Customer Reviews

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Managing Your Time

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

This is the best of all the time management books. For one, the author is a bonafide expert, having written several books tangential to the topic. The advice in here is very solid. Chapter after chapter, tip after tip, there is much that would benefit any reader, anywhere. The pace of society doesn't seem to be slowing down, and as the author says, it is up to each of us individually to carve out space and time we need to live the kind of life that we desire. This book is easy to read, fun to read, and ultimately, has lasting impact. You can only read it in byte size amounts like the author says, it will still work.

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!

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.

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.

Excellent publication. Most Idiot's guides are written for the people who buy them. This book actually has practical and novel advice. Money well spent.

"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

Dear Frazzled, Time-Pressed, Never-Have-an-Extra-Second Reader,

If freeing up oodles of time and breaking bad time-use habits is of interest to you, then read on--you have come to the right place. As the commercial goes, "You've got questions, I've got answers!"

Welcome to the third edition of the Complete Idiot's Guide to Managing Your Time. Understandably, this book is more useful than the second edition, and much more updated than the first. More than 160,000 of the first two editions are now in print. (I have always relied on the kindness of strangers--book buyers--to do their part: buy dozens and dozens of copies for your immediate family, best friends, and for special occasions such as graduation, weddings, funerals, retirement parties, baby showers, and Groundhog Day.)

Now, well into the 21st century, it's no secret that everywhere you look, for everyone you know, the pace of life has sped up and seemingly is getting faster all the time. Watching people drive SUVs as they speed around crowded intersections with one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the cell phone is not a pretty sight. The juggling and struggling of people seeking to get a lot of things done in a hurry makes for some questionable behaviors, some of them risky, some merely silly. All such behaviors are driven by the same basic notion--there is too much to do and too little time in which to do it.

I don't blame you if you're leery of tackling a large book. After all, this one contains more than 300 pages. Yet, once you start perusing the pages, you'll see that this is an easy read. I'm on your side; I did not create more work for you by making a text that is hard to read and whose advice is hard to apply. Each chapter tackles a particular issue related to the overall theme of managing your time.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Managing Your Time is loaded with insights and witticisms that ring true and that you'll be able to apply to the everyday issues you face. I don't lay on a ton of rules that you're supposed to memorize and apply around the clock. You don't need that kind of assignment--you're already very busy! Rather, I offer a handful of guiding principles that work in pretty much any situation, any time, for anyone who draws upon them.

My goal in writing this book is to offer you a solid framework for taking charge of your time by offering practical, commonsensical, fresh approaches for seizing control of your day, year, life, and maybe even your afterlife. You won't have to get up at 4:30 a.m., spend a small fortune, surround yourself with high-tech gadgets, or clone yourself.

If you're like most people, you want to finish your day's work and still have a life. You want to reclaim your weekends for leisure and fun-filled activities. You want to embark on invigorating, relaxing vacations. In short, you want to win back your time so that you can have a life!

Within these 27 chapters, there are dozens upon dozens of tips, suggestions, and recommendations. Not all of them will apply to everybody. Some may rub you the wrong way, some may be totally out of reach, and some may represent ideas that don't seem palatable to you. That's okay--what's vital is that there are enough tips and suggestions that do fit your scheme of doing things, that aid you in controlling your time, and that enhance the quality of your day.

When it comes to reading this book, you have lots of options! You can read the whole thing from cover to cover (the way I read books) and you'll do quite well. You will find the text to be witty, though entirely readable and hard-hitting. You have the option of reading a chapter at a time, not necessarily in chronological order. For example, you may have some burning issue that's addressed in one of the middle chapters of the book. In that case, plunge in right there! You can always go back to the earlier chapters. Take action where and when it makes the most sense.

You also have the option of dabbling. Open the book to any single page or paragraph at random and simply begin reading. I promise that you'll benefit no matter where you start because every page and passage is packed with high-octane insights and suggestions.

As you begin to master managing your time, subtly, almost imperceptibly, you'll experience positive, significant differences in your life. Indeed, the world takes on a totally different hue when you build some slack into your days and stay in control.

All the best to you on your personal and exciting journey to reclaiming your life, year, month, week, day, and now as you become a master at managing your time.