Defeating the 8 Demons of Distraction: Proven Strategies to Increase Productivity and Decrease Stress [Paperback]

Geraldine Markel (Author)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Geraldine Markel, Ph.D. is an educational psychologist who is a coach, speaker, and author. She served as faculty in the School of Education, University of Michigan, and has coauthored four books on learning and performance for adolescents and adults with ADD and/or learning disabilities. Geri is the principal of Managing Your Mind Coaching & Seminars.

Product Details

• Paperback: 178 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (January 18, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 059547540X
• ISBN-13: 978-0595475407
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #702,591 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Geraldine Markel, Ph.D. is an eductional psychologist who is a coach, speaker, and author. She served as faculty in the School of Education, University of Michigan, and has coauthored four books on learning and performance for adults and adolescents with ADD and/or learning disabilities. She is the principal of Managing Your Mind Coaching & Seminars working with high achieving persons whose performance is suboptimized due to problems such as distraction, disorganization, and poor time management or memory.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good practical book to help us focus, April 24, 2008

By 

S V SWAMY "swamy-reviews" (Hyderabad, India) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Defeating the 8 Demons of Distraction: Proven Strategies to Increase Productivity and Decrease Stress (Paperback)

All of us get distracted at times. However, when the distractions become one too many and thus disrupt our work, our homes, our life style etc., stress is the result. Our jobs and our family life get affected adversely. All of us would have wished at some time or other that we had a good mentor and coach to guide us how to deal with the battle against the demons of distraction. This book is an answer to our wishes.

In a short space of 10 Chapters spread over 138 pages, Geraldine Markel takes us through a seminar on the 8 Demons of Distraction and successful strategies to fight and defeat the demons. The book can be read in about a day of say 8 to 10 hours with short breaks for tea and lunch. Thus it is like attending a 1-day seminar. However, you need not travel and spend money on hotels etc. In the comfort of your home, you can read and reread the book and thus save a lot of time, energy and money!

If the above sounds like a sales pitch, I may be forgiven but I was really impressed with the simple, lucid and reader-friendly style of the book. I was delighted with the case studies presented by the author and was inspired by the success stories when the people practiced the strategies presented in the book. So, if you practice what you read, you too are sure to succeed. Here are a few chapter titles: The 8 Demons of Distraction, Your Attention Reservoir and Arsenal, Defeating the Technology Demon, Defeating the Others Demon etc. Chapter 10 is a good summary of the strategies.

Normally management and self-help books are not easy to read, especially since I have a rather short attention span! However, the highly readable style of this book held my attention sufficiently so that I could read it in the space of a few days after a long day of work.

This book would make a good present to any one (employee, home maker, business man, student), who finds that distractions are affecting their lives adversely. So, buy it for yourself and or some one you care for.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Demons in the midst, April 21, 2008

By 

Mitchell Rycus - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Defeating the 8 Demons of Distraction: Proven Strategies to Increase Productivity and Decrease Stress (Paperback)

We are all much too busy managing our work, home and public service duties, but Geri Markel's book is there to help us get through the rough spots. Markel's insight into what causes us to be much less efficient (even more than we realize) and how to get over those hurdles is a must read. Just when you think you've got your day all planned out, and your about to accomplish some very important tasks along comes one of those `demons' that makes you say, "Where did all the time go?" Now you'll be able to recognize when you're losing it and just how to stop the loss before your day is shot. Thanks Geri for this great guide to better management

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Effective, February 17, 2008

By 

business owner (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Defeating the 8 Demons of Distraction: Proven Strategies to Increase Productivity and Decrease Stress (Paperback)

An effective new approach to increasing productivity. Well-written and thorough, with workable solutions. Especially good if you run a business. My productivity went up before I finished the book!