Customer Reviews

The Time Trap: The Classic Book on Time Management

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'm not quite sure how I found out about this book but I'm
grateful I did. Anyway, I read the reviews of the book on
Amazon.com and they were amazing. Everyone said it was
hands down the best book on Time Management, an all time
classic.

In the past I've read several books on time management,
listened to audiotape programs and bought different
organizers so that I'd organize myself better. This book
covers all of that but it also details how to actually
**motivate** us to manage our time better.

This book originally came out in 1972 and is updated for
the information age in 1997. The information it contains is
what he teaches in his seminars and is very detailed. You
get the equivalent of a weeklong seminar by simply reading
and acting on the ideas in the book.

The other day I got this glossy sales letter and
advertisement from Tony Robbins in the mail. It was for
his, Time of Your Life Program. He was asking $[$$] for his
program and it didn't even include the organizer that goes
with his time management system. Then I looked at my $...
Time Trap book and realized I had the same or better value
in this program. Everything Tony promised was in this book.

The Time Trap, is written by someone who had been teaching
time management for the last 30 years. Tony Robbins is a
great personal development teacher but I feel I'd rather
learn time management from the leading expert in the field.
From someone who has focused on that alone.

While reading the opening chapters, I was glad to find out
that I was already doing the most important element time
management -- I actually had a written plan for the
workday. Alec says that having a written plan is one of the
most important elements of time management. My productivity
has gone way up since I started doing that on a regular
basis.

In chapter four Alec shows you how to do a time log. I
thought it was interesting and felt I'd move on with my
reading before I did anything. However, for some reason the
next morning I decided to do the Time Log.

The Time Log is simply a way to keep track of what you are
doing. You don't have to work on your time management. You
just write down everything you are doing. Surprisingly it
didn't take that long to do the log.

If you answer the phone, you have to write it down. If
someone interrupts you, you have to write it down. If you
are daydreaming, you have to log it as well. There is no
judgment here because I was the only person who was going
to see this time log.

The other aspect of the log is you had to write down your
major goals for the day and rank them in order of priority.
Then you had to put a priority label on each activity that
you logged, on a scale of 1-4. With 1 being important and urgent, and 4 being something that was a complete waste of
time.

Then I just wrote down the time, what I was doing, its
priority, and when I was finished with that activity. I
used a kind of shorthand technique with symbols to make the
data entry quicker.

Something very interesting happened. For the first time in
my life I felt, I was in a race to get things done. I
wanted to get them done faster than the time I had allotted
for myself. I worked quickly and efficiently. I wasn't
letting interruptions get to me.

Never in my life did I have such a productive workday with
so many varied tasks and projects. I got many things done.
I felt great about myself.

I wish I had better news about the following days. They
were not as efficient. I even tried the time log on two
other occasions. However, I never completed it. When I was
wasting time, I didn't want to write it down. But I'm sure
I'll improve it the next time. That is the whole point of
the time log anyway. To show you where you need to improve.

Just doing these time logs taught me several things that
will help me save time in the future. One thing I learned
from this book was to avoid interruptions. I thought I was
good at that because I let my voicemail take all my calls
and I only called back when I was ready to call.

I encountered another interruption, however - email. I get
email constantly throughout the day and I'm very eager to
look at it as it comes in. I never realized it, but email
was constantly interrupting me and often it would lead me
to do things that weren't my highest priorities.

The bottom line is that by using the Time Log, I got at
least two major benefits - it gets me to work faster
whenever I use it, and I discovered my areas of weakness.
Now, at least, I know the things that need improvement.

This review in no way does justice to the book, The Time
Trap. There are so many useful tips there. Even if you only
read a few chapters, you are bound to improve your time
management skills.

Better time management means earning more money. If you
are more productive, you are more valuable to your company,
or to your own business or practice. I'm sure if I stick
with the book, I'll improve my efficiency by at least 35%.
Along with that, my self-esteem will rise as well as I
begin to feel increasingly competent. I don't know about
you but I feel better about myself the more disciplined I
am towards achieving my goals. In addition, I'll be
reaching many more of those goals if I use my time better.

