How Did I Get So Busy?: The 28-day Plan to Free Your Time, Reclaim Your Schedule, and Reconnect with What Matters Most [Paperback]

Valorie Burton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 26, 2007

Do you feel stressed, overworked, like you’re running on empty? Are you caught in the race to get it all done—with little time to enjoy the rewards life has to offer?

There’s no doubt about it: these days we are just too busy. With the conveniences of technology, we’re compelled to get more done in less time and end up constantly striving for the next thing – rarely stopping to consider if it’s something we even want. As a result, we end up missing out on the things that truly matter: our relationships, the activities we love, quiet time to reflect and replenish our energy.

Valorie Burton’s How Did I Get So Busy? is the solution for anyone who feels perpetually overwhelmed and overworked: a simple, effective 28-day program to help you rediscover your true priorities, shift out of overdrive, and reclaim your life and schedule. Built around Burton’s “Ten Commandments of Self-Care,” each day presents an easy-to-follow task to help you strip away the meaningless activities that occupy your time and make room for what nourishes you--mind, body, and spirit. The tasks are simple but yield big rewards:

Take a full hour for lunch
Set “no-email” periods
Add fun goals to your to-do list
End your day “on purpose” – meaning that you decide when to leave the office, head home, and fall asleep.

Uplifting and inspiring, How Did I Get So Busy? offers an easy way to be rid of the busywork that fills our days and rediscover the life you’ve always wanted.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Burton, a certified professional coach (What's Really Holding You Back?), addresses the problem of rushed and overloaded lives in sympathetic, persuasive language, confessing that she, too, was once part of the busyness epidemic. She draws a firm distinction between being successful (reaping financial gain or status) and being fulfilled (living, working and loving in a way that brings you emotional and spiritual satisfaction). Above all, she believes busyness is often based in fear and interferes with the primary job of life: making authentic connections with others. Burton pushes the reader to make deep but simple shifts : taking all your vacation days every year and leaving the office for at least a half-hour during the day will allow you to set healthy boundaries. She outlines what she calls a self-care lifestyle, which promotes living well and in balance. Exercise, good health habits and pampering are crucial, she says. Each of the 28 short chapters ends with a challenge, a five-minute journal exercise and a one-minute meditation. Burton's book is a wakeup call, an effective and inspiring plan for change.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Valorie Burton is a personal life coach and motivational speaker, and the author of Listen to Your Life, What’s Really Holding You Back, Why Not You? and Rich Minds, Rich Rewards. She has served clients in more than thirty states and seven countries and appeared widely in the national media. Visit her at www.valorieburton.com.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (December 26, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767926226
• ISBN-13: 978-0767926225
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #392,649 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Valorie Burton has helped thousands find the courage, clarity and tools to make meaningful life changes. A sought-after life coach, she is the author of five books, including Listen to Your Life, What's Really Holding You Back?, Why Not You? and How Did I Get So Busy? The 28-Day Plan to Free Your Time, Reclaim Your Schedule and Reconnect with What Matters Most. She has coached clients in over 30 states and seven countries, and appeared widely in the media, including CNN, NPR, the Los Angeles Times, Essence and Glamour Magazine. She has spoken at events for a diverse range of organizations including American Airlines, 'O,' The Oprah Magazine, and some of the nation's largest churches. Visit her online at www.valorieburton.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How Did I Get So Busy, January 26, 2008

By 

K. Lewis - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How Did I Get So Busy?: The 28-day Plan to Free Your Time, Reclaim Your Schedule, and Reconnect with What Matters Most (Paperback)

Valorie Burton has done an outstanding job of providing pratical tips to get us back on track to what matters most while showing each of us that God wants what's best for us so that we can fullfill our purpose and his. Although many of us may know this information it is provided in such a way that its not all about us. The fact of the matter is that God cares about every aspect of our lives including if we are overbooked and disconnected. I think this is the perfect book to move you forward without making you feel bad, honestly it will make you laugh, cry and feel free well before the end of the book.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Spiritual Look at Time Management, January 22, 2008

By 

Kerry Johnson-struif "kerrilyn22" (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How Did I Get So Busy?: The 28-day Plan to Free Your Time, Reclaim Your Schedule, and Reconnect with What Matters Most (Paperback)

How Did I Get So Busy: The 28-Day Plan to Free Your Time, Reclain Your Schedule, and Reconnect with What Matters Most by Valorie Burton

A time-management book with a spiritual twist. Many of the ideas presented here are in every other time-management book or seminar. However, this author discusses more of the spiritual/emotional side of being "busy."

She recommends slowing down, making a daily heart-to-heart connection, developing a self-care plan, creating daily rituals, being led by the spirit, etc. There are definite new age ideas at play here.

Even if you find one or two things that help in the battle to be less busy, or ways to find more time for yourself, it's worth a read.

18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Author brags too much about herself, superficial advice, June 26, 2008

By 

yet another reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Did I Get So Busy?: The 28-day Plan to Free Your Time, Reclaim Your Schedule, and Reconnect with What Matters Most (Paperback)

I got this book from the library with high hopes but I am disappointed in it. There are many instances I felt the author was just bragging about herself, in the guise of "sharing". By that, I mean she makes opportunities to "share" her own story, but somehow even her so-called problems seem contrived to promote herself. For example, in one part of the book, she was relating that she thinks her own tendency to be busy all the time started in childhood, when her mother put her in kindergarten at the age of four. She then goes on to say she was trying to prove to the world she is "smart" by getting her masters degree at age 21. Well, that does prove she is smart, and surely she knows it, but by the time she is done with telling the story, I was annoyed by the obvious self-promotion. In another segment, she relates of how she and her husband took a leap and bought a home that "nourishes" them physically, emotionally and spiritually. She then gushes about how lovely it is to walk in the streets near her home, how happy she is they took the leap and bought it. Well, that's great, but in these economic times, that sure does seem like bragging.

I got the feeling the author led something of a life of priviledge, and cannot relate to why many of us are busy. She never mentions having children and as a busy mom, I can say a large part of why I am overly busy is the care of my children. Like many moms, I was looking for advice on things like how to slow down without shortchanging the kids, but kids were never really addressed in this book. That is a glaring omission, because kids (or the care of adult parents, or both) add tremendously to one's busyness and most women are in some sort of caregiving role for a large part of their lives. It is very easy to make the adjustments listed in the book if you are a woman with few caregiving obligations, but if you have those issues, then many of the suggestions here will be difficult, if not impossible to put into practice.

The author lacks insight into the reasons why people are so busy, the very real obligations some of us face, and cannot simply reduce by self examination. Some of her points are good, but there appears to be a lack of understanding of the serious responsibilites many of us face.It is very easy to say "slow down" and "take time" but when one is faced with the care of parents and children, or working two jobs to save a home from foreclosure, such advice seems worse than trite.