Take Back Your Weekends: Stress Less. Do More. Be Happier.

by Allison Graham

Love your work, but hate the stressful workweek? Take Back Your Weekends, is a system to fix your workweek. Then you can fully take guilt-free time off on the weekend.
Don't remember what it feels like to relax? Is plugging away 24/7 is your reality? Are you burned out and exhausted? Well, it's time to Take Back Your Weekends! ✓ You deserve time to recharge and relax guilt-free ✓ Your family deserves more of your time and attention ✓ Your career deserves focus, too. Just not to the point of taking away your happiness and well-being. Take Back Your Weekends. Take Back Your Power. Take Back Your Life. Can you relate to my clients' stories? If these stories resonate, then this book is for you! Typical productivity hacks will not free days each month. The solution is found much deeper. In this short, power-packed book, the author shares...

Genres: Nonfiction

150 pages, Paperback

Published June 8, 2021

Reviews

[Susan Z (webreakforbooks) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes you need a good slap in the head to get your mind right. That's kind of what this book does. It contains simple practical steps to get your mind right to work smarter not harder (or longer.)

It's about focusing, managing and leveraging stress to maximize benefit and being self aware.

I know for me, my brain slows me down. With worry, procrastinating, and stressing (which for me is rehearsing my to do list over and over.)

[Nidhi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you know what is the problem with us nowadays? The problem is we do less and worry more, we don't take action but we waste our time overthinking about the work 🙄

This habit not only makes us feel less Productive but also lose control over time and invite stress into our day-to-day life.

Take back your weekend: stress less, do more, and be happier is a book that solves our problems and guides us on how we can achieve what we want in our life while meeting deadlines, balancing work and life both at the same time.

My takeaways:-

1. How to manage time:-

One thing that is given equally to all of us is time and now we use it is up to us. This book teaches you to how to make the best out of your time not only in the workplace but also for personal life. This book will help you to find the most important purpose of the day and how to never get out of time.

2. Control your life:-

The untimely and uncontrolled stress makes our lives miserable but here is something you can do. This book will teach you how to take the control of your life and prevent stress from your life.

Conclusion:-

I would recommend this book to everyone as I believe that it's very important for us to learn these techniques for a purpose full life and prevent stress. This book is especially recommended to people who are doing the job of handling their own business.

[Nikita · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been awhile since i read a book as authentic and sincere as this. While the content may seem common sense to some, it is the very same common sense that most of us choose to neglect. The stuff mentioned in there couldn't be nearer to the truth! In fact, it hits the nail right on its head! There are lots of ideas in there and I could really use some of the stuff shared in there and get back more weekends to pursue a more fulfilling life. Take Back Your Weekends: Stress Less. Do More. Be Happier by Allison Graham is one book i am gonna get for my brother for sure. It's about time he gets some help to get back his weekends. Have you been working really hard all week long and wanting to re-charge physically and mentally for the upcoming weekend? have you been looking for ways to make the most out of your weekend which you clearly deserve? Does your weekend live up to way you always expected? How much time do you leave for yourself and family since you are always occupied with work in weekends?

If you want to live your long-awaited and precious weekend in a productive and positive manner by not burying yourself in piles of work, then Take Back Your Weekends: Stress Less. Do More. Be Happier by Allison Graham is exactly what you are looking for. Unlike other book that simply talks about planning, you'll discover realistic tips and solid ideas that can point you to the right path.

You no longer have to sacrifice your weekend days off for work, you can begin to use this book to help you to plan for your desired weekends.

Highly recommended!

[Bookreadersclub · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you too, use your weekends to complete the pending work? Or maybe, catch up with residual studies or something lingering throughout the week in your brain and you decide it’s the weekend to get your hands dirty?

Well, if you need to cut some slack but don’t know how to get your weekends back, this book is surely for you.

This easy-to-digest book will help you get organized by providing a proven step-by-step
framework to approach your work successfully. Perhaps more importantly, the coaching questions at the end of each chapter will take you on a journey beneath the surface to help you better understand some of the mental blocks that lead to procrastination and negatively affect efficiency and productivity.

Take Back Your Weekends is like having a one-on-one personal coaching session with Allison. Her easygoing and caring tone encourages the reader to show up - and step up, with practical strategies that have an immediate impact and will change the way you tackle your to-dos.

In this short, power-packed book, the author shares how to find a feeling of control during uncertain time, to leverage good stress for optimal performance, effective ways of problem solving to amplify capacity, recognizing and troubleshooting barriers to optimum performance and most importantly, to emotionally detach from the to-do list.
But why even bother to get a day off? Catching up with work or preparing for the next week to come is good...

