used to. And quite the contrary to being a depressed, bitter "Type A workaholic," I am also much happier and more fulfilled than I was before! ... Read more

Book Description

First Things First is a revolutionary guide to managing your time by learning how to balance your life. Traditional time management suggests that working harder, smarter, and faster will help you gain control over your life, and that increased control will bring peace and fulfillment. But in the first real breakthrough in time management in years, the authors of First Things First apply the insights of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People to our daily problems of struggling with the ever-increasing demands of work and home life.

Rather than focusing on time and things, First Things First emphasizes relationships and results. And instead of efficiency, this new approach emphasizes effectiveness. It tells us:

* Why we feel a gap between how we spend our time and what's deeply important to us
* How focusing on efficiency and control increases the gap instead of closing it
* How to determine if what you're doing is really important -- or only urgent
* How to overcome the tremendous gravity of habit
* How to put people ahead of schedules
* How to lead your life, not just manage your time

Offering a principle-centered approach and the wisdom and insight that made The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People a #1 bestseller, First Things First empowers listeners to define what is truly important; to accomplish worthwhile goals; and to lead rich, rewarding, and balanced lives. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

We need these daily reminders
Our lives are busy and full of change. Keeping our priorities in order while maintaining focus and vision is a constant challenge. We live in a society that loves short cut techniques where there is no short cut, only a path based on principles revealed throughout history. A meaningful life is not a matter of speed and efficiency but what you do and why you do it - and we need to be reminded of this everyday. The best way is to take a few minutes of quiet time before the daily rush. Our hearts and minds need nourishment and this is the purpose of this book - to provide daily nourishment through the daily reading of wisdom literature that can have a profound effect on the quality of our daily decisions by keeping us focused on what is important and preventing us being swept away by urgency. Covey believes these little daily thoughts will help us do three things - to reconnect with our big ideas and the insights that accompanied learning them; to encourage us to take a little breathing space between events and our response - a space that reconnects us to our inner compass; and to garnish our wisdom literature habit. We need to be constantly reminded of the principles that have been part of the wisdom of every successful individual and civilization. These are some of the readings that made an impression on me:

January 4: Be governed by your internal compass, not by some clock on the wall.
January 5: If the thing you are committed to is principle-centered, you become principle-centered and you walk your talk.
January 11: While you can be efficient with things you cannot be efficient - effectively - with people.
January 14: We need to move beyond time management to life leadership.
January 23: Meaning is in contribution, in striving for something higher than self.
January 29: We choose either to live our lives or let others live them for us.
January 30: The best way to predict your future is to create it.
February 6: The more involved you are, the more significant your learning will be.
February 7: What does it matter how much we do if what we're doing isn't what matters most.
February 14: More than any other factor, vision affects the choices we make and the way we spend our time.
February 18: Vision is the fundamental force that drives everything else in our lives.
February 22: There's no way we can escape accountability. We do make a difference - one way or the other. We are responsible for the impact of our lives.

I think that Covey is right. We need a five-minute reminder as we start each day to make sure that we keep our thoughts, plans and priorities pointed in the right direction because where we're headed is more important than how fast we're going.

First Things First - Fabulous.
Mr. Covey & Mr. & Mrs. Merrill did a great job putting together this audiocassette recording of First Things First. The teachings contained within educate you on how to find a balance in your life, fulfillment, and how to become more effective. Teachings regarding the 4-quadrant time management theory help you find where you are putting most of your time, and how effective it is. The authors put time management in its proper place: revolving around what is important and of value to you. Principle-centered living and basing your mission upon those principles will assist you in life success. I was very encouraged, and only wished that I had bought the six-tape system (I listened to the four-tape system).

Three authors, 1 CD - Good Highlights
Some people on the reviews complained about the book not just being Covey talking...but if you notice the book is written by three people (yeah, Amazon only shows 2, but I have the book in front of me) The CD is a good highlight to explaining the basics to the First Things First principles. The cd says to get the book for using the meat and potatoes of the book...BUT there is also a 3 Disc set out there which is Unabriged and tells it all (for some reason I can't find it on Amazon...but have found it in searching around the net) So if you want the basics to remind yourself of what you are doing (Review regularly to make it a part of your life is a common self improvement strategy) is quicker than re-reading the book over and over... especially when given the gift of traffic to slow down and enjoy the CD.

