How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life (Signet) [Mass Market Paperback]

Alan Lakein (Author)

Book Description

Release date: February 7, 1989 | Series: Signet

What do Gloria Steinem and I.B.M. have in common?
Both have sought the advice of Alan Lakein, famous time management expert, in order to minimize the time they waste and to maximize their productive capabilities. Now his practical widwom and amazingly effective simple rules are available to you:

• How to build your willpower
• How to waste time for pleasure and profit
• How to work smarter, not harder
• And much, much more

Reading this book can be the wisest investment of your time that you have ever made!

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Signet (February 7, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451167724
• ISBN-13: 978-0451167729
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #70 in Books > Business & Investing > Skills > Time Management

More About the Author

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

89 of 90 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Small cost, rich reward September 3, 2001

By Russell Fanelli VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback

How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life is, perhaps, the best book on time management ever written. It does not waste your time but gets right to the point. You must establish SMART (specific, measurable, achieveable, related/relevant, and time framed) goals for yourself and then prioritize them using Lakein's A/C system. "A" goals are the most important to you and you must plan on spending 80% of your time to achieve them. "C" goals (TV, lawn care, shopping, etc.) are the place where most people "waste" their lives and spend 80% of their time. This ratio must be reversed, according to Lakein.

He would agree with e.e. cummings that "To be nobody but yourself in a world that is night and day trying to make you just like everybody else means to fight the hardest fight any human being can fight, and never stop fighting." Once we have set goals that utilize our unique talents and abilities, we will have the will power and determination to do the work necessary to achieve them.

To accomplish our goals Lakein recommends that we make a daily "to do" list and always start with "A's," not "C's." Most of our time is spent working harder on things that don't matter. We may be efficient, but Lakein suggests that our goal is to do what matters most and become effective. "Work smarter, not harder" is the mantra he wants us to repeat and couple that saying with his last piece of advice --"Do it now."

Stick your finger into this small book and any page you hit will have wise words to put into action. Learning comes from daily practice and developing habits that "put first things first," taken from Stephen Covey's best seller, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People -- also recommended is Covey's fine book on effective living appropriately titled First Things First.

Rarely has a book that costs so little paid such rich dividends. You won't be disappointed.

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Short, smart, super. Top of its kind. April 30, 2001

By Bonnie

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

How hard is it to write short? And to think smart? Lakein manages both in this brilliant, slim volume which goes beyond productivity tips (though great ones abound) by first guiding you to the right path for you - so your new-found efficiency will propel you down the road of most satisfaction. One of my top favorite books of all time, all subjects. I revisit it frequently, after twenty years- and it never disappoints.

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The best time management book. May 26, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Mass Market Paperback

When I got the book, I was somewhat sceptical that a book could teach me what I already knew. (Make lists of to-do items etc) But this book is really amazing. It will tell you how you end up wasting time and what to do about it in a positive way. I would like to mention a couple of ideas that I found in this book: a) No matter how silly, do something related to work with a high pay-off. b) Effectiveness (doing the important things) should be preferred over efficiency (Doing something of not much importance very well)

I read this book every week and have got an additional copy to carry in my bag always to get these excellent ideas entrenched in my head.