Take Back Your Life!: Using Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 to Get Organized and Stay Organized [Paperback]

Sally McGhee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 13, 2007

If you re bogged down by unrelenting e-mail messages, conflicting commitments, and endless interruptions, it s not too late to reclaim control of your workday and take back your life! By applying the same time management and productivity techniques used by leading companies, you can better manage all of your communications, action items, and interactions. In this book, productivity expert Sally McGhee shows you how to take control and reclaim something you thought you had lost forever: your work-life balance. Now you can benefit from Sally s popular and highly regarded corporate education programs, learning simple but powerful techniques for rebalancing your personal and professional commitments by using the latest productivity features in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. Learn the proven methods that empower you to clear away distractions and loose ends and focus on what s really important to you and your business. You will discover what defines, and what limits, your personal productivity and learn how to create your own management system. Examine how you collect and store information, process and organize your e-mail messages for efficiency, and plan and prioritize with the calendar features in Office Outlook 2007. Learn what thousands of people worldwide have discovered about taking control of their everyday productivity, and start transforming your own life today! Includes a tear-out poster of the proven McGhee Productivity Solutions Workflow Model suitable for keeping right next to your desk.

Helps you understand what defines, and what limits, your personal productivity

Demonstrates how to make Office Outlook 2007 part of an effective and highly personalized system for managing the constant stream of information that flows across your desktop

Delivers the same powerful personal organization techniques from a popular corporate training class taught in some of the world s most successful companies

Offers an engaging, easy-to-read style for users of all levels

Applies concepts and models from the fields of behavioral psychology and education

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Learn what thousands of people worldwide have discovered about taking control of their everyday productivity, and start transforming your own life today! Includes a tear-out poster of the proven McGhee Productivity Solutions Workflow Model suitable for keeping right next to your desk, as well as free access to MPS's supporting on-demand webinar.

About the Author

A recognized thought leader and innovator in the field of productivity management, Sally McGhee has trained thousands of people in the corporate environment. She has more than 25 years' experience as a consultant and an executive coach, and is the founder and managing partner of McGee Productivity Solutions.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Microsoft Press; 1 edition (June 13, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735623430
• ISBN-13: 978-0735623439
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 0.9 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,574 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #19 in Books > Computers & Technology > Home Computing & How-to > Microsoft How-to > Networking
  • #24 in Books > Computers & Technology > Networking > Network Administration

More About the Author

With more than 25 years of experience in productivity management and consulting, Sally McGhee is recognized around the world as a productivity leader and pioneer. A former managing partner in several European and US based firms including PDG with Russell Bishop and David Allen, Sally brings a wealth of creativity and expertise to individual and corporate productivity management. Today, Sally is CEO of McGhee Productivity Solutions, an international consulting organization dedicated to improving personal and professional accountability, performance and work/life balance. Her Take Back Your Life series of books are now available in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, North, Central and South America.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

80 of 85 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars I took my life back! October 22, 2007

By SBJ400

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I was a disorganized mess. My desk was piles and piles of clutter and things (important, time sensitive materials) got lost! It took me about a good year to get where I am now. I started with Michael Linenberger's Total Workday Control. Not a good place to start so I tried David Allen's book 'Getting Things Done'. It was a great start and gave me foundation. I then moved on to Sally McGhee's book Take Back Your Life! for Outlook 2003. Awesome! That helped me integrate everything into my real world computer life. Then I went back and reread Michael Linenberger's Total Workday Control, which now made a lot more sense and I used some of his ideas to create a 'custom' system for myself.
Finally, I bought this updated book of Sally McGhee's because I am using Outlook 2007 now. The material is basically the same, but tuned for Outlook 2007.

Now some people claim this book is a rip off of David Allen's book or that these books are all the same or they are boring. YES! and NO!

What you have to realize is that there are several ways of getting things done. All roads lead to Rome. I prefer the Sally McGhee method because it does not depend upon a plugin or extra software. It works with Outlook the way it is when you buy it and her methods translate over to my desk at home and work and since I am on the road...in my car. YES, the material is dry at times but so is work! lol

David Allen offers custom software as an add in for Outlook 2003 and 2007 that is Windows XP and Vista compatible and his extra software will cost you an EXTRA $70 folks! This could be very nice and efficient for some people. yet, there is a downside...the plug in only works with Outlook. If you use another email client, you have nothing. Another downside, you are now dependent upon that software instead of doing it yourself. If he stops making that software or it causes troubles and you have to remove it, you are now back to square 1 with no method of organizing. In other words, David Allen caught the fish for you, but McGhee wants to teach you to catch the fish yourself.

So, that is why I like McGhee's method. Yes, she basis it on Outlook but since there is no extra custom software involved to integrate into Outlook, you can translate the system to other mail clients. I also run Linux and I can use her methods in Evolution, Thunderbird, Kontact, etc. Also, it is NOT a 'blatant copy' of David Allen. They worked together and she openly discusses, reveals and discloses that info. She even quotes Mr. Allen in her book.