Right?
Not at all!

You deserve time to recharge and relax and be it any household, your family deserves more of your attention. Even though your work life deserves focus, it can never come, unless you give it a buffer space to relax, brainstorm and be creative.

It’s a good book for self-introspection. I personally, liked the most conversational language used by the author which almost seems like a real talk to vent out. The book has a therapeutic vibe which helps you inculcate small changes for pivotal results in work-life balance.

[Divyanshu Oberoi · Rating 5 out of 5]

* Do you lack the energy to be consistently productive?
* Do you find it hard to concentrate?
* Do you lack satisfaction from your achievements?
* Do you feel disillusioned about your job?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this book is for you!

Life feels like a never-ending to-do list.. However, the more I begin to think about it, there seems to be no end to the tasks. which makes me feel like I'm constantly failing.
We can’t spend every moment chasing goals and deadlines.

It feels like you have no control over the days ahead except for the brief moments you spend catching up on emails, scheduling meetings, or reading articles and blog posts. Yet the world is pulled apart by an invisible thread that connects every aspect of our lives: communication, commerce, work, play, and content creation. Time flies when we are proactive about managing our time.

✓ You deserve time to recharge and relax
✓ Your family deserves more of your attention
✓ Your work life deserves focus

This is where the 3-Part Problem-Solving framework comes into play.
1. Situational Awareness: This focuses on the issues at hand.
2. Self Awareness: This is where we reflect on how we're responding to challenges
3. Solution Activation: This is where we will create an informed perspective that leads to the best solutions.

In short, this book is power-packed with,
* how to find a feeling of control during uncertain times
* how to leverage good stress for optimal performance
* how to problem-solve effectively to amplify your capacity
* how to recognize and troubleshoot barriers to performance
* how to emotionally detach from the to-do list

Take Back Your Weekends.
Take Back Your Power.
Take Back Your Life.

“There is no finish line when your goal is to become the best version of yourself. The goal post keeps moving as you evolve.”

[ReadersColony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Are you scared of all the good times you’re missing because you end up filling your precious time with unending work?

Some people love working incessantly without any breaks and do not despise it.

But there are many who dream of spending pleasant weekends with family, lunch with friends in their favorite restaurant on Saturday night or a trip to nearby beach on sunny Sundays.

And if you belong to the latter group, Allison Graham has got you covered with her amazing strategies that will help you relax on Saturday night after the mouthwatering dinner without any stress of waking up early on Sunday.

This book provides a framework to improve productivity on weekdays, so you can get more free time on weekends. This framework includes three steps:

· Situational awareness
· Self-awareness
· Solution Awareness

This framework is a way of challenging your thinking about your problems and start looking and solving them systematically.

There’s a fantastic concept in the book about leveraging stress. Although long-lasting stress is harmful, a small amount of stress can help you focus better on your tasks. There are ways you learn from this book to leverage your stress and use it for doing focused work during weekdays.

You will learn to effectively categories your to-do list that will help you become more productive instead of fearful of all the tasks in it. This book will totally shift your mindset about how you work and help you create a new way of working along with boosting your efficiency.

It’s going to be very useful for people who can’t find a way out of their busy work schedule and lose valuable time that they can spend relaxing and enjoying with people they love.

After reading this book there will be No more working Sundays !

[Kayleigh Reading with A Therapist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Take Back Your Weekends: Stress Less. Do More. Be Happier. By Allison Graham.

This book came to me at a good time in my life. As a business owner and someone who struggles with imposter syndrome, I often find I am always working, also doing something for my business. Take Back Your Weekends was just the reminder I needed of how to restructure and defuse from work.

Now this is definitely more of a coaching book than a therapy book. Though it does bring up some good insightful questions that can have one deep diving into themselves. Talks about stress, control, self awareness, solution activation, and managing tasks.

The only thing I did not enjoy about the book, was the physical book itself. The font is big and every sentence or so there is at least double spacing if not more, cause large chunks of empty space. For me and my brain this caused it to be hard to keep focused. The large caps between sentences gave my brain to much space to jump to something else and I had to keep forcing myself to come back.

Quick easy small read packed with to the point information.

[Kail Letkemann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Take Back Your Weekends by Allison Graham is a guide for readers who feel they have way too much on their plate to be able to relax and recharge. If your work is spilling over into your Saturdays and Sundays, and the stress is piling up, Allison's book offers insights that will drastically improve your much-needed work-life balance.

It's a purposefully short and easy-to-read book, because the person who needs to read it doesn't have a lot of extra time on their hands! Because it's short and approachable, I wouldn't be afraid to give this book to an overworked friend who needs to find a better way.

Take Back Your Weekends is structured around Allison's "Problem Solving Framework", broken into three parts:

🔹 Situational Awareness
🔹 Self Awareness
🔹 Solution Activation

This is essentially unpacking how to make better decisions about dealing with tasks. In order to find a solution that sticks, we first have to understand the situation and understand ourselves.

Here are two specific highlights for me:

1️⃣ Is your to-do list full of overwhelming tasks that you can't stop thinking about? Allison suggests a paradigm shift. The tasks are not the problem. The problem is the negative emotions attached to the tasks.

Writing tasks down on a list should be a way to STOP thinking about them until the time comes to do them.

🗨 "It's either your brain's responsibility to remember a task or it's your list's responsibility. Not both. Write it and forget it."

2️⃣ Write a list of everything in your life that is stressing you out. Instead of calling them stressors, label them Tasks, Obstacles, or Adversities.

• Tasks are things that simply need to get done. No emotions should be spent on tasks.
• Obstacles are issues that need to be solved. Most obstacles can be tackled without emotional strain.
• Adversities are catastrophic external events. Save energy on the first two in order to properly process and heal from true adversities.

💡 The 'Solutions' portion of the book goes over plenty of practical tips to focus on what's important and save time on a weekly basis.

Pick this book up to get yourself to a more balanced life, or for a friend who needs the help but doesn't have the time to read hefty productivity books.

You can find more book reviews on my Instagram: @kail.letkemann

[Mathilde just.another.good.story · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stress Less. Do More. Be Happier.

Do you find yourself working during the weekends or simply have a lot to do and feel stressed from time to time? "Take Back Your Weekends" empowers you to take action, here and now. Allison Graham will help you get organized thanks to her proven step-by-step framework.

I'm a very organised person and many of the concepts described in this book were only good reminders and organisational tips such as:
“An hour of highly productive, uninterrupted, completely focused work two or three times per day produces greater outputs than eight hours of non-focused, out-of-flow work.”
OR “Split big projects into the smallest tasks you can define”

But these three things hit me hard:
1️⃣ The importance we give to tasks
If you think about it, a task is only something that has to be done as efficiently as possible. There is no need to attach any emotions or comments to it.
“The tasks to be done are not actually the problem. It's the negative emotional and mental connection to the unfinished tasks that's the problem. The sooner you detach from the expectation that everything must get done right now, the sooner you can Take Back Your Weekends.”

2️⃣ The necessity to rely on to-do lists
“The purpose of the list is to free your mental capacity. Once a take is on your list, technically you do not need to think about it again until it's time to focus on that task.”
“Either it's your brain’s responsibility to remember a task or it's your list’s responsibility. Not both. Write it and forget it.”

3️⃣ Our perception of stress
“Have you noticed the tendency for people to bracket every challenge under the word stress?” This hit me hard.
I have to admit that I've qualified many situations as "stressful" in the past year when they were just something different.

You can also grab this book if you'd like to have a foretaste of a coaching session. The coaching questions at the end of each chapter will allow you to understand how what you've just read is useful to you.

[Komal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every morning when I take a look at my todo list filled with numerous tasks scheduled according to time, priority and deadline, I feel like I'm going on some battle and not work.

Trying to finish one thing after another, hardly waiting to catch a break and still at the end of the day left with the tasks I barely even touched.

This leave me retrospecting very often what went wrong throughout the day, which left me with so many tasks on my to do list.

And this book gave me that reason. In fact there are not one but multiple reasons behind it.

Poor planning, wrong estimations and overcrowded to do list...these are the technical reasons.

But apart from that there is procrastination, disruption, perfectionism, lack of focus, unclear boundaries and unrealistic expectations.

If you are like me, always wondering where the time flies despite of so much planning and time management, you need this book!

This book taught me some very simple, effective and practical tips which I have been implementing since 3 days now and believe me when I say, it's possible to do all your work and still have loads of time at the end of the day to relax and enjoy. Which I never had most of the time before.

And I believe the credit goes to the framework explained in this book. I've read many productivity, time management books. but they never worked as effectively as this one is proving.

Here's what you get to learn from this book.

