Customer Reviews

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Managing Stress

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This is a good book on the topic of managing stress. Personally I would have liked to have seen more on the topic of burnout and maybe something on the stress of dealing with unruly children. But there was a lot in here on stress that I hadn't considered before. There was also some approaches to managing stress that were new to me, and of course that's always appreciated. The little boxes on every page like what a concept, etched in stone, and warning were kind of clever.

Jeff Davidson presents a unique and very helpful approach to dealing with everyday stress. A well-written and easy to follow guide.

Wayne D. Ford, Ph.D., author of "Stress Management for Over-Achievers" docwifford@msn.com

This is a great book for ideas on how to get back control of your life. If you have a extremely stressful career like I do you'll love reading the different ideas in this book. Chapter 6 covers ways to fight burnout, figuring out when you're most productive & how to deal with work overload. Chapter 16 covers mastering your environment which has lots of ideas on how to deal challenges at home & work plus ideas on how to recharge your energy. This is a great book & well worth the money!

Although I would have liked to have seen more on the topic of burnout and maybe something on the stress of raising an unruly teenager there was a lot in here on stress that I hadn't considered before. There were also some approaches to managing stress that were new to me, and of course that's always appreciated. The little boxes on every page like what a concept, etched in stone, and warning were kind clever

This book is not like others on the topic of stress and in many ways, I think, superior. The author takes a very methodical approach, i.e., first explaining what stress is, the various sources of stress into our lives, and then what you can do about it. A lot of his suggestions like mastering your environment, perfecting the strategic pause, and asking the 'magic question' are new to me and I think yield a lot of potential., I haven't seen these kinds of approaches in other books. I bought his earlier book on managing your time which was pretty good, but I think this one is a gem.

In my career as a professional speaker, the one nagging issue that members of my audiences keep bringing to my attention is the increasing difficulty of managing stress in an era with too many pressing concerns. They are vitally interested in both the health and well-being of their families and the state of the world, and they face increasing stress on all fronts. In an era that presents too many jolts too frequently, people tell me that they welcome this new and improved edition of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Managing Stress.

In one form or another, men and women from all walks of life face a similar problem: how to manage stress efficiently. CIG to Managing Stress is the crib sheet for attaining vital perspectives and proven techniques for maintaining a healthy, balanced outlook about one's self, job, family, and environment.

Unlike other books in the field but similar to other books in the Complete Idiot's Guide series, CIG to Managing Stress is easy to read and brings a smile to the reader's face. Instead of relying on a single expert, it brings together the knowledge of a wide range of experts in the field. By reading this book, you will gain insights and effective strategies for handling what has become an arduous part of daily life: keeping stress at minimal levels.

