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) "Jim Leyritz, a catcher for the California Angels, found that pitchers were having a hard time seeing his signals during night games..." (more)
Key Phrases: creative person, Mind Mapping, San Diego, Los Angeles (more...)

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

Product Description

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.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (March 24, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609800906
• ISBN-13: 978-0609800904
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #167,841 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

151 of 166 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

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.

62 of 68 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

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!

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book for the creative type that is amusing & HELPFULL!, January 4, 2000

By	Tammy Stone "eckstein16" (USA) - See all my reviews

If a friend hadn't given me this book and said "READ THIS!" I would have been skeptical. As a creative person who considers herself organized, I didn't think that this book would speak to me - but I was mistaken! and what a pleasant surprise! One of the most entertaining books I've read in a long time (and how often do you hear that in a description of a "self help" book) - I've read it twice! . Since the author is also a creative type, his writing is extremely "user friendly" which is one of the reasons this book is so enjoyable. I found the layout of the book extremely useful. Lee Silber understands that creative types/the right brain thinkers do not like to necessarily do things in a specified (linear/left brain) order - therefor the book is organized in such a way that you can jump in at any chapter and skip around at your own pace. I also enjoyed the fact that certain ideas are mentioned more than once (another good thing for those of us with a short attention span!). By repeating specific ideas throughout, it makes it possible for them to actually sink in! (you can't be organized if you can't even remember how or where to start). When reading through the book, you actually begin to feel that the author is in your workspace, taking it all in - with his specific right-on-target suggestions of how to free up the clutter as well as your time - which he reminds us is the one of the most valuable things in your life (the time, not the clutter! ) It doesn't matter what type of creative person you are, his ideas are applicable to all people of varying creative tendencies. This book will help you get to the point where you will be able to spend more time on the creative things in your life. I highly recommend this book !