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Beyond Busyness: How to Achieve More by Doing Less
“Too many people have fallen into the busy cycle that Peggy so accurately and honestly portrays. This book is the wakeup call you need to get back to living.”
— Seth Godin, author of The Song of Significance
FINALIST FOR THE 2024 BOOK EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR WOMEN’S HEALTH
Busy is not better. Break the cycle of “just getting stuff done.”
If you’re feeling unfulfilled at the end of each day because you are busy but never seem to have time for what truly matters (a phenomenon called time poverty), you’re not alone.
As a recovering “busyness addict,” corporate performance expert Peggy Sullivan’s struggle with the cycle of burnout and anxiety—leading to divorce, two totaled cars, a heart attack, and even accidentally eating cat food—led her on a quest for life outside busy . . . a sweet spot where productivity, happiness, and self-care can coexist.
Her search led her to create a transformative framework for taking back control of your time and your life that has helped individuals, entrepreneurs, nonprofits, small businesses, and Fortune 500 companies such as Google, Bank of America, and Blue Cross Blue Shield get their employees off the busy treadmill and align their time and work with what’s truly important.
Grounded in deep research, including the results of a first-of-its-kind 2023 Busy Report, her three-step Busy-Busting Process has been proven to eliminate unintentional busyness, ignite the power of happiness, and unlock a more meaningful life.
Beyond Busyness provides a simple, data-backed, and actionable approach to balancing peak performance, self-care, and happiness without sacrificing one for the other.
— Seth Godin, author of The Song of Significance
FINALIST FOR THE 2024 BOOK EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR WOMEN’S HEALTH
Busy is not better. Break the cycle of “just getting stuff done.”
If you’re feeling unfulfilled at the end of each day because you are busy but never seem to have time for what truly matters (a phenomenon called time poverty), you’re not alone.
As a recovering “busyness addict,” corporate performance expert Peggy Sullivan’s struggle with the cycle of burnout and anxiety—leading to divorce, two totaled cars, a heart attack, and even accidentally eating cat food—led her on a quest for life outside busy . . . a sweet spot where productivity, happiness, and self-care can coexist.
Her search led her to create a transformative framework for taking back control of your time and your life that has helped individuals, entrepreneurs, nonprofits, small businesses, and Fortune 500 companies such as Google, Bank of America, and Blue Cross Blue Shield get their employees off the busy treadmill and align their time and work with what’s truly important.
Grounded in deep research, including the results of a first-of-its-kind 2023 Busy Report, her three-step Busy-Busting Process has been proven to eliminate unintentional busyness, ignite the power of happiness, and unlock a more meaningful life.
Beyond Busyness provides a simple, data-backed, and actionable approach to balancing peak performance, self-care, and happiness without sacrificing one for the other.
209 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 21, 2025
4 people are currently reading
2 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 7, 2026
Beyond Busyness: How to Achieve More by Doing Less by Peggy Sullivan is a timely and deeply practical challenge to one of modern life’s most destructive myths that constant activity equals success. Sullivan dismantles the culture of “busy as a badge of honor” and replaces it with a research based framework that helps readers reclaim time, clarity, and well-being without sacrificing performance.
Writing from both professional expertise and hard-won personal experience, Sullivan describes how her own addiction to busyness led to burnout, anxiety, fractured relationships, and serious health crises. Rather than offering inspirational platitudes, she translates those lessons into a structured, three step Busy Busting Process grounded in behavioral research and the findings of her 2023 Busy Report. The result is a method that is as actionable for corporate teams as it is for individuals quietly exhausted by their own schedules.
What makes the book especially compelling is its balance of data and humanity. Sullivan acknowledges the real pressures of modern work while showing how unintentional habits, poorly designed systems, and social expectations keep people trapped in time poverty. Her strategies focused on alignment, prioritization, and intentional self care demonstrate that productivity and happiness are not opposing goals but mutually reinforcing ones.
Beyond Busyness is an essential guide for professionals, leaders, parents, and entrepreneurs who sense that life has become a to do list with no soul. It offers a credible, compassionate path toward doing less, living more, and defining success on healthier terms.
Writing from both professional expertise and hard-won personal experience, Sullivan describes how her own addiction to busyness led to burnout, anxiety, fractured relationships, and serious health crises. Rather than offering inspirational platitudes, she translates those lessons into a structured, three step Busy Busting Process grounded in behavioral research and the findings of her 2023 Busy Report. The result is a method that is as actionable for corporate teams as it is for individuals quietly exhausted by their own schedules.
What makes the book especially compelling is its balance of data and humanity. Sullivan acknowledges the real pressures of modern work while showing how unintentional habits, poorly designed systems, and social expectations keep people trapped in time poverty. Her strategies focused on alignment, prioritization, and intentional self care demonstrate that productivity and happiness are not opposing goals but mutually reinforcing ones.
Beyond Busyness is an essential guide for professionals, leaders, parents, and entrepreneurs who sense that life has become a to do list with no soul. It offers a credible, compassionate path toward doing less, living more, and defining success on healthier terms.
