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Master Your Workday Now!
Comparable to such classics as Stephen Covey's The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, and David Allen's Getting Things Done, this new title presents fresh and profound strategies for reaching success in your workday and life. Linenberger explains how work is largely a mental game that you can win by applying a practical new mental model of work called the Workday Now. The results are a well managed and successful workday.
414 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 7, 2010
43 people are currently reading
237 people want to read
About the author
Michael Linenberger
13 books14 followersMichael Linenberger is the reigning expert on managing e-mail and tasks using Outlook or other software (and even paper-based tools). The author of five best-selling productivity books, his newest Outlook book is Total Workday Control Using Microsoft Outlook 4th Ed--that series has been the #1 best-selling book on Microsoft Outlook for six years running. It reveals how to apply best practices of time, task, and e-mail management to Outlook to get ahead of an out-of-control e-mail in-box and workday.
Michael's introductory book called the One Minute To-Do List helps anyone who wants to quickly learn how to create a to-do that really works.
Michael's time management and goal-setting book is Master Your Workday Now! a book that teaches anyone how to obtain Workday Mastery: the experience of chaos-free work, inspiring and attainable goals, and a career that is connected to who you really are. Techniques in this book can be used on paper or with varous software.
Michael has been called “The Efficiency Guru” by the Detroit News, and has been written up in the business magazines Fast Company and Investor's Business Daily for his unique common-sense approach to e-mail control. He leads workshops and consults on task and e-mail management, and on workplace productivity. He has been a management consultant and technology professional for more than 20 years, and was a Vice President at Accenture, the large management consultancy. As a management and technology consultant with Accenture, he advised and managed programs and projects for clients such as eBay, Sun Microsystems, Cisco, Applied Materials, UPS, Adecco, and others. Before Accenture, Michael led the technology department at U.S. Peace Corps. Michael also consults on program and project management best practices. Michael also led the creation of the Project Management Center of Excellence for AAA. Tens of thousands of people around the world turn to Michael's books and trainings to help get control of their chaotic worklife. You can too.
Michael's introductory book called the One Minute To-Do List helps anyone who wants to quickly learn how to create a to-do that really works.
Michael's time management and goal-setting book is Master Your Workday Now! a book that teaches anyone how to obtain Workday Mastery: the experience of chaos-free work, inspiring and attainable goals, and a career that is connected to who you really are. Techniques in this book can be used on paper or with varous software.
Michael has been called “The Efficiency Guru” by the Detroit News, and has been written up in the business magazines Fast Company and Investor's Business Daily for his unique common-sense approach to e-mail control. He leads workshops and consults on task and e-mail management, and on workplace productivity. He has been a management consultant and technology professional for more than 20 years, and was a Vice President at Accenture, the large management consultancy. As a management and technology consultant with Accenture, he advised and managed programs and projects for clients such as eBay, Sun Microsystems, Cisco, Applied Materials, UPS, Adecco, and others. Before Accenture, Michael led the technology department at U.S. Peace Corps. Michael also consults on program and project management best practices. Michael also led the creation of the Project Management Center of Excellence for AAA. Tens of thousands of people around the world turn to Michael's books and trainings to help get control of their chaotic worklife. You can too.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 31, 2016
- Note: 2/5
- Re-readibility: no
Book with way too much blah. Only a handful of concepts inside that could have written in a few pages. I skim-read most of the book. Nothing new if at all if you’ve already read Getting Things Done and Think and Grow Rich. Furthermore, the authors likes to come up with many new terms that only he uses.
The main ideas in the book:
- Plan you TODO list as: 1) CRITICAL things for TODAY. That is, would stay working longer or even cutting your sleep if you don’t do those. 2) List of physical actions to do next as soon as possible. Keep it size 20 items. 3) Review your list of actions weekly or so. — Although simple, I liked the first thing and I have already integrated into my daily routine.
- “Spin” your goal visions, by reading aloud and picturing your goal statement twice daily. I particularly liked the image he used about spinning a wheel to gather momentum
- Separate the vision of your goal (what you want) from the target of your goal (how you achieve it and measure it). We care about the feelings and by-products of attaining our goal (the vision), and we do need a way to measure it to track progress and know where we reached the end. However, don’t confound either. The vision is more stable. The measurable target can actually change. — “Don’t obsess about the target. Obsess about the vision”.
- Write your goal vision in a positive and emotive sentence. By all means, write your vision goals.
- Do the work that naturally resonates with who you are and you love to do.
- Re-readibility: no
Book with way too much blah. Only a handful of concepts inside that could have written in a few pages. I skim-read most of the book. Nothing new if at all if you’ve already read Getting Things Done and Think and Grow Rich. Furthermore, the authors likes to come up with many new terms that only he uses.