Less than enthralling
I was dismayed to find that this audio book is simply a laundry listing (in an "advice o'the day" format) of tidbits of wisdom. The wisdom offered is good, mind you, but if you are looking for something to stimulate and entertain you (eg on a long car ride) you will likely be disappointed. I can only listen to about 4 or 5 tidbits before I lose interest.

Too Abridged To Be More Than An Inspiring Introduction
The strength of the abridged audiocassette is the conviction in Dr. Covey's voice. It will convince you that this is an important subject.

The weakness of this audiocassette is that you will learn the principles behind Quadrant Two Time Management, but not how to do it. As the audiocassette will tell you, you will need to buy the book, study it, and then start doing it. I thought this was so substantial a weakness that I graded the book down two stars for this limitation.

If you are pretty sure you want to use this method, go directly to the book. If you are not sure, listen to this audiocassette. I found a copy in my local library. Perhaps you can, too.

The time management technique here is intended to be a fourth generation of that method of getting more accomplished. The main different is that the goals here are to achieve more balance in your life by having you focus first on doing what is most important to you that will make the most difference. You will plan weekly, and reiterate your planning to learn from your experiences of the prior week.

Quadrant 2 is the area where activities are important, but not urgent. These activities are often overlooked, or are pushed out of the way by urgent activities, including ones that are unimportant.

The time management process is designed to handle all elements of your life, personal life as well as work. An analogy is used to putting big rocks, gravel, sand, and water into a jar. If you start with the big rocks, you can get everything in the jar. If you start in the opposite order, you'll never fit the big rocks in.

You are encouraged to develop a personal mission statement (because seeing meaning to life gives us more optimism and perserverance), consider all of your life roles, locate the highest payoff areas for those roles, make principle-centered decisions, exercise integrity in your moments of choice, and continually reevaluate how you are doing.

After you listen to this work, consider how well balanced or unbalanced your life is. Then think about what your habits are that cause you to have such imbalances. Next, start changing those habits to better ones.

... Read more

Book Description

To Do...Doing...Done!: A Creative Approach to Managing Projects and Effectively Finishing What Matters Most focuses on the skills required to manage any project without getting bogged down in conflicts or sidetracked by unexpected changes or developments.

In this book are proven techniques for bringing any project to a successful and satisfying conclusion. The techniques provided in To Do...Doing...Done! are based on Franklin Quest's highly successful Planning for Results seminar, which has boosted the productivity of thousands of employees in corporations across the country, as well as in Europe and Asia. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Life-Awakening, yet common-sense stuff.
It not only teaches time management, and how to effectively use a Day Planner, it teaches how to understand values in your life, and how to utilize those values to create goals and inner peace with yourself. If you're trying to become more organized, and need a little harmony and peace with what you want out of life, this is a terrific book,

Combine application of Mindmapping & Franklin day planner
This small book combined the ideas from Mindmapping (creativity & notes taking) and another book : the 10 natural laws of sucessful time and life management (inner peace, productivity pyramid & Franklin day planner user guide).

Joyce then transformed these ideas into a four steps "project management process". She also included her experience on using GANNT charts.

I believed that Joyce have proved the approach in this book before present to us!

It works for me! Thanks!!

A great book for helping you get organized!
If you are like me, reading a book on how to organize yourself is nearly as hard as doing the organization itself! This book really helped simplify the process with clear, common-sensical advice and an approach that was EASY! As one of the co-authors was formerly as disorganized as I was and used the methods to organize herself, (and documented the process in the book!) it made it 'real' for me in a way that I hadn't seen in other books on getting it together. This book is a keeper, and I continuously refer to it to help me keep myself on-track!

Creatively Finish what Matters Most!
This book helped me reidentifying my values, rearranging them, and make them work. It helped me start doing and effectively finishing what matters most in personal and professional lifes.
I'm paciently waiting for Lynne Snead next book about project management.

