Customer Reviews

Simplify Your Work Life

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

A recent survey reported that the average working woman in America puts in an 85 hour week between her job and home chores. Many career-obsessed men also spend that amount of time on work, commuting, and travel combined. While I have read many books on how to be more successful at work, this is the first one I have read that works on your effectiveness while reducing your hours and stress. I found it relaxing to even contemplate the subject.

The author speaks from her own experience, having gone from being an active head of her own real estate investing activities for 15 years to successful, best-selling author of five previous books. In the process, she cut her work week down to 30 hours . . . and eventually quadrupled her income in the process.

She reports that recent Yankelovich surveys show that 80 percent of people approve of those who put their families ahead of work, half of the people have taken jobs that allow them to get more time away from work, and one-fifth changed jobs for lower-paying employment in exchange for more free time.

There is no doubt in my mind that if you follow through on even 10 percent of what she suggests you will spend less time working, feel better, and be a lot more fun to be around.

The book is organized into seven sections, comprised of 85 individual concepts. The seven sections are:

(1) Cutting back on the amount of time you work

(2) Learning to seize blocks of time in ways that allow you to have more time to get things done

(3) Being more productive when you are working

(4) Being more productive in your relationships with people while working

(5) Being more effective with the money you earn and save

(6) Changing the way you work to provide more flexibility

(7) Changing the way you think about work.

Like many books filled with lots of lists, the materials are complete enough for anyone in somes cases (like stop working weekends), while much less than what you need in other cases (making better decisions, starting a business, and improving your money management).

In the latter cases, I suggest that you also read books about personal decision making (such as "Smart Choices") and improving your finances (like "The Finance Doctor") that have a bit more meat on them. You can obviously go on to more advanced material as your interest and expertise grow.

In a few sections, you are encouraged to use "body-mind" techniques based on meridians (accupuncture points). These I will leave it up to you to assess. I have no experience here to draw on. I would suggest that you add meditation to the list of what is encouraged here.

I also think that those who would just like less stress will find this book helpful, even if you don't want to cut down your work week. A good complementary book for women is "Outsmarting Female Fatigue."

For those sections that were complete enough on their own that no further reading is needed, I was impressed by how many included sample dialogues that you can use to help you negotiate changes in your workplace. Most people will benefit from that kind of help. We often say "yes" because we don't know how to say "no" gracefully. In many other sections, you are referred to excellent resource materials like "Common Sense on Mutual Funds" by John Bogle. Where I knew the referred to sources, there are superb in each case.

Now, let me tell you about my experience with cutting my work week. I was very good at it, and soon found myself with lots of time for "getting a life." I did this for several years, but eventually found it dissatisfying. I became reengaged in new "work" activities that have me working longer hours again, but I'm really enjoying it more this time. As you can see from my book reviews, I also engage actively in my hobbies as well. So a reduced work week is probably a way-station rather than an end destination unless you are very close to retirement. That point isn't addressed here.

I was pleased that the book talks about starting up your own business and investing. I think that "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and "Cash Flow Quadrant" would be good complements to this book for many people.

I suggest that you follow up on the author's advice and discuss your reactions to this book with your family, coworkers, friends, and neighbors. They will probably help you develop more confidence, better ways to implement the advice, and encourage you to go forward. In fact, if you can do this with a "buddy" who wants to reduce her or his work week as well, that would be the best. The book has several suggestions for how to do this.

Have much more health, happiness, peace, and prosperity . . . wherever and however you choose to spend your time!

Ms. St. James has shed her husband and taken up with an "Ecstatic Women's Circle" ... and it shows! It's not that this book has no good advice - but it's also larded with tons of "new age mumbo-jumbo" ("Thump Your Thymus," #39). Also, there's a lot of repetition from her other books. My advice: Her "Simplify Your Life" is a classic. Skip this and get that!

Just shy of three hundred pages and the compact size of 7X7 inches I was amazed at how much useful information this small book gave me. The book is laid out the way I like a book...Seven acts of a play. The FIRST act deals with CUTTING BACK ON THE AMOUNT OF TIME YOU WORK and this is about 11 issues to look at, from Cutting back on hours, stop working week ends, leave work at work and dont bring it home, eliminating the commute and simply taking the time to think.

SECOND act deals with LEARNING TO SEIZE TIME and deals with issues like getting a jump on tomorrow, learning how to schedule better, using the phones and technology to your advantage. And something we all need to know in this Internet age, handle e-mail wisely. Her ideas on how to cut back on email will save you at least two hours of stress a day.

THREE deals with BEING MORE PRODUCTIVE and deals with eliminating distractions, bringing your full attention to work, Take your lunch break, laugh more, take a nap and get a life.

FOUR deals with BEING MORE EFFECTIVE WITH PEOPLE and covers issues like Speaking up, figuring out why you say yes, and how to work more effectively with those you are with.

FIVE deals with BEING MORE EFFICIENT WITH YOUR MONEY and covers living within your means, understanding what you make and what your taxes are. Knowing how much house we can afford and how to avoid debt, and simply learning how to handle money.

SIX CHANGING THE WAY YOU WORK and is about finding a work friendly environment, creating our own options, starting your own business and finding a Coach.