November 8, 2025
Peggy Sullivan’s Beyond Busyness is a refreshingly candid and deeply empowering guide for anyone who feels caught in the endless cycle of doing more but achieving less. With warmth and clarity, Sullivan reminds readers that busyness is not a badge of honor it’s a barrier to living with intention, joy, and authenticity.
Her stories and strategies strike a rare balance between personal insight and practical wisdom, helping readers realign their lives around purpose rather than productivity. What makes Beyond Busyness truly stand out is its heartfelt approach; Sullivan doesn’t just challenge the culture of constant hustle she offers a hopeful roadmap toward a life of presence, balance, and genuine fulfillment.
This is the kind of book that leaves you exhaling finally seeing a path out of overwhelm and into meaningful living.
A life giving reminder that slowing down can be the most productive choice of all.
Her stories and strategies strike a rare balance between personal insight and practical wisdom, helping readers realign their lives around purpose rather than productivity. What makes Beyond Busyness truly stand out is its heartfelt approach; Sullivan doesn’t just challenge the culture of constant hustle she offers a hopeful roadmap toward a life of presence, balance, and genuine fulfillment.
This is the kind of book that leaves you exhaling finally seeing a path out of overwhelm and into meaningful living.
A life giving reminder that slowing down can be the most productive choice of all.
February 13, 2025
Extraordinary!
What this book proposes should be almost a law for everyone, the author from her experience proposes the discussion of how having the whole agenda busy has become a fashion despite the fact that there is no time left for valuable things.
The danger of overproductivity has caused many effects on the mental, physical and social health of many individuals, so the author proposes a methodology guided in 3 steps to reach a balanced life without sacrificing productivity.
If you are looking to improve your productivity without sacrificing the valuable things in life and you like data-driven studies, you must read this book!
It changed my perspective on work and the use of time to have balance!
What this book proposes should be almost a law for everyone, the author from her experience proposes the discussion of how having the whole agenda busy has become a fashion despite the fact that there is no time left for valuable things.
The danger of overproductivity has caused many effects on the mental, physical and social health of many individuals, so the author proposes a methodology guided in 3 steps to reach a balanced life without sacrificing productivity.
If you are looking to improve your productivity without sacrificing the valuable things in life and you like data-driven studies, you must read this book!
It changed my perspective on work and the use of time to have balance!
February 15, 2025
100% Identified
Since I was young, I have always wanted to occupy my time and now that I am retired, I thought I should be just as busy as before, whether it was working or fixing things around the house. Well, this book has reinforced and ratified that this should not be so, resting and finding time to feel free and literally “unoccupied” is also an incredible formula for wellbeing. Peggy's story is strong, because it feels like that sense of occupation reached the limits that no one would want, so I have made very relevant decisions in the face of everything that the author tells us in this excellent work. I must say that since I read the book, I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I am enjoying my free time much more.
Since I was young, I have always wanted to occupy my time and now that I am retired, I thought I should be just as busy as before, whether it was working or fixing things around the house. Well, this book has reinforced and ratified that this should not be so, resting and finding time to feel free and literally “unoccupied” is also an incredible formula for wellbeing. Peggy's story is strong, because it feels like that sense of occupation reached the limits that no one would want, so I have made very relevant decisions in the face of everything that the author tells us in this excellent work. I must say that since I read the book, I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I am enjoying my free time much more.
February 14, 2025
Amazing book
What a great book! It is a truly transformative read that in my opinion becomes a guide for our lives. The book talks about a 3-step process to regain control over life, time, productivity and well being in companies or individuals. What I liked the most is that the book is based on research and offers readers a practical solution to balance performance, self-love and happiness. Highly recommended! Excellent book.
What a great book! It is a truly transformative read that in my opinion becomes a guide for our lives. The book talks about a 3-step process to regain control over life, time, productivity and well being in companies or individuals. What I liked the most is that the book is based on research and offers readers a practical solution to balance performance, self-love and happiness. Highly recommended! Excellent book.
February 12, 2025
Great Book!
Wow! Simply amazing! This book addresses, I believe, one of the most recurrent problems in today's society. Many people feel frustrated for not having time and this book is presented as a perfect solution for all those who do not have the tools to avoid this situation. Very pertinent and easy to read.
Wow! Simply amazing! This book addresses, I believe, one of the most recurrent problems in today's society. Many people feel frustrated for not having time and this book is presented as a perfect solution for all those who do not have the tools to avoid this situation. Very pertinent and easy to read.
February 13, 2025
Useful read.
If you want to be more productive and improve the time that you spend working on your goals, this is the book that you need to read. In just three steps you can change the way you work and have the time you want to spend with family and friends. ''Beyond Busynes'' is a useful read.
If you want to be more productive and improve the time that you spend working on your goals, this is the book that you need to read. In just three steps you can change the way you work and have the time you want to spend with family and friends. ''Beyond Busynes'' is a useful read.
March 4, 2025
Sullivan offers some excellent insights into why we stay stuck in a cycle of busyness and how to break free. While the core message is strong, I found some sections a bit repetitive. Still, it’s a valuable read for anyone looking to reassess their priorities and take back control of their time.
April 15, 2025
It's a great book, definitely going to support my transformation journey. And every one should read this book once to find out what really this book holds.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews