Manage Your Time to Reduce Your Stress: A Handbook for the Overworked, Overscheduled, and Overwhelmed

by Rita Emmett

A self-improvement guru's inspiring and effective tips for gaining control of our Herculean workloads and overbooked personal lives.

How often do you think to yourself, So much to do and so little time? I n the sympathetic and insightful style of The Procrastinator's Handbook, Rita Emmett offers help for those of us with too much to do. T he key is not time management but "stuff" management—taking control of all those tasks to do, people to see, commitments and obligations to fulfill. Mismanagement of all that "to-do" stuff is what leads to stress.

We often have little control over the demands made upon us, yet we can control our response. T hat's where the management of stress must start. Emmett combines quick, easy-to-digest tips and infectious good humor to give readers positive ways to handle stress and their overly busy lives, first by understanding how stress impacts our physical, mental, and emotional health. She shows us how to cut down on distractions and interruptions that sap our concentration and energy, be more organized and streamline our duties, ask for help and be more selective about what we choose to do, and clarify our values and prioritize activities based on what is important. Spending time doing things that are incongruent with your values, striving for perfection, being overly competitive, and job insecurity are some of the reasons people feel overburdened and overwhelmed. Emmett draws on the stories of many people who have participated in her seminars, and readers will not only identify with their problems but can find common ground in the strategies that have worked for them.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Audiobook, Productivity, Business, Personal Development, Mental Health

Audio CD

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Rita Emmett is a “Recovering Procrastinator”, Professional Speaker and best-selling author whose books all together are in 34 countries, have sold over 205,000 copies worldwide and have been featured in over 428 interviews including with Katie Couric.

As a speaker, Rita's presentations help transform audiences
• from semi-productive to MEGA-productive,
• from fatigued to energized and
• from scattered to focused

Rita, and her husband Bruce and their 5 children were all born and raised in the Chicago area. They believe in the positives of raising children as Cubs fans because it teaches how to handle disappointment, how to be eternally optimistic and to forever have the extreme hope that things will always be better next year. Great Life Skills … don’t you agree?

Her customized presentations covering Procrastination, Clutter, Customer Loyalty, Burn-out, and Communication Skills have helped hundreds of organizations improve their performance, productivity and profitability, and head off burnout before it starts. Some of Rita’s clients include AT&T, Kraft Food, Mercedes Benz, Met Life, and The National Kidney Foundation.

Rita has been honored for her High Content / High Fun interactive Keynotes and Training presentations by being included in the prestigious “Who’s Who in American Education” plus “Who’s Who in America” and the “The World Wide Who’s Who of Women”.

Reviews

[Azita Rassi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nicely composed and delivered. The concepts, while not being fresh, are mostly given in the form of examples and stories and this has made them very memorable.

[Madeline Adams · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first 75% was okay with generic advice with some heartwarming stories. However the last fourth is where my low rating comes from; the author started inserting their random opinions about government and religion which is not needed.

[Stephanie Mouton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unlike any other genre, I prefer to listen to self-help while doing housework or gardening, because, frankly, I find reading it often a bore. Normally, the pace is such in an audio book that I can easily glean the author's key nuggets of wisdom. However, this book seemed so obvious to me I flew through it and thought, "Well, what did it leave me with that I didn't already know?"

Additionally, I have one negative comment in regard to how the author recommends dealing with perfectionists through passive-aggressive tactics. The irony isn’t lost on me given the book is about time management! Honestly, not helpful and a complete waste of valuable energy. Why waste your time trying to make someone else crazy? And, there are some of us, who actively find this type of aggressive behavior stressful! Enough said.

[Dumitru Moraru · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nu o să afli nimic nou în carte, dar îți amintește să te oprești ca să conștientizezi sursele de stres și să-ți evaluezi valorile și prioritățile. Rita Emmet vorbește despre stres, oboseală cronică, totodată vine cu sfaturi cum să gestionezi timpul și stresul. De multe ori spunem că nu ne ajunge timp pentru o activitate, deși toți avem egal 24 de ore la dispoziție. Cum se face că unii reușesc să îndeplinească multe sarcini într-o zi și să nu fie epuizați, ba chiar să fie fericiți și energici pe când alții sunt copleșiți de stres și abia pot duce la capăt ceva? De multe ori ne ocupăm cu fleacuri și nu cu lucruri importante pentru noi, nu cu ceea ce este în concordanță cu valorile noastre. Evident că suferim un stres. Nu vorbim doar de locul de muncă sau datoria de părinte unde e normal că nu vom face mereu ce ne place, ci în general. Dacă faci doar lucruri care nu-ți aduc satisfacție, cum să nu fii obosit, stresat, nefericit și ineficient?

"vei putea face schimbări radicale în viața ta dacă înțelegi sursele de stres, îți clarifici valorile, elimini activitățile care nu sunt necesare și eficientizezi restul, renunți la perfecționism, identifici obiective realiste, stabilești limite și îți reîncarci bateriile".

Eu aș reduce mult din numărul de pagini, autoarea vine cu prea multe cazuri ca exemplu. Limbajul e unul simplu, se citește repede, deși structura informației cam lasă de dorit.

[Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is fine...it gives you pointers on how to make better use of your time and reduce your stress, but there’s nothing new or groundbreaking here to learn. It’s simply a reminder of what we (or at least most of us) already know.

Doing the exercises at the end of each chapter and at the end of the book helped me organize my thoughts and create an action plan. Don’t skip over those if you want to get the most value out of this book. The exercises encourage you to critically think about how to apply what you just read to your own life.

[Kristen Ilsemann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many of the tips are common sense but presented in a way that I feel are memorable and easy to understand and apply in real life. I enjoyed the real life examples as well. The core learning for me was that the source of stress is when you live life NOT aligned with your values. The book encourages reflection and understands that different tips might be of different value to different people (or even at different points in your own lifetime as things change) so it’s nice to have a variety of ideas of how to change.

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and friendly set of reminders to help adjust however I am spending my time these days to satisfy my values, as they are these days. I felt this book was just the right length and level of detail.

Usually, I don't like when authors narrate their own books, but Rita did a great job. She has a cheerful and fun personality that added to the enjoyment. Overall, I would go back and listen to this book for my annual or biannual reflection.

[Jaclyn Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author didn't really have anything new to say, but it was a good refresher (or a good introduction if you are new to "overwhelmed" world.

I listened to the audio book, which was read by the author. I found her amusing. Made for a good listening experience.

[Allisonperkel · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an audio book - this is most excellent as the material is strong and so is her Chicago accent.

The mist important part is to truly listen and answer her end of chapter questions. This is how we focus

[Harold Bradley III · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a reasonably good, somewhat inspirational time management book that focuses on exactly what the title says. It isn't revolutionary or even very original, but it is short and easy to read. The advice is helpful and worth hearing more than once.

[Geekfork · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of this book is the same advice I've heard over and over, but I have to admit listening to the author read it was very comforting and like listening to your grandma or trusted aunt tell you what's what in a down-to-earth but humorous way.

[Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Felt like a pretty basic seminar on time management (no surprises, Emmett does lots of seminars on time management). Might be helpful for people who are really bad at it, particularly prefectionists, but I think most people will not find this very helpful.

[Deb Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great ideas.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Lots of actionable tips.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful tips to focusing more time on things you love and value. Here is my full review: https://greatmorrisonmigration.wordpr...

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now I think I know what I'm doing wrong...

[Iacob Cupcea · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is written in easy maner, very helpful to understand some subconscious thought. Recommended to read it.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book, had a few good tips in it. Hope some of the suggestions will help.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great read to focus on your values and how to prioritize your day. Rita gives tips that help break down barriers of stress/anxiety both in personal/professional scenarios.

[Divya8720 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely one of the best self-help books I've ever read! It included very good advice for everything - working/school, family life, mental health, physical health, etc.

[Peggy Lesko · Rating 4 out of 5]

She had a lot a good, meaningful stories and tips. This would be good to listen to periodically. She narrated her own book and did a nice job.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good overview of tips and mentalities to have about the different areas of being too busy and it leading to stress.

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read and practical.

[Lu · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book with practical advice on time mgmt and setting boundries.

[Marie | Word Addict · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I could imprint these practical approaches permanently into my brain. I do think the quasi-ruthless prioritization part, stuck.

[Shelby Hallman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this. Such great advice and liked how each section was ended with relevant inspirational quotes and follow-up questions. Gave it a 4 because it did get a tad repetitive.

[Viraj · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to an audiobook read by the author and joined her weekly mailing list.
Few really good things are listed in this. Some examples:

* you are the best person to take care of yourself. If you still like taking care of others more, think about this: You end up taking care of others' things but you don't remain in a good shape (mentally / physically (read workouts)), then others are not going to have you to take care of them / their things when they need. Put yourself first.
* don't sign up for more things than necessary (Swanand dada told me this; it also applies for investments: invest in a handful number of companies as Warren Buffett says).
* when you have to wait doing nothing (i.e. while backing up files), intentionally give that time to yourself to relax (or meditate) instead of getting anxious
* work expands to fill the time available (Parkinson's law) i.e. cleaning up can be done in 10 minutes before visitor's come in or can take whole weekend
* things you know you won't get to (i.e. magazines to read), you should get rid of in the first place, so mind is freed up
* put everything in calendar (I put ridiculously small but important things in google calendar so I don't have to "remember" those and nag my brain). This includes unsubscribing a service, reserving a hotel etc
don't celebrate prematurely (don't let the guard drop), but don't forget to celebrate accomplishments
...
Rita has some youtube videos too. I have subscribed to her newsletter for now.

[Judy Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the author's delivery. It felt like she was speaking right to you. Like all good books like this, she actually didn't have that much new to say. But that's not a bad thing. We all need to be reminded to stay mindful. We let life get in the way.

Don't ever read books like this thinking you are going to find some new, never before heard of technique. There isn't one. There is just life. And life is work. Even when you're not working. There is just always so much going on. It's not a bad thing. It just is. When you having fun, you are distracted. When you're working you're distracted.

Read books like this once in a while because they remind you to be in the moment. They remind you that you're ok.

[Jaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an easy-to-read (or listen to) book. Emmett gave lots of tips on how to manage your work time in order to give you time to take care of yourself. She gave a lot of personal anecdotes to back up her thoughts and ideas. There was nothing new or groundbreaking to her ideas, but she gave lots of validation for taking care of yourself and reiterated that taking care of your needs is not being selfish. She provided a lot of good points and stories on this subject. The best part of the audioversion was the author herself. She was just adorable. She would share a story or a quote and couldn't help but giggle and add side bits. Well worth listening to her.

[Keith Sorensen]

Lots of great advice, but the real value will be in the implementation. Nothing earth-shattering or groundbreaking, but it's all solid, "rings true to me" advice for having a happier, less stressful life. This seems to me to be the kind of book that you could pick up, read any page and think, "Yeah, this. THIS I'll focus on for today," and it would make that day better.