This is how you do it all
This is an excellent, down to earth manual on getting things done and deciding exactly what it is you want to do.

It deals with specific skills and resources as well as "big picture" concerns.

This is "why, what, when and how to" training. Worth your investment in it. ... Read more

Book Description

The typical salesperson today is overwhelmed, trapped in a chaotic, pressure-filled environment with too much to do and not enough time to do it. Salespeople need help! This book provides it. Dave Kahle contends that smart time management is not about cramming more activity into each hour; but about achieving greater results in that hour. The content has been honed in hundreds of seminars and refined by the perceptions and experiences of thousands of salespeople. 10 Secrets of Time Management for Salespeople provides powerful, practical insights and ideas that really work, including hundreds of specific, practical, effective time management tips from dozens of salespeople who are on the "front lines" every day.The author, Dave Kahle, has been the number-one salesperson in the country for two different companies in two distinct industries. He's presented seminars throughout the world, published more than 400 articles, and authored three books and 32 multimedia training programs. ... Read more

Reviews (17)

A Good Read!
Dave Kahle adapts many now common time management processes for the specific use of salespeople in the field. His underlying assumption is that it is much more difficult for outside salespeople to apply the usual techniques, since their lives are so filled with uncertainty. Plus salespeople tend to be action-oriented, so they don't commonly want to spend time planning or setting up systems. But, Kahle argues, such organization is critical to success in sales. While Kahle claims that most time management principles and tactics "totally miss the unique challenges of the field salesperson," the material he covers in the book sounds very familiar. It echoes many other books about goal setting, problem solving, decision making and effective selling. We from getAbstract find that while this may be a helpful review of fairly common material in the guise of time management, the information is hardly unique - although its focus on salespeople's needs may give it additional value for them.

A Good Read!
Dave Kahle adapts many now common time management processes for the specific use of salespeople in the field. His underlying assumption is that it is much more difficult for outside salespeople to apply the usual techniques, since their lives are so filled with uncertainty. Plus salespeople tend to be action-oriented, so they don't commonly want to spend time planning or setting up systems. But, Kahle argues, such organization is critical to success in sales. While Kahle claims that most time management principles and tactics "totally miss the unique challenges of the field salesperson," the material he covers in the book sounds very familiar. It echoes many other books about goal setting, problem solving, decision making and effective selling. We find that while this may be a helpful review of fairly common material in the guise of time management, the information is hardly unique - although its focus on salespeople's needs may give it additional value for them.

Short and Sweet
Dave Kahle gives a lot of useful information in a short easy-to- read format. I just started a sales job in a new industry and it was a great refresher course in setting priorities.

Step By Step To The Top
This book is a powerful tool. There are many tools out there that profess to help you to set and achieve your goals, however, they lose credibility when it comes to planning and putting the plan into action. This book actually contains executable steps that, when followed, provide the missing link to the execution of your plan. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough. Get it and then get on with it. You will be glad.

great book
as a firm believer in continued education i would rate this book a must buy with many great tips.in order to achieve you must first be then do in ordr to have and this book will give you the techniques to have the proper habits that will bring success. ... Read more

Amazon.com

We all might manage our time better if we could get everything done inas little time as it takes to digest this nifty, palm-size, 72-pagequick-reference guide. Everything is covered here in a kind of how-to shorthand,from analyzing your current use of time, working out priorities, and using timeplanners to making instant changes (like filing paperwork, avoidinginterruptions, "filtering" information, making and taking telephone calls, andreading and writing) and managing other people's time when you're the one incharge. You'll get jiffy-quick advice on using the latest technology to do morein less time, getting more out of your meeting minutes, and even remembering howto schedule time off. On every page, boxed tips, lively illustrations, and handychecklists and flow charts bring the ideas to life. Granted, if you're lookingfor very specific or in-depth guidance, you might find this book too cursory andgeneral in its approach. But, if you're looking for a thumbnail guide to thebasics, it'll do just fine.

