Rating: 
Summary: Getting the Most Out of Your Life
Review: I found The Joy of Not Working a fantastic read. It is full of advice, stories and excercises on bettering the quality of your life. It focuses on valuing your time - nurturing interests and talents that may have been ignored because of society's focus on working hard to make a lot of money. It is inspiring and talks about such topics as: putting money in perspective, getting the most out of your spare time, finding out what is really important to you, enjoying your own company, introspection, not wasting time worrying, along with many other topics. I highly recommend this book for those who feel a bit empty about what mainstream society deems important in life and want to search for a more meaningful life.
Rating:
Summary: A lot of advice and positive thoughts
Review: I found this book without looking for it nor without having heard about it before. And it was a good surprise!:-) I found many good advice in it, many ways to see life and consider people differently. Besides, I really enjoyed Ernie Zelinski's humour. The book did not bring total changes in my life but it was useful reading about that subject. It certainly helped me to do some things when I was reading it. I suggested it to several of my friends.
Rating: 
Summary: You Go Ernie!!
Review: I lost my job awhile back when my company relocated. While perusing the Want Ads one Sunday, I noticed an interesting review of this book in the newspaper books section. Bought it a few days later while at Borders.This book is a real gem, full of helpful and inspiring stories, anticdotes and witticisms that encourage, humor and provoke. I recommend this book not only for those who are out of work due to: unemployment, retirement or other circumstances, but anyone else who truly questions what the day to day business of living is all about. Truly an enjoyable and inspiring read!
Rating:
Summary: A 'Joy' to read.....
Review: I originally saw this book in its Spanish incarnation, as "El placer de no trabajar", but read it eventually after my wife bought me a copy of the original English language version. Having just taken the plunge and exited corporate life, the content of the book proved both helpful and inspirational. It confirmed several of the tenets I already held dear and put into words some of the concepts that I had pondered, the best of these being the need for Structure, Purpose and Community. The real beauty of this book is that it contains pearls of wisdom for everyone, be they working or not, young or old. It makes useful observations about the nature of happiness (an old chestnut) and the absolute danger of boredom. Although several of the ideas developed in the book are, in essence, common sense, the information is always presented in ways that are thought provoking, while a gentle humour pervades the text and prevents it from becoming stodgy or pretentious. My 'meeting' with TJONW was fortuitous but I intend to keep the book and refer to it in the months and years ahead, as its message is timeless.........so you will just have to buy your own copy!.
Rating:
Summary: A must read
Review: I picked up this book just because I liked the title. It wasn't what I thought it would be about, but I was pleasantly surprised when I read it. I was one of those people that were striving to be rich, a workaholic, to have it all, but all it got me was stress, a divorce and no life or hobbies. Although, prior to buying this book, I was gearing myself to a simpler life, the ideas and suggestions in this book brought it all home. I am too young to retire, but I now am taking pleasure in my life, spending more time with my daughter and having resumed hobbies I gave up long ago. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to enjoy life!
Rating:
Summary: Addresses how to have fun again
Review: I read a book each week. Most are about retirement planning or how to become financially independent. Whilst a lot of the material in this book is not new, it is nevertheless a book that I find that I am having second and third looks at quite a lot of pages from this book. What many of us find difficulty with after 30 years of work is knowing what it is outside work that makes us happy. There are some very good sections in this book that help identify for you what it is you deep down really like doing. It seems silly that we need a book to help us with knowing that but a lifetime of the discipline of work does take away our abilities to dream, to imagine another world away from work and more importantly to survive after work is taken away from us either by retirement or retrenchment. The section on the Leisure Tree hit a soft spot with me. This is a device to identify what leisure activities will give us the most pleasure. This is a terrific book and a bargain buy at the price. If you have read Your money or your life, The Millionaire Next Door, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Live Rich, Die Broke, you should read this book as well. It will help fill in some gaps the others leave.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite Book of ALL-Time!
Review: I really enjoyed this book and Ernie just spoke to my heart. The Joy of Not Working is really not the right title for this piece of artwork. Im telling you straight up....Ernie speaks to you in a simple way that gets you to think about the other things that are most important in your life. I found myself "talking shop" all the time and not setting the right priorites with my family. You need to do the things in life YOU WANT TO DO! Why should a corporation and your boss run you everyday. I have purchased this book for many people and my new business partner and myself refer to this book as the "leisure book of your life." Do yourself a favor and purchase this book. The book is well written and its quite humorous at times. Ernie should team up with the author of the Dilbert Principle and go big time with this masterpiece. I have read hundreds of books on business, self help, and motivation......Ernie's book is my favorite of all time.
Rating:
Summary: a lifesaver!
Review: I recieved this book two hours before I went to a crew meeting for the restaurant I had just taken a job at. I looked through it for about 15 minutes, which was enough. Then I took a walk in a quiet forest to think about what I had learned from Ernie. I had a great time at that meeting. Weekends? You want me to work weekends? I'm only working two days a week, if you don't like it than find someone else. And I will be busy hiking on the weekends, and spending time doing other things I enjoy much more than working. Since then they have pushed me to work more hours, and thank you Ernie for this book, if I hadn't have read it I would have let them walk all over me, like they do everyone else. I just wish that I had read this book about 15 years ago. My life would have been much better.
Rating:
Summary: Living every moment of your life
Review: If your feeling over-worked, under-worked, bored, unsure, tired, depressed- whatever your feeling, Ernie Zelinski just might be able to get you to take a step back. This book is a wake up call to the way our society has been valuing work.
The Joy of Not Working is NOT about being a bum, it's about being your best if that's not what you're doing RIGHT NOW.
It's about living every moment of your life, NOT about saving up for someday when you plan to...
I have described what it is NOT, and now you can go find out what it IS. I wish you all the best.
Rating:
Summary: Living every moment of your life
Review: If your feeling over-worked, under-worked, bored, unsure, tired, depressed- whatever your feeling, Ernie Zelinski just might be able to get you to take a step back. This book is a wake up call to the way our society has been valuing work.
The Joy of Not Working is NOT about being a bum, it's about being your best if that's not what you're doing RIGHT NOW.
It's about living every moment of your life, NOT about saving up for someday when you plan to...
I have described what it is NOT, and now you can go find out what it IS. I wish you all the best.
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