What do you think?
Rate this book
The First 2 Hours: Make Better Use of Your Most Valuable Time
Do your most important work when you are your most resourceful
Are you drowning in email? Overloaded with calendar invitations? Frustrated by wasteful meetings and an ever-growing workload? Then you know that being busy does not mean being productive. Most workers are being asked to take on more responsibilities with less support, advised to simply 'be innovative.' But you only have a finite amount of energy and thinking capacity available to you in a day. Most of us are wasting it on things that aren't contributing to our most important work: the activities that require problem solving, decision making and critical thinking.
Developed for business professionals, The First Two Hours teaches you how to design your day, rather than be at the mercy of it. Using research on neuroscience, energy flow and the body's natural rhythms, it divides the workday into manageable blocks and helps you determine when you are most resourceful, and therefore when you should complete your most demanding tasks.
Optimize your day in blocks of two hours Take back control of your work life by creating a workflow designed for you Do your most important work at the right time of day so it gets the resources it deserves Decide when you need to be 'on' and when you can be 'available' so you can maximise productivity In a time of near-constant information overload, this practical handbook helps you focus on getting done what you need to get done, when you are best able to do it. By learning to invest your energy strategically, you can be in the driver's seat every work day and achieve a level of productivity beyond what you thought possible.
The First 2 Hours is the second book in Donna McGeorge's It's About Time series. With The 25-Minute Meeting, you'll learn to give your meetings purpose and stop them wasting your time; with The First 2 Hours, you'll find the best time of the day to do your most productive work; and with The 1-Day Refund, you'll discover how to give yourself the extra capacity to think, breathe, live and work.
Are you drowning in email? Overloaded with calendar invitations? Frustrated by wasteful meetings and an ever-growing workload? Then you know that being busy does not mean being productive. Most workers are being asked to take on more responsibilities with less support, advised to simply 'be innovative.' But you only have a finite amount of energy and thinking capacity available to you in a day. Most of us are wasting it on things that aren't contributing to our most important work: the activities that require problem solving, decision making and critical thinking.
Developed for business professionals, The First Two Hours teaches you how to design your day, rather than be at the mercy of it. Using research on neuroscience, energy flow and the body's natural rhythms, it divides the workday into manageable blocks and helps you determine when you are most resourceful, and therefore when you should complete your most demanding tasks.
Optimize your day in blocks of two hours Take back control of your work life by creating a workflow designed for you Do your most important work at the right time of day so it gets the resources it deserves Decide when you need to be 'on' and when you can be 'available' so you can maximise productivity In a time of near-constant information overload, this practical handbook helps you focus on getting done what you need to get done, when you are best able to do it. By learning to invest your energy strategically, you can be in the driver's seat every work day and achieve a level of productivity beyond what you thought possible.
The First 2 Hours is the second book in Donna McGeorge's It's About Time series. With The 25-Minute Meeting, you'll learn to give your meetings purpose and stop them wasting your time; with The First 2 Hours, you'll find the best time of the day to do your most productive work; and with The 1-Day Refund, you'll discover how to give yourself the extra capacity to think, breathe, live and work.
142 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2019
20 people are currently reading
209 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
July 29, 2020
Break your day in 2 hour blocks. Manage energy and brain power accordingly: Proactive, Reactive, Active, Preactive.
—Proactive. decision-making. most important tasks. activities that require impactful choices, prepare important presentations, resolve issues.
—Reactive. be flexible and accessible. schedule meetings, solve problems, and support your team on immediate matters.
—Active. routine activities. Take a break, answer emails, and complete reports or filing activities that don’t require much mental energy.
—Preactive. review what you’ve achieved, tie up any loose ends, and schedule your next workday.
—Proactive. decision-making. most important tasks. activities that require impactful choices, prepare important presentations, resolve issues.
—Reactive. be flexible and accessible. schedule meetings, solve problems, and support your team on immediate matters.
—Active. routine activities. Take a break, answer emails, and complete reports or filing activities that don’t require much mental energy.
—Preactive. review what you’ve achieved, tie up any loose ends, and schedule your next workday.
August 2, 2019
What a fantastic cool little handbook. D McGeorge provides here handrails for busy people to be more effective in riding the “right waves” during our work day and schedule tasks to be tackled during the right time.
The book also includes many forms which helps to think through our current daily working patterns and help to establish even more effective ways to avoid unnecessary stress.
Probably best to buy a paper copy and come back to the handbook time to time and review it regularly until the best parts are completely internalised and old bad habits are removed.
The book also includes many forms which helps to think through our current daily working patterns and help to establish even more effective ways to avoid unnecessary stress.
Probably best to buy a paper copy and come back to the handbook time to time and review it regularly until the best parts are completely internalised and old bad habits are removed.
May 4, 2019
In this book we see the concept of structuring the day around our bodies natural circadian rhythms. By looking at what needs to be done for the day, we can take the most important tasks and slot them in to the times when our mind and body are most alert.
While I believe some of the ideas in this but might be hard to implement in your work day, as you will need to retrain colleges about you you are free, I’ve found this book to be a great help
While I believe some of the ideas in this but might be hard to implement in your work day, as you will need to retrain colleges about you you are free, I’ve found this book to be a great help
January 25, 2020
Loved this book. I have started changing my schedule according to the advice here. I hope to fully transition soon. It all made really good sense. I don't know how it will work in my highly reactive workplace, but I can only give it a try and attempt to retrain my colleagues' expectations.
January 13, 2021
Another interesting McGeorge read. She essentially suggests a method for breaking up the workday by your body's natural energy, rather than just randomly plonking things in the calendar.
I'm going to give it a go in 2021!
I'm going to give it a go in 2021!
June 24, 2022
Short and sweet with some solid takeaways, this little book will help you reconsider how you allocate your time at work. I'm looking forward to experimenting with the ideas in this book starting Monday.
My only gripe with McGeorge's book is that it lacks depth yet also achieves repetitiveness. While valuable, the great majority of this book's content could be presented in a single handout.
My only gripe with McGeorge's book is that it lacks depth yet also achieves repetitiveness. While valuable, the great majority of this book's content could be presented in a single handout.
June 14, 2021
The author develops an Effective Plan to design the daily work program, starting with the understanding of how to manage time and create a discipline in the daily routine, aligning work performance with the biological rhythms of our body, taking advantage of energy levels during the day.
It is relevant to know how to manage the body to optimize energy levels to achieve work performance based on 3 factors: a good healthy diet, complemented with physical exercise and prioritizing healthy sleep habits.
To determine productivity, the author designs a schedule based on 4 time periods of 2 hours each: Proactive, Reactive, Active and Preactive, in order to adopt good management skills, allowing greater control of her workday.
It is relevant to know how to manage the body to optimize energy levels to achieve work performance based on 3 factors: a good healthy diet, complemented with physical exercise and prioritizing healthy sleep habits.
To determine productivity, the author designs a schedule based on 4 time periods of 2 hours each: Proactive, Reactive, Active and Preactive, in order to adopt good management skills, allowing greater control of her workday.
April 12, 2019
Brilliant.
The best book I have ever read on time management (and I have read quite a few) - and the first five star review of a book I've ever given.
The book is short, to the point, and packed full of valuable information that has enabled me to almost double my days' productivity.
The best book I have ever read on time management (and I have read quite a few) - and the first five star review of a book I've ever given.
The book is short, to the point, and packed full of valuable information that has enabled me to almost double my days' productivity.
December 7, 2019
Great read
Offered some good tips for time management. Hard to implement these into my work, but nevertheless gave me a lot to think about and reflect on.
Overall a very nicely presented, easy to read book. Glad I read it
Offered some good tips for time management. Hard to implement these into my work, but nevertheless gave me a lot to think about and reflect on.
Overall a very nicely presented, easy to read book. Glad I read it
February 28, 2025
Major value for this short read. Another critical layer to my task management system. Professional development must.
Read
August 19, 2020The first best point about this book is
the content is a very useful one , totally practical one. This is full of commonsense . Not even an iota of nonsense.
The content is divided in to 4 major sub catagories. First two, next two, third two and last two hours.
There are check lists, tips suggestions arranged skillfully by the Mentor Author Mrs.Donna.
The assurance from the author to support followers via facebook, e- mail and other social media is very useful one to sustain the new way of productive , professional life.
I recommend strongly to all professional individuals to read and practice the methodology narrated by Mrs.Donna.
I am looking forward to be connected with the mentor for my personality development.
the content is a very useful one , totally practical one. This is full of commonsense . Not even an iota of nonsense.
The content is divided in to 4 major sub catagories. First two, next two, third two and last two hours.
There are check lists, tips suggestions arranged skillfully by the Mentor Author Mrs.Donna.
The assurance from the author to support followers via facebook, e- mail and other social media is very useful one to sustain the new way of productive , professional life.
I recommend strongly to all professional individuals to read and practice the methodology narrated by Mrs.Donna.
I am looking forward to be connected with the mentor for my personality development.
February 18, 2020
(Listened to the Audiobook.) This boils down to advice you've probably seen already in about 4 different think-pieces: pay attention to when you work best (and avoid decision fatigue).
Mcgeorge does a good job at breaking that down into actions to consider and specific things to consider as you put those actions into practice without filling space just for the sake of filling space. She doesn't do as much as I'd like in terms of how to flex her advice if it doesn't meet your work culture or schedule, but a quick, helpful read/listen/mindset re-set, nonetheless.
Mcgeorge does a good job at breaking that down into actions to consider and specific things to consider as you put those actions into practice without filling space just for the sake of filling space. She doesn't do as much as I'd like in terms of how to flex her advice if it doesn't meet your work culture or schedule, but a quick, helpful read/listen/mindset re-set, nonetheless.
November 17, 2021
Solid book, highlights how different types of energy and decision fatigue can vary during the day.
The quality of our mind and mental skills will change the quality and output.
Removing interruptions. Multitasking sucks. Protect your calendar. Make the best of your time.
The way she has structured the perfect map of a day was awesome.
Cool and unusual to hear an Aussie accent on an audio book.
*Listened to 2 hour audio book via Libby.
The quality of our mind and mental skills will change the quality and output.
Removing interruptions. Multitasking sucks. Protect your calendar. Make the best of your time.
The way she has structured the perfect map of a day was awesome.
Cool and unusual to hear an Aussie accent on an audio book.
*Listened to 2 hour audio book via Libby.
June 20, 2022
I sometimes felt like the author was using too many words but the material is good and backed by various authors and research.
I’ve always felt that my most “productive” hours were lost in useless meetings. Now I’m sure of it! My challenge will be to apply these learning to an engineering environment, after the pandemic, where I am working from home.
I recommend this book. It is short and an easy read with a huge potential for increasing your productivity!
I’ve always felt that my most “productive” hours were lost in useless meetings. Now I’m sure of it! My challenge will be to apply these learning to an engineering environment, after the pandemic, where I am working from home.
I recommend this book. It is short and an easy read with a huge potential for increasing your productivity!
July 18, 2024
I think this book contains one way to be productive at work. At my current position, this plan does not fit the work I do. I think this book would be more pertinent if I was in a supervisor role. Maybe I’ll reread when I get to that point.
August 18, 2019
A concise time management book to help your day better by dividing into four 2 hours diyh most important things as first. Found it very useful
June 10, 2022
Not a bad compilation of a few different office work methods, mashed up with some ideas of her own.
3 stars
So far this year, my library saved me A$1,442.04
3 stars
So far this year, my library saved me A$1,442.04
August 6, 2023
More like 3.5. This is one that you need to listen without others in-between
January 22, 2022
An enjoyable book and good to refer to for good practice/structure. Splitting the day into the specific 2 hour slots (vs just morning or after lunch) across the day and aligning each of these with types of tasks is new to me - and I’ll try applying it to my own day (which is already about 50% of the way there).
Recommend the audiobook version read by the author as well.
Recommend the audiobook version read by the author as well.
June 5, 2019
Interesting and useful.
July 30, 2025
I loved The First Two Hours by Donna McGeorge. This is the first book of McGeorge’s that I spotted by happy accident in a bookshop and I now read everything she writes. The First Two Hours is an energising and practical approach to structuring our work days. By frontloading my most important work at the start of the day, and avoiding distractions, I can feel a sense of achievement well before lunch. It’s a powerful book, written in McGeorge’s relatable, encouraging style.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews