The Skinny on Time Management

This short humorous book, dramatized with comic book stick figures, teaches what all people should do daily no matter what they intend to accomplish. Randel shows his readers by various ways, including quotes from famous writers, how to maximize the use of every hour during the day, get results, and still enjoy life. First, people need to be aware of how much time they are using for the different things that they do daily, such as sleeping, watching TV, reading, eating, and exercise. Then decide what they want to accomplish and set a specific goal, which should include a time for accomplishing the goal. Then learn how to avoid distractions.

Most of his suggestions involve the letter P. Randel suggests that people need to see if they are wasting time during the day and decide to use these found minutes and hours more productively to accomplish their goal. People should find out whether they produce their best work during the morning, afternoon, or evening, and use that best time most effectively. Plan each day what you want to accomplish; to-do list are helpful. Prioritize the activities; do the most important item first. Never procrastinate under any circumstance. Many people accumulate physical clutter and these piles clutter and confuse the mind and stop or at least slow down work.

In short, these ideas help people accomplish more with the relatively short hours of their lives.

Rating: 5 / 5

Remember the cartoon the Jetsons where instead of meals they would sometimes opt for a single pill. Life in the future was so hectic for the Jetsons that they would just bypass the time of eating with a single pill. The Skinny on Time Management accomplishes the same thing.

We are all constantly pressed to take on more responsibilities while being faced with an ever-increasing amount of distractions. A number of great books have been written on this topic and discuss how to make the best use of your time to produce more while spending less. Those books are all great in of themselves, but they require something that may be lacking for someone who needs the skills …. time.

That’s what makes this book great. I was able to sit down in an hour and go through the book cover to cover. There are some activities the author suggests, which will take you over the hour threshold, but the process of reading the book is kept around the 1 hour mark.

I’ve read a number of books in the past revolving around Time Management, like Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. What I like about this book is that the author does not try to sell you on anything new. Instead he borrows from all the most successful strategies that have been introduced over the years, gives credit where it’s due and consolidates it into an easy to read experience. This book is like Cliff Notes for Time Management, but with an edge that enhances the experience.

The book itself is short and instead of page numbers each blurb is numbered and you normally get 1-2 per page. The blurbs appear in an almost comic strip type format with pictures and text, which makes it very engaging for the reader.

If you’re in need of organizing how you spend your time this is your best first step. Some other books may be more detailed and helpful down the line, but the information presented here will make a big difference and require a small time commitment on your part.

Rating: 5 / 5

“The Skinny On Time Management: How to Maximize Your 24-Hour Gift” by Jim Randel is another of “The Skinny On” series for really busy people. The book is advertised as a one-hour read that will be the best TIME you ever spend. If you are looking for strategies and techniques to help you use your time as effectively as possible, but don’t have time to wade through the much longer time management books out there, this in fact may be the best time you ever spend learning about time management.

This is the second of Randel’s series I’ve read, and I really enjoyed it. Now, if you have read a ton of time management books, you won’t see much new here. Randel states at the beginning that he’d gone through over 100 books and articles on time management and they all basically say the same thing. He claims there are 50 basic principles you need to know, and he addresses them in this book. But he does so in a quick, entertaining manner.

The book’s format is that of stick person Randel giving you a lecture on time management. But don’t worry, it’s not a humdrum boring lecture. Randel includes a lot of quotes and examples as well as interjecting some humor here and there. Quotes and information come from people like, David Allen, Napoleon Bonaparte, Tony Robbins, Brian Tracy, Stephen Covey, Alan Lakein, Tim Ferriss, David Rock, Eckhart Tolle, and others. I especially like the Benjamin Franklin quote on the cover, “Lose no time. Be always employ’d in something useful. Cut of all unnecessary actions.”

The first short part of the book gets you thinking about how you spend your time. How much time we have, time journals, goals, and choices are covered in this section. Part 2 is longer and focuses on time management strategies such as: matching time and energy, gaps, improving memory, overcoming procrastination, clutter, batching, preparation, to do lists, prioritizing, streamlining, the 80-20 rule, focus, and others. Again, if you have read a number of books on time management, you will be familiar with these strategies and concepts. However, even if you are familiar with them, a quick review of the importance of them in this short read is worth it. We all need a booster shot once in a while. The book concludes with Randel’s ten most important points to remember about time management.

The Skinny On books are not meant to be long treatises on topics. They are short, quick, reads that point out the highlights of topics in an entertaining story format. Even though it is a short quick read, the points Randel makes are very important and the strategies are powerful. Of course, you can’t just read the book, you must act and implement the strategies into your daily life. On Randel’s recommendation, I’m going to move “The Power of Full Engagement” up in my reading list. It’s been one of those books I’ve been meaning to read. If you are looking for a fast read on time management, this book is for you. If you need a booster shot to remind you of those time management strategies you’ve studied elsewhere, this book will fit the bill. I’m glad I read it. I needed reminding of some of the strategies. Now it’s TIME to get to implementing them, and being more effective with the limited time we all have.

Reviewed by Alain Burrese, J.D., author of Hard-Won Wisdom From the School of Hard Knocks and the dvds: Hapkido Hoshinsul, Streetfighting Essentials, Hapkido Cane, the Lock On Joint Locking Essentials series and articles including a regular column on negotiation for The Montana Lawyer. Alain Also wrote a series of articles called Lessons From The Apprentice.
Rating: 5 / 5