Breathing Space: Living and Working at a Comfortable Pace in a Sped-Up Society

by Jeff Davidson

The breakthrough book for a time-pressed generation. Major features in USA Today, The Washington Post, Boston Herald, Chicago Tribune, and 75 other newspapers, plus Executive Female, USAir, Office Systems 98, Leaders, and Mens Health. Explains why the information age is not here yet; for now, most people are drowning in the over-information era. If you face too much paper, too much to read, or simply too much to do, this book will change your life. Get in control of your space, and control of your time and life will follow.

Genres: Business

209 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1991

About the author

http://www.jeffdavidson.com/bio.html

Reviews

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative and entertaining, a good read

[James Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks Jeff for your sterling presentation. Here's what i would tell other: If you’re looking to streamline your life, Jeff Davidson will help you in many ways. His underlying philosophy is that the world continually dumps too much on our laps and if we’re not paying attention, we can be overwhelmed in a hurry. On the other hand, if you take the time to set up personal systems in relation to how you receive information, acquire things, and organize the spaces in your life then you have established a framework for what he calls a sense of “Breathing Space.”

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was naturally drawn to this book because of its promise to help me live and work at a comfortable pace which is something I have not been able to do for as long as I can remember. It seems like the work week and even the weekend just represent one long continuing grind. As I began reading, I was not disappointed. Starting off with some perspectives about why it seems as if time speeds up as we age, the author then launches into different kinds of tool that help you get back into gear which is calls hand tools, power tools, and cerebral tools. Each of the 21 chapters is pretty short and that is a benefit for me. As a result of reading this book I can safely say I do have a new perspective regarding the issues and stuff that comes into my life and how I will approach it all.

[loafingcactus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Packed full of useful reminders and a few new ideas, with a specific overall focus on refusing to accommodate a society gone mad on rushing and stuffing. A buyer may be disappointed at the size of the book for the price, but I would say the value is there. Note that the Kindle edition is a scan rather a true ebook so one may be better served by going in for the dead tree version.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Easy reading and full of great advice. Read it in the 1980s.

[Colin Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now and then you come across a book that impacts you in a way you hadn't figured, and then you want to tell everybody else about it. Breathing Space is such a book. I got into it because a friend recommended it, but then, I realized it was going to be more valuable to me than she had suggested. The chapters on managing beforehand and the art of completions are priceless. Don't take my word for it, read this, and you'll see what I mean

[Grant330 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Breathing space is at once a how to book, and a big think book. The approach the author takes is refreshing, time management has little effectiveness unless you understand the big picture of what's happening to each of us on a daily basis. The bombardment of new information is endless, and so, our approach cannot be what it was 10 or 20 years ago. We have to start each day with the realization that our knowledge base is going to be impacted by something else and then something after that today, tomorrow, next week, and forever more.

[Aidan Mangan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The section on the media is most interesting. The mass media attempts to "keep us watching." Davidson presents ample data to depict the current information "overglut." Each reader, he suggests, needs to decide daily what information merits attention and what is best left ignored.

[Elizabeth Lund]

Pretty good; parts of it read like a proto-Getting Things Done