The Complete Idiot's Guide to Managing Your Time (3rd Edition)

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Summary: From the foreword to book:
Review: "People today seem to be less able to keep pace, less integrated, and less effective as self-managers. Given all that has happened in the last couple decades, it is not so surprising. Each of us faces the specter of ever-increasing change. A new piece of technology enters our lives--more instructions to learned, a new way of doing things is instituted. Change itself seems to occur at an ever-increasing pace. In this breakthrough book, Jeff Davidson offers a plan where you can consistently win back control of your time, despite the rigors of trying to flourish in an ever-changing society. Jeff wrote this book with the specific intention of giving you hands-on, highly practical solutions to the day-to-day problems you face. Everything in the book is presented in an honest, down-to-earth, and often amusing way. I found myself smiling and nodding in agreement all the way through. Its basic truths run from page to page. Jeff starts with the basic premise that to win back your time you need to develop, or re-develop, the habit of leaving your workplace at the normal closing hour--if at first only one day a week, and then two days, and then three days, and then nearly everyday. He follows with nineteen more compelling chapters that address various aspects of winning back your time at work and your life in general. He concludes with the message that the best is yet to come, and convincingly tells us why this is so. Not just another treatise on how applying antiquated time management rules, this is a book of guiding principles, and ultimately this book is a gift to career professionals everywhere who know that the quality of their lives, for the rest of their lives, depends upon how they approach each day starting with this day. The suggestions that Jeff offers don't require an upheaval in the way you work or live; most can be implemented naturally and easily. Indeed, Jeff believes that any change representing a radical departure from what you already do, more often than not, will fail. He has presented his suggestions with great care, recognizing that you are already have more than enough to do. Nearly all of what Jeff recommends can be weaved into the tapestry of your life as it exists now. Consequently, this is a book you'll want to keep nearby and refer to often. Depending on the specifics of your situation, many chapters and many passages will merit multiple readings. At the end of each chapter, as is customary in this Macmillan series, Jeff concisely portrays the least you need to know from that chapter. If you only follow the three or four suggestions, you'll do just fine. I am enthusiastic about the results you can achieve in reading and following the ideas in this book. As you find yourself winning back more and more of your time, please do others around you the ultimate favor--share the principles in this book with them so that they too can win back their time. Dr. Janet Lapp

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Summary: A lot of good advice that makes sense
Review: As a young adult, I am learning to juggle various aspects of my life such as work, socialising, outside commitments etc. This book has helped me understand what is truly important & what time wasting habits can & should be discarded. I must say that I am enjoying life far more now. This is truly a must read.

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Summary: I thoroughly recommend it!
Review: As a young adult, I am learning to juggle various aspects of my life such as work, socialising, outside commitments etc. This book has helped me understand what is truly important & what time wasting habits can & should be discarded. I must say that I am enjoying life far more now. This is truly a must read.

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Summary: A very useful book, far superior to others on this subject
Review: I encountered the Dummy's version of Time Management and was of disappointed. It seemed like it was just one ad after and another for the various products that the author was touting. The Idiot's version of Time Management in comparison is devoted to the reader. I didn't detect that the author had any affiliations with any products or services, and even if he does, it doesn't come through in these pages. Instead, I encountered one chapter after another of sound logic, action steps, and encouragement. If the book is lacking in any area it would be on using technology to enhance your use of time. But, you can always make the argument that tools of technology change so fast, that such discussion is better handled in newspaper and magazine articles anyways. The bottom line, this is an excellent book on time management and certainly worth the time it takes to read it.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Book
Review: I have a number of books on the topic of time management and lots of them ask me to do things that take too much time.! This book avoids long lists of stuff I'm "supposed' to do, and instead offers down-to-earth, here's what you can do now type of recommendations. Personally, I bought several copies of this book and gave it out as gifts.

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Summary: A humorous, helpful guide
Review: I just finished the 3rd edition of MYT, and was quite impressed. I haven't seen the first two editions, but this one certainly fills the bill, if you're looking for solutions to time-pressure problems. That the book is funny, is a real bonus. It makes it easier to get through every chapter. I found the section found "Thinking Your Way Out of Timetraps" to be the best part of the book. After all, much of what we face on a daily basis is self-induced. You can blame your boss, you can blame other people, but when you really get honest with yourself, as you learn in the book, most of the time pressure you feel is a result of your own activities and beliefs. Do yourself a favor and get this book.

Rating:
Summary: A humorous, helpful guide
Review: I just finished the 3rd edition of MYT, and was quite impressed. I haven't seen the first two editions, but this one certainly fills the bill, if you're looking for solutions to time-pressure problems. That the book is funny, is a real bonus. It makes it easier to get through every chapter. I found the section found "Thinking Your Way Out of Timetraps" to be the best part of the book. After all, much of what we face on a daily basis is self-induced. You can blame your boss, you can blame other people, but when you really get honest with yourself, as you learn in the book, most of the time pressure you feel is a result of your own activities and beliefs. Do yourself a favor and get this book.

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Summary: Handling a Complex Issue
Review: I thought this was pretty good handling of a rather complex issue - how to control the time in your life when as the author explains, so much is competing for it. I like the fact that this book is an easy read. Each chapter only takes about 10 or 12 minutes. Also, I though a lot of the charts were helpful. I would have liked to have seen a section on what to do is you're chained to a beeper, and maybe a chapter on time management for new parents.

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Summary: Finally managing my time wisely!
Review: I was pleasantly surprised. At first I thought this was going to be a too light treatment to a topic that's important to me. Even though the author does take a humorous approach, I guess the whole series of idiot's guides takes a humorous approach, nevertheless, I found the tips to be hard hitting and practical. If I had this earlier in my career I might have saved a whole lot of time on stuff that for all practical purposes was a waste of time.
I don't know why the previous reader gave such a bad review, I think they were talking about another book!

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Summary: returned it - preaches deceit; more fluff than substance
Review: The author's target audience seems to be salaried employees working unpaid overtime, who are overweight, out of shape, watch too much TV and get too little sleep. His solution to the unpaid overtime is to lie to your employer and coworkers about how much you work at home, use oversized containers to take work home so it looks like more, schedule outside appointments late in the dy so you can just go home, etc. A lot of the book is aimed at helping people take better care of themselves and get their priorities in order, which I applaud. But that isn't what I was looking for in a time management book. I was looking for practical strategies for organizing my work and time, which it is thin on. It has some, and there are some very good ideas in there, but not really much more than a good magazine article.