SEVEN is called CHANGING THE WAY YOU THINK ABOUT WORK and she deals with Understanding how you got where you are, rethinking your belief system, imagining and seeking the ideal work life and following ones heart and head. And finally if not now then when?

I keep picking the book up and reading new parts and re-reading chapters and seeing things I missed the other times. I think this is a book every workaholic needs.

Everyone working in America today should read "Simplify Your Work Life." People in the U.S. work way too much--and for what? Work is important, but it shouldn't be the only thing you do with your life. Elaine St. James offers simple suggestions to eliminate unnecessary work and stress from our lives. It's sad that our culture today thinks that people who work under 40 hours a week are "lazy". St. James tells us this is not true, and we can get as much work done working under 40 hours a week as working 60 hours a week, if only we learned how to manage our time better. People can get overwhelmed with our modern work society (with email, faxes, internet, etc.), but St. James says it doesn't have to be this way.

My only complaint about the book is that it seems biased towards salaried professionals who work in offices. Her suggestions about reducing your work time, taking more breaks, etc., aren't relevant to hourly wage workers who HAVE to work a certain amount of hours or else get a cut in pay. Those same workers also can't take breaks whenever they want to. A lot of her examples revolve around people who have their own businesses (much like herself). Of course THEY can manage their own time--they're their own boss!

Even so, a lot of the other tips she gives can be applied to everyone. Whether you need ways to find more time for yourself or need to reduce the stress in your life, this is the book for you! Easy to read and to the point.

Having read or heard other books by Elaine St. James (SIMPLIFY
YOUR LIFE, INNER SIMPLICITY, etc.), I found myself looking
forward to reading her latest: SIMPLY YOUR WORK LIFE . . . I
was not disappointed in it, and you won't be either--even if you
have not read anything else by the author . . . she presents
both big and small ways to scale down and simplify life on
the job . . . in doing so, she will help you understand the
difference between making work easier and making it
easier to do more work.

For example, there were these thought-provoking passages:
One way to seize time is to get into the habit of taking
five minutes at the end of your day to clean up your space
and get organized for the next day's work. Even if you're
in the middle of a project you want to continue with the
next day, you'll find it helpful to straighten up your paper
and files and put away books, folders, notes, and other
materials for which you don't have an immediate need.

One of the most important steps you can take to
reduce the pressure you put on yourself is to avoid
making promises you can't keep that will throw the rest of your
life out of balance. So if your boss asks when you expect to have
a particular project completed, never, ever answer on the spot.
Always respond with "Let me figure it out and I'll get back to
you." Then actually take the time to realistically estimate,
given your other duties, when you could have the project
completed. Then double that estimate.

One of the main concerns Marie had when she was trying
to decide whether to take the leap and go for her doctorate
was that she was too old. I pointed out that I hadn't written
my first book until I was forty-five. Julia child didn't make her
first television appearance until she was fifty-five. Thomas
Edison didn't discover electricity until he was fifty-nine.
Eleanor Roosevelt didn't become a delegate to the United
Nations until she was sixty. And, as it turned out, Marie's
own husband, Joe, didn't do his most creative engineering
until he was sixty-two.

When the author states she feels "healthy, wealthy, happy and fantastic," it is obvious that the assumption here is that there are plenty of funds to cover the basic necessities -- food, shelter, and medical care at her house.

Most of the tips are basic ones such as "handling mail only once;write checks immediately." The assumption is that we all have the financial ability to do that. Another assmption is that we are all in control of our workdays. No advice or acknowledgement of any sort is offered up for those of us who cannot cut back or quit work.

I found the advice of rationing family members one towel and one wash cloth laughable and what one would expect if living in an institution, not in one's home.

These tapes contain some good advice and are very helpful for those persons who already enjoying a good income. However, for those living from pay day to pay day, these tapes will have little benefit.

The way we think about work has evolved. Now it's okay to have a life outside of the office. If you're one of the millions who would like to cut back on the amount of time you spend working, but think reduced hours would hurt you financially and hinder your career progression, pick up Elaine St. James' book Simplify Your Work Life: Ways to Change the Way You Work So You Have More Time to Live.

In this small self-help book St. James offers tips on how to work smarter and more efficiently, but more importantly she aims to change our mindset about work. The main message is that it's not necessary to sacrifice your entire life for a paycheck

In the early pages of this book, Ms. James invites us to learn how to simplify our work life so that we have more time to live, and she certainly delivers! From cutting back our work hours, to switching jobs for improved lifestyle, Simplify Your Work Life offers hope for the overworked masses.

I really enjoyed reading all the insightful statistics included in the book because they revealed so much about our society and its expectations-- we have longer work days but crave more time with our family. Beyond a philosophical book which labels the problem, Simplify Your Work Life provides multiple solutions for loving our work and living with less. This book is a must read for anyone suffering from office overload.

This book has enough "new" ideas and presents them in an excellent fashion, so it warrants a five-star rating. It is a quick read and easy to incorporate immediately.

Very pleased with the condition of the book...like new. Good price and it was delivered in the time it was promised. I would purchase from them again. Thanks. Dchanilj.