Book Review - The Skinny on Time Management: How to Maximize Your 24-Hour Gift by Jim Randel
Category Book Review Jim Randel The Skinny on Time Management: How to Maximize Your 24-Hour Gift
There's no real way to "save" time... it passes by whether you do something productive with it or not. Once gone, it can't be regained. The best you can do is "manage" your time and what you choose to do with it. Jim Randel covers this topic in his book The Skinny on Time Management: How to Maximize Your 24-Hour Gift. The Skinny series is great in condensing the essential information on a topic, and this volume is no different. It's 134 pages of stick figure cartoon panels that pass along the information in a fun, fast, concise manner.
If you've read books on time management, you've probably heard most of the material in various formats before. Randel starts off with having you record/capture how you spend your time. Until you know how it's being spent, you won't be able to make changes. It's also very likely that you don't have a clue as to how much time wasting is going on (TV, surfing the web, etc.) Then, based on your goals, you can start to make choices that help propel you towards them. Figure out your most productive timeframes in terms of energy, and make sure those timeslots are not wasted. You can also learn how to make use of smaller time chunks (like waiting in line or for appointments) to do things that would eat into your larger time chunks, like answering email. Add in to-do lists and prioritization, creating good time habits, and overcoming inertia, and you have a framework in place to get more done than you thought possible.
The appeal of the Skinny books (in my opinion) lies in their brevity and conversational tone. It feels like you're having a 30 minute conversation with a friend who happens to know the topic at hand very well. Yeah, some the jokes might be cheezy, but it feels more like self-deprecating humor rather than someone who takes themselves far too seriously. If I didn't have any background on the topic being discussed, a Skinny book would provide a quick framework for further reading. Since I do in this case, it's a good reminder to refocus on the basics.
The Skinny on Time Management does exactly what it sets out to do... it gives the reader a way to start doing more with the time they have. On top of that, it does so quickly and with humor. I can't ask for much more than that.
Disclosure:
Obtained From: Publisher
Payment: Free
There's no real way to "save" time... it passes by whether you do something productive with it or not. Once gone, it can't be regained. The best you can do is "manage" your time and what you choose to do with it. Jim Randel covers this topic in his book The Skinny on Time Management: How to Maximize Your 24-Hour Gift. The Skinny series is great in condensing the essential information on a topic, and this volume is no different. It's 134 pages of stick figure cartoon panels that pass along the information in a fun, fast, concise manner.
If you've read books on time management, you've probably heard most of the material in various formats before. Randel starts off with having you record/capture how you spend your time. Until you know how it's being spent, you won't be able to make changes. It's also very likely that you don't have a clue as to how much time wasting is going on (TV, surfing the web, etc.) Then, based on your goals, you can start to make choices that help propel you towards them. Figure out your most productive timeframes in terms of energy, and make sure those timeslots are not wasted. You can also learn how to make use of smaller time chunks (like waiting in line or for appointments) to do things that would eat into your larger time chunks, like answering email. Add in to-do lists and prioritization, creating good time habits, and overcoming inertia, and you have a framework in place to get more done than you thought possible.
The appeal of the Skinny books (in my opinion) lies in their brevity and conversational tone. It feels like you're having a 30 minute conversation with a friend who happens to know the topic at hand very well. Yeah, some the jokes might be cheezy, but it feels more like self-deprecating humor rather than someone who takes themselves far too seriously. If I didn't have any background on the topic being discussed, a Skinny book would provide a quick framework for further reading. Since I do in this case, it's a good reminder to refocus on the basics.
The Skinny on Time Management does exactly what it sets out to do... it gives the reader a way to start doing more with the time they have. On top of that, it does so quickly and with humor. I can't ask for much more than that.
Disclosure:
Obtained From: Publisher
Payment: Free
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Posted by ErinL At 07:05:35 On 22/12/2011 | - Website - |