Work Smarter: Live Better: Practical Ways to Change Your Work Habits and Transform Your Life

by Cyril Peupion

Most people have never been taught how to work. We are committed to our job and want to be good at what we do. We are neither lazy nor unwilling. But we do not always work effectively - we work hard but not always smart. To increase performance many people believe they need to do more. We spend less time with our loved ones, neglect our health and put our passions and hobbies on the back burner. And we end up frustrated, out of control and stressed.

Work Smarter: Live Better will transform your life - learn simple and practical tools to be in control at work, learn how to gain an extra two hours per day, and learn how to make room for what is important to you! This journey will challenge your way of thinking about work. You will learn how to work smarter and more importantly, live better.

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Productivity, Self Help, Personal Development

259 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Arna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid, practical advice for greater efficiency and effectiveness, with a focus on time management and personal leadership with respect to the big rocks that have most impact on performance.

[Ana Luiza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muito bom para quem quer organizar o pensamento em como ser mais produtivo no trabalho sem abrir mão do equilíbrio. Algumas dicas mais antigas por conta do ano do livro porém ainda assim valiosas. Me ajudou a pensar mais estruturadamente e reafirmar ideias de foco e organização que eu já tinha.

[Alyssa Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate giving this book such a low score since the author states towards the end of the book that he’s not a particularly adept writer, but rather, an effective 1:1 personal coach. He seems earnest and while I’m sure he’s a strong coach, those coaching methods didn’t translate to a book format quite as intended. Perhaps a few short articles or blogs could accomplish the same? Or an editor could be of benefit here?

This effort was unnecessarily encumbered with platitudes, grammar issues, unnecessary repetition, and disorganization (ironic, I know). There appeared to be some unconscious competence coupled with self-admitted perfectionism and hoarding tendencies. Some of the methods show a tendency towards avoidance behavior and unhealthy attempts at boundary setting that may be good for short term efficiency, but ultimately show low EQ. (Tell everyone you’re deleting their emails while you’re on vaca and then put the onus on them to resend them when you’re back!)

This was assigned reading for work, and if you’ve never taken a course or done a workshop on time management or goal setting, it will introduce you to some basic concepts around SMART goals, the Pareto principle, the time management matrix, and some basic Outlook tips. That said, there are more well-organized books to help with this: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey, Eat that Frog, or Joy at Work: Organizing Your Professional Life. I’d suggest one of those instead.

[Julie Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very useful

Implemented the majority of the recommendation as I went through and I’m now into week five of inbox zero. The cc rule has been passed into several colleagues who saw my auto reply!

[Phuongvu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful to practice and apply in daily work & life.

[Smitesh Bakrania · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is divided into two parts: efficiency and effectiveness. How we do things vs. what we do, respectively. Within the How part Peupion, goes over organization, time management, communication via email, inbox management, file management. One of the revealing aspect was how calendar and tasks are managed. Until now I did not differentiate the two. My calendar events were filled with external meetings and no meetings with myself. I also tend to make lists of to-dos that include large and small tasks. A mistake that I need to correct. Large tasks need to be calendared. Within he What part Peupion, emphasizes his strategy for long term personal growth and leadership: 1. Think quarterly: be clear on your goals and high-impact activities, 2. Plan Weekly: make them a must and 3. Act Daily: take action regardless. 4. Review and change if necessary. Ample of examples and layouts to practice. This is great resource and reiterates many things I have read before but in new and interesting way. A short and easy read to refocus on getting important work done and gaining your balance back.

[Simone Strachan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A quick and punchy book to read, as an avid fan of organisation and planning I was excited to read this book. In saying this I took to my daily commute with a highlighter in hand ready to underline content that was a must to remember. There were certainly pockets of the book I enjoyed and learned from including the sections around efficient behaviour and points around the reactive versus proactive matrix. I did however get a little frustrated with some grammar issues throughout the book and also found the quite pointed focus to hard files and how to use basic email dated despite it publishing date of 2014.

[Julia Stimpson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will say I couldn't necessarily relate to all of what the book was talking about considering its target audience isn't necessarily a teenager who is still in high school and who doesn't have a full-time job. That being said I still learned many useful organization and time management tips that were incredibly helpful.

[José · Rating 2 out of 5]

A handful of useful ideas that still work this day, namely: focus on important things first and allocate time in your calendar, say no, allocate time for emails and action them at the moment you read them only, clean your desk, etc.
One drawback: very repetitive. The book could have been easily reduced to a fifth of its size.

[Amy Burgess · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of excellent and very practical advice in this book. An easy read and highly relevant for anyone who has meetings, emails and the rest of your job to do but sometimes struggles with finding enough hours in the day.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certaines idées d'organisation de l'espace et du temps sont bonnes à prendre mais cela reste adapté à un travail de bureau ou les reunions sont préparées sur place, pas à un métier ou tout le travail doit être fait en amont, avant même d'arriver au travail...

[Stacey Spruels · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so helpful for getting myself motivated and organised at work. I had struggled on a large project but with the help of this book, I have really worked through my tasks and nearly at implementing my project

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Work smarter: live better.. I love learning new ways on becoming better and this was exactly that.. so many tips on organising life, managing time, making decisions, prioritising what’s important.. well worth it!

[Karena de Souza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Revolutionised the way I use Outlook and challenged my perspective on how I prioritise tasks. For a non-business, non-desk-based person (doctor), this was extremely insightful. Has transformed organisation of my life admin and my non-clinical work.

[Abbey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Changes your work life. Highly recommend. Hard to change habits but if you are determined to live better then you must be disciplined!

[Harinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book about how to control your email inbox and use outlook better. It's useful.

[João Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent insights in terms of efficiency tips - not that many things that cannot be captured in a 1 hour presentation.

[Andrew Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some very helpful and practical tips in here, but there is also a lot of repetition. 3.5 stars.

[Jay Kothari · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is one of the exhilarating book if you are working in corporate sector. It has tips that helps you in managing your tasks easily. It has tips to prioritize your work and complete the important thing of your life. It totally focuses on becoming effective and efficient. Best for all corporate employees

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would you recommend this book: Yes, if you are someone who works overtime but feels they never get anything done. Or, if you are someone who is not quite sure how to manage their time efficiently.
The author goes into detail on how to use MSOutlook efficiently, categorising emails, focusing on important tasks, cutting down procrastination time and prioritising work/tasks by using Calendar. I found the content repetitive in and between chapters, and this could easily be a book half the size of what it currently is... HOWEVER, I would like to emphasise that this book could be a really great tool for anyone who finds themselves in the recommended category above.
Gains: The book taught me new Outlook tools. It motivated me to tidy my desk/ paperwork, as well as my inbox. (Subfolders/archive/categorising) "Think progress, not perfection" is a great quote that stuck with me throughout.

[Tran Van · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great book!

Practical, concise, improvising - that's what I can tell about this book. Having applied some suggestions from this and I do feel more in control both at work and in life. Thanks a lot the author for such a great effort to publish this amazing book! I love the idea at the end of the book: think Kaizen, think progress not perfection; don't wait to the perfect time to change, pick one, apply it right away even you won't do it perfectly, we'll constantly improve little by little through that process. I can do it.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peupion's books is highly practical! Although he does share a lot of stats without references, management cliches and some historical inaccuracies (Napoleon Hill never met Andrew Carnegie), what Peupion does achieve is to convert these old adages into tangible, practical steps that can actually be immediately applied to most white collar workplaces. And you don't even need a management level mandate to implement many of them. Rather they can be habits you adopt yourself with some communication with your teams and managers.

[Lucio Chen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started this book last year but managed to finish the second half a year later. One of the reasons is because I have learned a lot from the first half on how to use outlook effectively with practical guides- something I haven’t seen in any other book. I haven’t had unread emails since reading this book! The second half provides really practical guidelines on how to become effective, not just efficient! I enjoy the book and definitely recommend it for anyone find themselves burned out often or not sure how to manage emails & meeting schedules efficiently.

[D'face · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book in two parts. The first part deals with organisation and efficiency - how can you get organised, stay on top and get your work done?

The second part looks at effectiveness - what three big things do I need to do this quarter in order to have an impact? If I do nothing or little else, what three things must I do if I am going to get ahead?

I highly recommend this book and would love to drop copies on the messy desks of a few of my stressed out colleagues.

[Imogen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone who uses a computer at work should have to read this book on their first day - the most important part for me was the simple practical advice about how to utilise Microsoft Outlook that I wish I knew years ago. Stress levels have been greatly reduced by using Cyril's techniques. I have recommended this book to everyone I know and even ordered online and sent a copy to my brother in New Zealand

[Rebecca Want · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have taken and applied some useful strategies from this book to manage an extensive and broad workload. Would recommend this to anyone who has much to do and not enough time in the working day. We can always continue to work but at the risk of missing out on opportunities to enjoy other joys in our life outside of work. while letting work go to enjoy life of our careers.
This is a book I will be sure to revisit regularly to help me balance my work and personal interests.

[John Strott · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Most of us have never been taught how to work"

Beautiful in it's simplicity:
1. Think quarterly
2. Plan weekly
3. Act daily
4. Review & change as needed

Combines this focus on "effectiveness" with incredibly tactical advice on "efficiency" (e.g., how to get the most out of Outlook).

Don't expect to be blown away by the writing, but the content buried in those words is A+.

[Troy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally transformed my working life, particularly in relation to my own capacity and efficiency resulting from single handling.

Never before have I received so much from a book. Simple, clear and powerful advice.

Highly recommended!

[Bill Tran · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am glad i read this book . It show me how to organised myself everyday to get things done the way i wanted to . I am a better person after reading this book .

Thanks Cyril Peupion .