Time Management for the Creative Person: Right-Brain Strategies for Stopping Procrastination, Getting Control of the Clock and Calendar, and Freeing Up Your Time and Your Life [Paperback]

Lee Silber (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 24, 1998

Creative folks often know all too well that the muse doesn’t always strike when you want it to, or when the deadline for your next brilliant project is creeping up on you like an ill-fitting turtleneck. Originality doesn’t follow a time clock, even when you have to. While conventional time management books offer tons of instruction for using time wisely, they are traditionally organized in a linear fashion, which just isn’t helpful for the right-brain mind. In Time Management for the Creative Person, creativity guru Lee Silber offers real advice for using the strengths of artistic folks—like originality and resourcefulness—to adopt innovative time-saving solutions, such as:

* Learning to say no when your plate is just too full
* How to know when a good job, not a great one, is good enough
* Making “to do” lists that include fun stuff, too—that way you won’t feel overwhelmed by work
* Time-saving techniques around the house that give you more time to get your work done and more time to spend with your loved ones
* The keys to clutter control that will keep your work space and your living space neat

With these and lots of other practical tips, Lee Silber will help anyone, from the time-starved caterer rushing to prepare for her next party to the preoccupied painter who forgets when the electric bill is due, make the most of their time and turn the clock and the calendar into friends, not foes.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Silber's goal is to create positive and lasting change by helping us organize ourselves so that we can be more, and not do more, through effective time management. Each side of our brain processes information differently, and although he stresses that there is a lot of overlap, the dominant side will be reflected in our behavior. Creativity stems from the way we see things: left-brain persons characteristically are linear thinkers who are logical, verbal, and critical. Right-brain people tend to be artistic, intuitive, illogical, and persuasive. The author helps us identify our dominant brain and then offers a series of stand-alone chapters on topics such as how to focus on more than one thing at a time, dealing with a tendency to be late, hundreds of time-saving tips, and how to improve memory. He urges us to set strict goals for ourselves by writing them down and referring to them frequently until they have been achieved. Mary Whaley

From the Inside Flap

Creative folks often know all too well that the muse doesn?t always strike when you want it to, or when the deadline for your next brilliant project is creeping up on you like an ill-fitting turtleneck. Originality doesn?t follow a time clock, even when you have to. While conventional time management books offer tons of instruction for using time wisely, they are traditionally organized in a linear fashion, which just isn?t helpful for the right-brain mind. In Time Management for the Creative Person, creativity guru Lee Silber offers real advice for using the strengths of artistic folks?like originality and resourcefulness?to adopt innovative time-saving solutions, such as:

* Learning to say no when your plate is just too full
* How to know when a good job, not a great one, is good enough
* Making ?to do? lists that include fun stuff, too?that way you won?t feel overwhelmed by work
* Time-saving techniques around the house that give you more time to get your work done and more time to spend with your loved ones
* The keys to clutter control that will keep your work space and your living space neat

With these and lots of other practical tips, Lee Silber will help anyone, from the time-starved caterer rushing to prepare for her next party to the preoccupied painter who forgets when the electric bill is due, make the most of their time and turn the clock and the calendar into friends, not foes.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; First Edition edition (March 24, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609800906
• ISBN-13: 978-0609800904
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #423,926 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

185 of 205 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A waste of time and money, April 4, 2004

By 

annulla "annulla" (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Time Management for the Creative Person: Right-Brain Strategies for Stopping Procrastination, Getting Control of the Clock and Calendar, and Freeing Up Your Time and Your Life (Paperback)

I expected this book to provide innovative, useful information; after all, I'm a creative professional, always have a million projects going on at the same time, and really could use some help. Unfortunately, instead of original advice targeted to people in creative fields, this book is geared to harried housewives and disorganzied hobbyists. It is crammed full of platitudes, cliches, anecdotes about quasi-celebrities ("As a stand-up comic, Gary Shandling enterains audiences by poking fun at himself..."), quizzes (Are you right-brained or left-brained?), quotations, items ripped directly from press releases ("According to a survey by Select Comfort ...") and bulleted lists of hints (focused primarily on housekeeping and automobile maintenance) including:

* Stop to smell the flowers (yes, he actually says this)
* Brush your dog or cat while watching your favorite TV show
* Choose plants that are easy to grow
* Make enough for two meals when you cook and freeze the second meal
* Use paper plates and cups
* Hire a cleaning service
* Get more sleep

Probably the worst piece of advice this book offers, though, is "the future will take care of itself." No, it won't, especially if a deadline is looming and the rent check is due! If you work in a creative field and are looking for advice about enhancing your creativity and/or better managing your time and projects, skip this book. It is a complete waste of time and money.

71 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For All Right Brain/Creative People Who WANT to be on time, June 8, 2000

By 

drdebs (CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Time Management for the Creative Person: Right-Brain Strategies for Stopping Procrastination, Getting Control of the Clock and Calendar, and Freeing Up Your Time and Your Life (Paperback)

Before I got this book I was five minutes late to practically everything, and was chronically overdue on deadlines. I tried to file, spent $$ on a file cabinet, which sat empty while various things sat on top of it. I have a daily planner, which really works (when I remember to use it). If this sounds like you, you might really benefit from this book.

I got this book as a companion to the much more left-brained Julie Morgenstern's Organizing from the Inside Out. They are, for me, the perfect companions. Morgenstern helps me to figure out why things aren't working, but Silber is better (for me) at helping me to figure out how I can make my life more efficient and productive.

Silber's approach is based on some very useful quizzes, which help you to see the weaknesses and incompatibilities in your own organizational strategy. This enables you to create your own personalized, individual time management plan. I would estimate that the chapter "Timing is Everything" saves me about 2 hours of needless wandering around a week (grocery shopping on Tuesday or Wednesday really works). Tickler files (both daily and monthly) have transformed my life: I no longer lose bills, important pieces of paper, or track of things I want to do.

If other time management systems have failed you, give this one a try. It really works for me!

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic for people who cringe at the words "time management", June 22, 2005

By 

Heather_DesignDiva (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Time Management for the Creative Person: Right-Brain Strategies for Stopping Procrastination, Getting Control of the Clock and Calendar, and Freeing Up Your Time and Your Life (Paperback)

If typical time-management advice leaves you cold, this book offers a refreshingly different perspective, and tons of practical ideas that are based on creative and abstract thinking, not linear, robotic instructions. This is for those of us who are usually 5 minutes late, who search the house for a slip of paper with vital information, and who find day-planners to be tedious and inconvenient. And this book never makes you feel guilty or inadequate for not following traditional advice on "productivity."

This book proposes that organization and time management strategies should be personalized and comfortable. They should be empowering, not restrictive, and make your life more relaxed, not more stressful. Until reading this book, I had not considered that this was possible. I have adopted many of the author's ideas and specific suggestions, and I have continued using them for over a year since I first read it. I've increased my freelance earnings, created a workspace I love to work in, and reduced the stress in my life. If you cringe at most time-management books, please read this one.