It's worth mentioning that the book is part of the "Essential Managers" seriesby reference publisher Dorling-Kindersley--a series comprising 20 itty-bittybooks on business and career topics that range from communication, leadership,and decision-making to the management of time, budgets, change, meetings,people, projects, and teams. Combining the talent of the "For Dummies" bookseries for breaking down a lot of information into bite-sized bits and sidebarswith Dorling-Kindersley's signature design style of crisp, classy graphics on agleaming white backdrop, the books don't represent the cutting edge of businessthinking or reflect necessarily any unique individual perspective. Instead, it'sas if someone had collated the best general thinking on these 20 topics, androlled them out into 72 brightly designed and easy-to-read pages--studded alongthe way with boxed tips, color shots of a multiracial cast of "coworkers"animatedly hashing through the workplace issues of the day, and, on the last fewpages of each volume, a self-test of one's skills in the topic at hand. Again,they're not for anyone who's looking for more in-depth or focused help on any ofthe covered subjects, but they're perfect as a quick general-interest reference;and, let's face it, they're so damn cute, and look so smart in a neat littlestack or row, that probably you'll want to buy a whole bunch to give as gifts toyour entire staff or department. --Timothy Murphy ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Get Accomplished Managing Time
How often we hear guys shrugging off casually: 'ugh, time is short, we're busy' I think, we all have 24 hours in a day, 7 days a week, yielding 168 hours per week. Take away the sleep hours and hours engaged in fetching results we desire! Hence, its wise to work 'smarter' than work 'harder' and this requires efficient 'Time Management' Walt Whitman, the poet, said it best, "The most powerful time is when we are alone, thinking about what we are to do." Daily Planning helps us to focus on what is really crucial and important in our day to come and permits us to identify time to use wasted hours more productively. This has been my experience but when I read this book of Tim, it sure is more to Accomplish 'Managing Time' with his neat tips under various categories like :
1. Understanding Time - Changing Attitude
2. Analyzing use of time - Keeping Time logs,
3. Assessing ability - A quick Quiz
4. Planning for success - Analyzing goals, work, prioritizing
5. Using Time Planners
6. Getting Organized
7. Phone Calls - Managing calls
8. Reading & writing - Dos n Dont's
9. Technology skills
10.Meetings & Travel tips

This and more, the Book is thorough self training and changing Attitude. I have all time in the world to read, write, web design, promote, market, handle admin work, attend meetings, run kids class, meet friends, go partying,listen n play music, cook and what not - all coz of Time planning and planning time with 7 days a week. This book has cool tips of dos n don'ts, analyzing quiz, charts and very good presentation and once you shrugg off the wry look to wring for an extra half hour, think of the wonders a human brain can do - a cool book for every student, business guy, tech buffs and especially those bubbly MBAs who seem to lack time! A great Pick - Get Self Trained, Get More Accomplished with your Time. ... Read more

Book Description

The typical American worker puts in nine weeks more on the job than his or her European counterpart. The costs of this overwork are enormous, both personally and societally. This bracing collection of essays is both a wide-ranging analysis of the phenomenon and a blueprint for change. With contributions by such notable names as Vicki Robin, author of Your Money or Your Life, and David Korten, author of When Corporations Rule the World, this book shows what ordinary citizens can do to restore balance to themselves and their communities. Take Back Your Time is the official handbook for Take Back Your Time Day, a national event rallying support for reclaiming a proper work-life balance. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

An eye-opening book
Wow! I am going to send a copy of this book to my team leader, as she hasn't figured out why she is always angry. It's because she is here until 9 every night, goes home to see her kids for about five minutes (who have "acted out" while she's been at work) and has to spend what little free time she has taking them to family therapists - who tell her she needs to achieve work/life balance, or, as she says, "whatever THAT is".

I would also like to give this to the productivity experts who say companies can do more with less. I'm sick of doing more with less and I am going to use this book as an inspiration to rebel. "No more 12 hour days" has become my mantra. Woe to those who try to test me on this!

So good I'm going to buy copies for my friends
Take Back Your Time is exceptionally clear in laying out the many ways in which we Americans suffer from not having enough time. Our lack of time to spend time with loved ones and friends, to help others, to be informed enough to vote, etc, is a direct result of choosing a way of life that emphasizes money and stuff over TIME. The book is a great read with numerous authors sp