I rate, The Time Trap, by Alec Mackenzie a 5 out of 5
stars. Even if you love what you do, you may find that you
aren't using your time as wisely as you could. So go do
yourself a favor and try to improve your time management by
1% each month. By the end of the year, you will have made
great progress.

Author Alec MacKenzie has updated the mother of all time-management books, which fist hit the shelves in 1972. Despite the fact that time management has become a multi-million-dollar industry since this title was originally published, The Time Trap still stands as one of the most effective guides to getting it together. Why? Because MacKenzie tells you flat out what the problem is: You. He doesn't offer sympathy, create excuses or complain about how modern technology has put us on a treadmill. Instead he tells you, in plain English, how to record how you spend your time, how to identify time-wasting activities, and how to change your behavior to make yourself more productive and efficient. Nowhere will you find a self-help book with more practical techniques or less BS. Small-business owners and time-pressed executives are the perfect audience for this book, but we [...] recommend it to any stressed-out professional or student.

The Time Trap by Alec MacKenzie is the single best "to-the-point" book I've found on time management. I have re-read the book at least 4 times from cover to cover since the early 80's and have found the advice to be excellent. Each time I re-read the book I find that I am able to accomplish at least a 100% improvement in my time management techniques. I always discover some new tricks which are proven out by my experiences during the time span between readings. It is absolutely amazing how successful his techniques are in application. Through the use of this book I was promoted to a Production Manager position at a music publishing company and dealt with over 2500 new publications a year in addition to keeping a 7500 title catalog of products in print (we averaged approximately 35+ print jobs received each day of the week). I placed orders and maintained production schedules with over 35 different outside printer-suppliers and didn't even have a secretary. I owe ALL of my production management success to this book. I double dirty-dog dare you to read it!

Larry Norred

This time management book is very workplace-oriented. Almost every page or so has something to do with meetings, paperwork, calendars, delegation, business communication, time logs, etc. Not really applicable for a stay-at-home parent such as myself. Most, if not all, of the given examples are set in the workplace. Even the charts and figures and worksheets are applicable only to working or business situations.

Very frustrated reader. Couldn't move past the first few pages. Skimmed through the book at best, not much interesting information for myself though. (The principles, concepts, and advice given by the author are very helpful and quite impressive...but again, just for work settings, and not for my situation)

This would be an excellent book for someone who is looking to get organized at work/home business. But for the rest of us who are full-time or stay-at-home parents, students, and unemployed or between-jobs, I'd suggest searching for other titles with a more general approach to time management.

***I wish the publishers had added something in the title to indicate its targeted readers...maybe something like "The Classic Book on Time Management in the Workplace"--or something!***

This book was written in 1972. It's still selling okay on Amazon and you know it's really a classic.

The content is as ordinary as what you can expect from any time management book. However, you got to accept that it's the avante garde of its day and the regular revision of it allows it to stay fresh. Topics include: Time management is essentially life management. Prioritize. Plan. Tactics to fight off unexpected phone calls, drop in visitors, procrastination, delegation, learn to say no blah blah blah. In particular I like very much those sample spreadsheets (the author called them matrix) for contingency, priorization, contact log etc much. Appendixes in the last chapter that summarize tactics for various symptoms or traps are really helpful.

In short, a good read that's value for time and money!

p.s. I like the section of "Misconceptions about time management" on page 11 and 12 the most. Those very logical and intelligent Q&A simply worths over half of the price of the book to me. Some copy and paste for your reference are:-

Q: Time management takes away your freedom, and I'm a spontaneous sort of person. A: "True freedom comes through discipline. Suppose you were suddenly offered an opportunity to stay at a friend's house....Are you organized enough to reschedule your work so you could go? That's freedom!"

Q: Time management might be good for some kinds of work, but my job is very creative. I cant be tied to a routine. A: "Time management is not fundamentally about routine; it's about self discipline....It gives you time to be creative. It frees your mind of the worry and tedious detail that stand in the way of creative thinking."

Q: The stuff they teach you in time management is a lot of work. I dont have time to do all that. A: "You dont have time not to. Keepinga time log and writing a daily plan may be new to you...Once you learn how, a few minutes can save you hours."

Since it was first published decades ago, The Time Trap has become a managerial classic of sorts. The author bases his findings "on decades of research with business executives around the world." The book offers time tactics, interviews, and traditional time management tools. With 500,000 copies sold in previous editions, it's among the most popular time management books available. This is puzzling, because compared to others in the field, The Time Trap contains many long, boring stretches. Based on the theory that self-management is the key to handling a time crunch, it focuses on the author's 20 biggest time wasters, such as telephone interruptions, the inability to say "no," and personal disorganization. It then offers step-by-step instructions on how to combat them.

The updated, third edition includes information on time problems caused by technology, downsizing, and self-employment, added almost as an afterthought. The fundamental shortcoming of the book is the underlying premise that readers can be taught "how to squeeze the optimal efficiency and satisfaction out of their workday." This might have been a valid approach in the 1970s, but in an era when people are already squeezed out, they need other approaches.

This is a thoughtful time management book, that gets to the point, effectively. Personal discipline is the key to stress-free success. Set a plan, log what you actually do with your time, and then identify the time-wasters for mitigation.

The book provides the insight, list of common time-wasters, and some simple forms to help in logging and evaluation. I find "At-A-Glance" paper calenders work well with Mackenzie's system.

If you want to get control of your day and become dramatically more efficient this book is for you.

I am a graduate student at the University of Houston who has writtem several papers on time manaagement.

The following is a review of The Time Trap by Alex Mackenzie.

Additional material is taken from the audio program, Managing Your Goals by Alec Mackenzie and Melody Mackenzie Brown (Chicago: Nightingale-Conant, 1992) and the article "The Trouble with Time Management Courses" (Fortune, June 4, 1990, p. 262.)

Review by Grady McAllister:

The Time Trap is not a Star Trek episode about being caught in the a time warp or a space-time continuum. It is the title of Dr. Alec Mackenzie's down to earth book on time in the workplace. The 1972 edition of the book (revised in 1990) helped spawn the modern time management boom.

Mackenzie ties time management directly to the issue of American productivity:

"The U.S. manufacturing sector is showing an improvement in productivity at the rate of 3.5 per cent a year. The service sector, however, has lagged behind at a rate of 0.5 per cent since 1979. And since service industries represent more than 70 per cent of our economy, this is an acute problem indeed...

"Therefore our productivity must shift to individuals. If the memo writer, the marketing vice presidents and the finance officers can learn to get better results and do it in less time, the impact on the U.S. economy could be powerful."

Mackenzie may have done the definitive study on time wasters. In The Time Trap, he devotes an entire chapter to each of these topics:

· Management by crisis · Telephone interruptions · Inadequate planning · Attempting too much · Drop-in visitors · Ineffective delegation · Personal disorganization · Lack of self-discipline · Inability to say no · Procrastination · Meetings · Paperwork · Leaving tasks unfinished · Inadequate staff · Socializing · Confused responsibility or authority · Poor communication · Inadequate controls and reports · Incomplete information · Travel

Mackenzie uses himself to illustrate the problem of procrastination. He tells of the time he kept putting off his calls to sell Celestial Seasonings Tea on his program. When his calls didn't go through, Mackenzie became convinced that the president wasn't interested.

He finally reached him on the seventh call, and Mackenzie felt the final put-down when the man called him "Charlie." He had picked up the phone expecting someone else. Mackenzie wearily identified himself.

The president said, "Alec Mackenzie? I've had your name on my desk for months. I don't need any explanation of your program. How soon can you come out to conduct a two-day seminar on time management for all my people?"

Mackenzie asks seminar participants to do "the one thing they'll not want to do," and that is to keep a time log. For at least three days, they must write down every interruption and change of mental attention, "no matter how trivial."

The purpose is to find out where their time is really going and which time wasters need to be attacked. Mackenzie states:

"When you grasp the universal fact that there will never be 25 hours in one day...when you internalize this basic truth of contemporary existence...you will have armed yourself with a piece of knowledge you can use as the groundwork for making radical changes in the way you manage yourself and achieve your goals."

He says the time log will create the motivation leads to change:

"The time log is necessary because the painful task of changing our habits requires far more conviction than we can build from learning about the experience of others. We need the amazing revelation of the great portions of our time we are wasting to provide the incentive and the determination required to manage ourselves."

Many of Mackenzie's participants complain that the time log itself will take up too much time. He tells them:

"It's something you can't afford not to take. Since you take the log while you are doing the activity, it takes much less time than you originally think. Jot down the entry during the phone call, while a visitor is on the way in, and at the beginning of an interruption."

Mackenzie says a time log brings its own reward:

"The most astonishing time saver which results from a time log is the powerful self-correcting tendency which sets in automatically once you start the log. The time log is not only an essential diagnostic tool, it is an extremely effective time management device in itself."

One senior AT&T executive liked it so much that he "never stopped taking it."

Mackenzie also introduces employees to the "ideal day." They decide the best times for various activities and try to do them at the same time every day:

"The ideal day is a template, in effect, for your daily plan. It indicates blocks of time for major categories of activities. Then, for each day's plan, you schedule the specifics in those major categories."

Mackenzie asks the organization to set up a "quiet hour," a period when everyone is able, in theory, to work without interruption for 60 minutes. He says that one hour of uninterrupted work is worth the weight of three which are constantly interrupted.

Mackenzie endorses the use of an organizer to plan and keep track of time. His Time Tactics organizer includes "Control Sheets" to track projects and a "Contact Log" to record decisions and follow-up items. Also available: a "Time Waster Eliminator" form.

When he discusses the problem of the cluttered desk, probably the most prosaic of all time management topics, Mackenzie recalls the story of an executive in Heidelberg, Germany. The man turned to him and said:

"Herr Doctor, do you know why we stack our desks? It's all those things we don't want to forget. We put them on top where we'll see them. The trouble is it works too well. Every time our gaze wanders, we remember them, and we forget what we we're working on."

Mackenzie's prescription is to "keep your desk clean for the rest of your life" and never have anything on it but what you are working on at the moment.

Along with the minutia of time management training, Mackenzie teaches a system to set and manage goals. Mackenzie sees goals as the way to cope with turbulence in the U.S. economy:

"People in contemporary society are likely to make at least seven significant career changes during their adult lives--and not all of their own choosing. This is a subject which should be dealt with universally in secondary schools and colleges so that it is less overwhelming when it occurs. The person who has thought through the concepts of success, failure, and change to determine what they really mean will be better equipped to approach change of this kind as learning experiences and as opportunities or challenges."

I strongly recommend The Time Trap to anyone who is serious about goal-managment or the joy of time logging. However . . . In 1990, Fortune magazine ran an article that included these remarks: "In spite of the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on it, time management training isn't working."

Surprisingly, these are the words of Alec Mackenzie, who told Fortune: "Managing time is a lot more difficult than what I imagined when I wrote The Time Trap." The problem, he says, is that the techniques go against human nature, like exercise or sound money management.

The Fortune article concluded:

"The courses offer wisdom, but you probably can't corral time between cow skin covers. Consider this: When Mackenzie spoke with us, he asked if we had tried his Time Tactics organizer. 'You really should,' he urged. He promised to mail it the following day. But despite Mackenzie's theories, his best-seller, and his system, human nature intervened. He forgot to send it."

Good book but alot of the technics and examples seems to be for managers or higher. I'm just a regular salary guy that is trying to optimize my time at home and work. I am not a manager that have 10 people under me. So I found it hard to relate sometimes. But it does have some sound general time management advice.

This book could probably be titled, "Time Trap for Managers."

I would recommend "How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life" by Alan Lakein for a starter time management book. And probably all you need too.

...for using your time more efficiently, IF you're an executive. If you're an overworked secretary, administrative assistant or office manager, it's not so helpful. Who are they supposed to delegate to?