Yours Truly,
Jeff Davidson

All around us we see more people leading hectic lives, getting ever stronger pre scriptions, popping more pills, while hoping to get through the day with their sanity in tact. With all the changes that have already occurred in society in the last decade, and an ever increasing array of changes that is on the way, it is no wonder that so many are searching for an offramp to the rat race. In fact, more and more people are taking the time to reassess how they run their lives and searching for ways to renew their sense of balance and purpose. But is it possible to handle all that you handle and still get through the day will relative grace and ease? I believe it is, and fortified by this marvel ous book by Jeff Davidson, I think your chances just improved dramatically. Jeff Davidson is a dynamic speaker, mega-author of 22 books, and an accom plished career achiever. Yet, on his way to understanding how to keep stress in place, he overcame an extraordinary number of hurdles. Over the last two decades, Jeff has honed and refined his observations about life and work so that he could present a book to you on managing your stress that gets to the heart of what's plaguing all of us and what's likely to be plaguing you in particular. The observations and witticisms that he provides a unique window to how you can make changes that will work for you. The tips and recommendations he offers are meat y. They are strategies you can use immediately to make a change in your life. Jeff crafted this book with the express purpose of enabling you to have highly practi cal hands-on solutions to the daily stress related problems that you encounter. The entire book is presented in an illuminating, entertaining, and honest manner. Once you get on the wavelength of Jeff's humor, you'll find the ride to be as fun as it is enlighten ing. This book mixes age-old truths with new world realities in chapter after chapter. Throughout the book, through all 22 chapters, Jeff presents compelling reasons why that simply being alive in our society today will all but guarantee that you experience high levels of stress if you're not skilled in the ways of keeping stress in check. It con cludes with the observation that stressed or not, you're probably going to live far longer than you think and that by understanding the origin and nature of the stresses you ex perience, and keeping them under control, one at a time, you have the best long-term chance to live the remaining days of your life with a quality of life few consider possible. The last section of each chapter is entitled, "The Least You Need to Know." This is a convention used in all of the Complete Idiot Guide Books. It is an effective way to remind yourself of the few things from the chapter that are worth pursuing or worth re membering, if you do nothing else. This is a book that offers principles on which you can rely for a lifetime. Whether you're the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, a mid-level manager, or are new in the workforce; whether you're a white-collar worker or a blue-collar worker; whether you're retired, in school, or some place in between, you'll find answers you can use in this book. Most of the ideas that Jeff presents can be implemented right away, because they don't involve having to be anyone other than yourself. There is no cookie-cutter ap proach which means you won't have to undertake a lot of changes in the way you're currently doing things. Indeed, the changes will be subtle. This makes sense for two reasons. One, is that you're already busy, you already have a lot to do, a lot to learn, and a lot to keep pace with and hence you don't need more tasks and more instructions that are difficult to follow and easy to fail to do. More importantly, any changes that you undertake that will be of a lasting value must be natural and easy for you. And, even if you only partially follow his suggestions Jeff suggests, you'll still receive great benefits. Nearly everything that Jeff says can be integrated into your present work and per sonal life. I suggest that you keep this book at arm's length so you can peruse its pages often. You'll find yourself going back over and over again as different situations arise during the day. Also, as you experience early wins in controlling stress, you'll want to read or perhaps reread certain passages and chapters so that you can proceed on towards mastery in other areas. If you spend a lot of time commuting, try audiotap ing your favorite entries and quotes onto a tape to reinforce your most important learn ing points. Add some relaxing music to provide interludes to think about your progress. If you live in a major metropolitan area, try adding my own personalized traffic report, "You know the traffic is lousy so just keep driving." Your ability to manage your stress is now in your hands. You can attain significant results reading and following the ideas laid out before you. As you exhibit greater mastery of situations that previously caused increased stress for you, others will begin to notice, and will be curious as to how you were able to change effectively. To do a favor for others around you, share this book with them. You'll find that when you're surrounded by people who also have skills in managing the stress they face, you benefit as well. After all, a lower stress environment benefits everyone in it. It's time we all face up to the fact that no one wants on their tombstone the tribute, "He finished every thing on his to-do-list!" We all know there is far more to life than that. Jeff's book decisively unlocks the doors to find the balance we all so desperately want to achieve. Get ready to make stress work for you instead of against you. ------------------------------- ----------------------------- Dr. Terry Paulson is author of Paulson On Change and They Shoot Managers Don't They? and a professional speaker on organizational and personal change.

I got this book as a gift and at first I thought, oh brother!, just what I need, an idiot's guide to managing stress. After several weeks when I finally got into it, it turned out to be a pretty good gift. A lot of the stressors I was facing were disguised to me. This book exposes a lot of them, and now at least I know what I'm up against. Also, some of the charts are pretty valuable. I have photocopied one of them and put them up by my desk.

There are two basic reasons I like this book: One, the chapter on whipping work place distractions was worth the total price of the book in and of itself. I didn't realize until reading this chapter just how disruptive a day is by virtue of the fact that I work in an office. Number two was the chapter on short-changing your sleep. For many years, I have lived with the mistaken assumption that I could get by on five or six hours a night, but this book has convinced me that there are serious ramifications for chronically getting less sleep than you need. On top of those, I thought the most other chapters were pretty good although sometimes the author goes too long on explanation of the problem at hand, before getting to the actual tips to get into control. But overall I can strongly recommend this book if work related stress is putting a dent in your day.

I finished this book in just about 2 hours. i skipped a large portion of it becuase it didn't apply to me. A large portion of this book focuses on career-based stress. I'm disabled, and therefore unemployed, so the career-based info just didn't fit me more. There was some helpful information i will hang onto, but overall, it just wasn't for me.