The main ideas in the book:
- Plan you TODO list as: 1) CRITICAL things for TODAY. That is, would stay working longer or even cutting your sleep if you don’t do those. 2) List of physical actions to do next as soon as possible. Keep it size 20 items. 3) Review your list of actions weekly or so. — Although simple, I liked the first thing and I have already integrated into my daily routine.
- “Spin” your goal visions, by reading aloud and picturing your goal statement twice daily. I particularly liked the image he used about spinning a wheel to gather momentum
- Separate the vision of your goal (what you want) from the target of your goal (how you achieve it and measure it). We care about the feelings and by-products of attaining our goal (the vision), and we do need a way to measure it to track progress and know where we reached the end. However, don’t confound either. The vision is more stable. The measurable target can actually change. — “Don’t obsess about the target. Obsess about the vision”.
- Write your goal vision in a positive and emotive sentence. By all means, write your vision goals.
- Do the work that naturally resonates with who you are and you love to do.
April 30, 2010
Business books seem to have three common themes. Some focus on time management. Others focus on goal setting, usually for the purpose of increasing sales. Still others, encourage readers to find the work they love and that makes them feel fulfilled.
Master Your Workday Now! takes these three themes and places them into a pyramid of actualization. At the bottom is Control, in which readers come to use task lists that separate critical tasks from those quick little jobs that eat up our day but accomplish little. Next, is Create. At this stage, the reader learns the difference between Target and Vision Goals and how to activate your goals. Finally, they learn to connect. This is when we begin to look to fulfillment and using our talents appropriately.
Master Your Workday Now! points out a lot of little things that we do each day that increase our stress and reduce productivity. Prioritization isn’t enough. Rigid scheduling and countless lists or sticky notes actually make the problem worse. First, we need to get hold of our day and then we need to figure out where we are wasting valuable time and energy that could be better spent elsewhere.
Master Your Workday Now! takes these three themes and places them into a pyramid of actualization. At the bottom is Control, in which readers come to use task lists that separate critical tasks from those quick little jobs that eat up our day but accomplish little. Next, is Create. At this stage, the reader learns the difference between Target and Vision Goals and how to activate your goals. Finally, they learn to connect. This is when we begin to look to fulfillment and using our talents appropriately.
Master Your Workday Now! points out a lot of little things that we do each day that increase our stress and reduce productivity. Prioritization isn’t enough. Rigid scheduling and countless lists or sticky notes actually make the problem worse. First, we need to get hold of our day and then we need to figure out where we are wasting valuable time and energy that could be better spent elsewhere.
November 15, 2019
Let me start by saying I'm a big fan of Michael Linenberger. His book "Total Workday Control Using Microsoft Outlook" (Second Edition) has made a huge impact on my productivity. For one thing, my Inbox is generally empty or pretty close to it. So I was very excited to read this book.
Part I was an expansion on task management from "Total Workday Control" and was very useful. Parts II and III however delve into goal management and vision and stuff like that. I'm not discounting that these are important concepts, but Linenberger covers these at about 38,000 feet. While he has some nice new approaches on it - the spinning your goals and goal activation are excellent concepts - it is just too high level and too much I've read this elsewhere.
I think I had some unrealistic expectations though. He says right off that this is a book with concepts that can be used separate from Outlook. I was hoping for additional ideas on how to better control projects and goals through Outlook, and he doesn't cover that.
Part I was an expansion on task management from "Total Workday Control" and was very useful. Parts II and III however delve into goal management and vision and stuff like that. I'm not discounting that these are important concepts, but Linenberger covers these at about 38,000 feet. While he has some nice new approaches on it - the spinning your goals and goal activation are excellent concepts - it is just too high level and too much I've read this elsewhere.
I think I had some unrealistic expectations though. He says right off that this is a book with concepts that can be used separate from Outlook. I was hoping for additional ideas on how to better control projects and goals through Outlook, and he doesn't cover that.
March 12, 2010
Eh. I liked the concept of this book, and I loved the to-do list system presented in the first few chapters. But I begin to lose focus in the last few chapters when it started talking about finding your mission in life - probably because I'm one of those people who isn't quite ready to figure out my life's mission. I was expecting this to be a productivity book, but it ended up being a "whole-life" book, which I will admit it had some great concepts, but not quite what I was looking for at this moment in time. A book I will probably come back to in the future.
September 27, 2021
It took me a long time to finish this because I found it pretty dry at the beginning.
I felt the main system isn’t that effective or efficient.
Why the 4 stars?
Well later on the book became about visualising, goals, happiness, peace, the present moment and quoted from Eckhart Tolle, Tony Robbins, Brian Tracy and many other authors and sources. I felt this part of the book was much more interesting and useful than the time management part at the beginning!!
I felt the main system isn’t that effective or efficient.
Why the 4 stars?
Well later on the book became about visualising, goals, happiness, peace, the present moment and quoted from Eckhart Tolle, Tony Robbins, Brian Tracy and many other authors and sources. I felt this part of the book was much more interesting and useful than the time management part at the beginning!!
June 22, 2021
The How of Important
Definitely recommended
Many teach to-do list methods. Michael's book has shown me the finer distinctions of Urgent and Important between what are real opportunities, working with others, and fictional urgency in my mind.
The spokes between axle, and wheel.
I thank him, and his Instructor s.
Definitely recommended
Many teach to-do list methods. Michael's book has shown me the finer distinctions of Urgent and Important between what are real opportunities, working with others, and fictional urgency in my mind.
The spokes between axle, and wheel.
I thank him, and his Instructor s.
November 9, 2019
outdated, but still a few good hints and tips that are useful.
Read
September 2, 2021Not a great book by Linenberger. If you're interested in this topic, check out Total Workday Control (version 5).
May 3, 2010
Helpful guide to organizing your work, setting goals and living a fruitful life
If, like many people, you feel pushed, frenzied, harried and crazed, project management expert Michael Linenberger is trying to help. He applies his logical engineering background to examining how the typical workday actually functions. He offers a multilayered method for getting a better handle on your day by organizing your tasks, activities and goals more efficiently and precisely. The list-making part of the book is perhaps more concrete and less subjective than subsequent sections on defining your mission and purpose, and aligning your life and your work. Linenberger’s clear goal is to provide an entire package that will help people engage in productive self-discovery, so they can achieve work-life balance and career satisfaction. However, some of his processes seem both old school and a bit complex. Still, getAbstract recommends his very empathetic manual, particularly to those who are new to time management and personal goal setting.
If, like many people, you feel pushed, frenzied, harried and crazed, project management expert Michael Linenberger is trying to help. He applies his logical engineering background to examining how the typical workday actually functions. He offers a multilayered method for getting a better handle on your day by organizing your tasks, activities and goals more efficiently and precisely. The list-making part of the book is perhaps more concrete and less subjective than subsequent sections on defining your mission and purpose, and aligning your life and your work. Linenberger’s clear goal is to provide an entire package that will help people engage in productive self-discovery, so they can achieve work-life balance and career satisfaction. However, some of his processes seem both old school and a bit complex. Still, getAbstract recommends his very empathetic manual, particularly to those who are new to time management and personal goal setting.
April 16, 2014
I really enjoyed this book. A lot of the concepts are regurgitated from other writings which I guess is pretty much unavoidable in business motivational books since most things have been already covered by somebody. What I particularly like is how the author makes a point of detailing the source of information and why he found that particular source so useful. Then there is a very comprehensive list of further reading at the back of the book which is normal, only they all get a thorough review by the author which is a valuable resource in itself.
In this book I got most value out of part 3, the concept of applying your values from your private life to your work life, and hopefully merge the two sets of values which will hopefully transform you into a more complete person, aligned with your personal life mission. Some great reading on the relationships between goals, visions and mission.
In this book I got most value out of part 3, the concept of applying your values from your private life to your work life, and hopefully merge the two sets of values which will hopefully transform you into a more complete person, aligned with your personal life mission. Some great reading on the relationships between goals, visions and mission.
February 8, 2017
This is a great productivity book! I've been implementing some of these ideas for a couple months now, and I'm really happy with my to-do list situation. It's very uncomplicated, which is good because complex lists never work for me.
I love that this book goes beyond organizing your days and weeks - it also delves into goal setting, dreaming big and purpose.
If you've Read "7 Habits" or "Getting Things Done", other popular books with a similar theme, this is actually my favorite of the bunch.
I love that this book goes beyond organizing your days and weeks - it also delves into goal setting, dreaming big and purpose.
If you've Read "7 Habits" or "Getting Things Done", other popular books with a similar theme, this is actually my favorite of the bunch.
July 7, 2016
I give the first half 5 stars, the 2nd half 1 star... just read the first half.
It took me forever to finish this book. The first half is so practical and provides a great system for task management. I use this system today (with slight mods).
The 2nd half of the book is worthless. Too much new-age|you-can-will-it crap.
A better "2nd half" to read instead is the book agile results.
It took me forever to finish this book. The first half is so practical and provides a great system for task management. I use this system today (with slight mods).
The 2nd half of the book is worthless. Too much new-age|you-can-will-it crap.
A better "2nd half" to read instead is the book agile results.
Currently reading
March 7, 2010Excellent book
July 8, 2011
After the first section, I was bored. I didn't finish reading it.
June 4, 2012
The first half was the same as his outlook configuration book. The second on goals and goal setting.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews