How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life

There are a handful of exceptional insights in Alan Lakein's How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life, and really that's what makes the whole effort worthwhile even though most of the advice is sophomoric at best or just plain out of date. Granted, I'm reviewing the original 1973 edition so I

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wouldn't be playing fair if I judged a self-help guide 40 years out of context. Not taking into account the later editions of Lakein's book (I haven't read any of them), I'll instead focus on what he does get right in this version.

His best advice is to arrange tasks according to priority, using the easy designation of A, B or C (most important to least), and then striving to do more A's and fewer C's at any given time. Simple in concept, yes, but most people still do not come close to doing this successfully. A top priority task tends to require significant effort so that's probably the major inhibitor. Piggy-backing off of the previous habit, Lakein likewise encourages us to set aside weekly time for planning these tasks and their respective priorities. Preferably this is done more frequently, such as daily. And the best way to do that is, in my experience, the daily to-do list. This is the simplest and most effective way of getting things done though it takes practice to do well. Identifying your A, B and C priority tasks is just half of it; completing them all while using your time wisely is another. And lastly, do not lose sight of your long-term goals. These are the low-urgency, high-importance endeavors that are forever being shuffled off to another day. Revisit them often to keep their progress fresh.

The rest of the book is not much more than cheerleading and motivational pep talks.

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Some new ideas for myself from such a timed treasured book. Now there are a lot of duplicate books by others in this field, but this book shows the root of many of those theories. A good starter for those who are interested in studying time management.

Some new ideas for myself from such a timed treasured book. Now there are a lot of duplicate books by others in this field, but this book shows the root of many of those theories. A good starter for those who are interested in studying time management.

Covey does it better, in my opinion, but this is also a pretty good author for time management strategies and advice.

Pretty good time management book. At the time I was reading a few self-help books.