If you have Take Back Your Life! for Outlook 2003 and have been using it and are skilled in her methodology, you can make the transition to Outlook 2007 on your own probably. If you are new to this, and have Outlook 2007, this is a definite buy. Here on Amazon, it is only $17! What a deal! I bought a current copy for myself and to help others in my family.

She will probably come out with a SPECIAL EDITION like she did with her previous book that will include a CD, some pull out charts, etc. I would say, do not wait. Buy this book and get organized. I would also recommend the other books I have listed in my review too. I don't think just 1 book is enough! And this will take effort on your part. It took me a solid year to get really good. I fell off the wagon, got frustrated, reread the book, tweaked, learned, quit, failed, tried again, screwed up but eventually succeeded. I doubt many of you will get it going well in your first month...so don't quit! Keep trying and it will happen!

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Take Back Your Copy August 10, 2008

By BBlair

Format:Paperback

As I mentioned in my review of Take Back Your Life (TBYL) Special Edition, this book is a derivative work - basically a loosely-gathered compilation of ideas and techniques ranging from David Allen to Stephen Covey. It may be useful for people looking for a friendly, lightweight, introductory text to personal information management (PIM) centered on Outlook.

Since I was disappointed with the first edition, I sat down with this new edition to see if there were any improvements. I will say that a major flaw of first edition, the glaring lack of information concerning Meaningful Objectives (a core part of the system), has been addressed in this edition. This is handled by demoting Meaningful Objectives and adding something called Unifying Goals, which themselves are supported by Areas of Focus. Meaningful Objectives now roll up to Areas of Focus, which in turn support Unifying Goals.

This is certainly an improvement and perhaps it will be useful to you. However, the book does a poor job of helping you define any of these things, so the system kind of collapses under its own weight, in my opinion.

Other than this, and some other updates required because the authors are now working in Outlook 2007, the book is largely unchanged. Therefore, my opinion is largely unchanged. TBYL is a chatty volume with a low signal-to-noise ratio and a variety of vignettes designed to "humanize" the material. More often, they come across like testimonials and contribute more to padding the book than illustrating the point. TBYL also has the irritating habit of taking simple, workable terms (like those from GTD) and renaming them as part of the author's proprietary system. Contexts become Planning and Action Categories, Next Actions become Strategic Next Actions (SNAs) with no real advantage to the reader. Finally, compared to Micheal Linenberger, the authors have a mediocre understanding of how to use Outlook to its full potential.

As I wrote in my previous review, if you are serious about PIM or are a businessperson, I think the source material would serve you better. Start with Getting Things Done (GTD) to get a brilliant overview of how to address the overload in your life, followed by Total Workday Control 2nd edition (for Outlook 2007; use the 1st edition for earlier incarnations of Outlook) to fine tune that understanding. Finally, pick up 7 Habits of Highly Effective People to get the big picture, or as Allen calls it the "50,000 foot view level."

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars you get what you put into it. August 25, 2008

By Jess of all trades

Format:Paperback

Updated review...Perhaps I am a bit of a dinosaur. It has been two years since I have been using the system and I have recently had a job change. After only 2 months, I found I needed to revisit the basic principles presented by this book. A new office, a new boss, a new computer system and an entirely new group of people seeking to use my skills. I found I needed to completely revamp my meaningful objectives. The reminder was timely. The organizational structure sound. In a single week, I went from mudding about answering every question posed to back on track.

This is clearly is not the answer every person is looking for but if you have been casting about looking for a way to logically approach the massive crush of requirements, taskings and information flow weighting you down each day, I can confirm. This works! It is not magic. It requires work, but it does produce results...

Last comment... this is not the "latest and greatest" but it is a sound methodology. I have applied the exact same principles to a new system and found success.

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This is a better book then first glance would tell you. I have had my copy for 6 months. for 5 of those I looked it over... skipped about and gradually convinced myself that I didn't need the "help" and "solutions" offered. Then I had a major job crisis that forced me to face the fact that my "organization" system didn't work. I had lost one too many threads on my professional life. I was finally ready to face that a change was needed. I forced myself to read the book since I had already spent good money on it.

I could not be more pleased. Yes, it is work. It is time consuming and it isn't easy. However, to make a major change in how you approach your work and life simply won't be easy.

This text gives you a start to finish methodology for organizing your e-mail, schedule and to do list. It can get you on track and ensure that your commitments are properly ranked organized and given the best possible chance to succeed. It does however require that you take the time to learn the system and adhere to the directives it gives. This is an all or nothing game.

On the downside, it also requires that you continue to feed time and effort into the system to keep it on track. However, as the system becomes more familiar this time is minimized. I am down to only 45 minutes of schedule "renewal" per week.

If you are looking for filing methodology- keep looking, However, if you are looking for a method to control the flood of taskings, e-mail and random data that flows your way and disrupts your schedule, this is the best I have found. Career back on track!