✓ Good Stress vs Bad Stress
✓ The Problem Solving Framework to effectively solve any problem we face.
✓ To Do lists and how we are making them wrong.
✓ Leveraging stress to get the work done.
✓ Difference between Tasks, Obstacles and Adversities.
✓ Turning Ice Cubes into the Snowman concept.
✓ Managing tasks using The Task Circle Concept.

If you want take control of your work and ultimately your life, do give a read to this book!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

[Amit Bharti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this book in the very crucial time of my life which is totally a savior to me.😍

Be more productive, Be more stress free and organized.

Time management in the period of this fast life and uncertainty to finish the work on deadline has become a integral part of our life. This book comes a blessings to me where it has guided me in most prominent way towards scheduling my work stress management.

As we can witness how our life has been plagued by various affecting factors that reduces our work efficiency. In this concern, this book can be proven a gem read for those who procrastinate and always complain about their life.

It has profoundly influenced my core values for getting things done in most beneficial way with carrying a little stress to yield best.

This book serves in various ways-
If you are a someone who find tough to manage side hustle and primary job then this book will broadcast a most prominent method tho solve your problem.

I love the three perception that directs stree in our life are tasks, obstacles and adversities. We just need to fix these three vices according to our most vital time management.

There are good stress and bad stress inducers, we just have to navigate the bad one which I got to know after reading this book. Good stress makes us to perform better in our task management.

Fragmenting the work and doing over in a given period of time is my favorite one that author has shown her keen perspective towards making path of good habit.

Overall, this book is a compact and easily formulated for work more work driven and less stress free life which make it quite impressive read. It also serves so many activities through stoicism. That makes it a perfect balance read to organise most of our scattered thoughts in a simplified version.

I would highly recommend this book to all professionals, students and other who want to bring clarity in time management and how to make supremacy of to-do list in their life.

[books_with_elliot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Take Back Your Weekends by Allison Graham.

Firstly, I love how short this book is, having only 20 chapters and 107 pages means you’ll easily be able to finish it in a few hours. Just because it’s not very long doesn’t mean it’s not packed with useful information to help Take Back Your Weekends. It will help you ask yourself the right questions around where your time is spent and better determine what strategy works best for you.

Unlike other books, this does not offer tips and tricks to manage your time better, rather it helps the reader to be more aware of their time, how to spend it correctly so that they can find those extra 10 minutes here or 30 minutes there to really benefit from.

Secondly, I liked how Allison discusses the myths around certain ‘mainstream’ types of time management skills like writing a to-do list and she talks about why it isn’t so good and why these strategies are not sustainable. I also liked how the book is full of questions the reader can answer at the end of each chapter. It makes the whole reading experience feel personal.

One of the biggest takeaways from Take Back Your weekends is The 3-Part Problem-Solving framework. It helps us separate good stress from bad stress, and will ultimately serve us in taking back our weekends. It is as follows:

1. Situational Awareness: This focuses on the issues at hand.
2. Self Awareness: This is where we reflect on how we're responding to challenges
3. Solution Activation: This is where we will create an informed perspective that leads to the best solutions.

The framework isn’t new information, and you’ve probably heard it before but her personal stories, her context and her tone kept it interesting.

Overall, it’s a very good little book. If you’re struggling with a work/life balance, if you lack the energy to be productive or even if you find it hard to concentrate then this book will help you.

[Sonali Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

📌 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄-
🔺The book deals with the most common yet ignorant factor - stress, especially the 'work stress'.
🔺This book acts as a guide to assist you in creating a proper way of working with efficiency on weekdays, so you can have relaxing weekends & chilled sundays on beach side.
🔺Few key elements from the book that you can learn includes -
•leveraging stress to get the work done
•good stress vs bad stress
•framework for effective problem solving
•task circle concept
•to do list-how we make it wrong
•differentiating between task, obstacles, adversity.
🤓 Swipe left for book excerpts

📌 𝗠𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸-
🔺I loved the concept that revolves around the book, must needed in current times where in we all are stuck in WFH scenario & overtimes are getting the new normal.
🔺While reading I realised a quality time for oneself is necessary to refresh ourselves & get back with double productivity.
🔺Tips & tricks in the clarifies a lot of misunderstandings 😮we plan, make to do list, still at times we aren't able to complete the task on time, we panic and hassle. Why does this happen? How can we go with it more effectively? This book will tell you all.
🔺The 3S framework- Situational, Self, Solution Awareness, every ending chapter having the list of questions made it even more interesting.
🔺I would recommend this one for every working individual.

📌 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻-
A short read & informative read especially for current times, that makes aware about scheduling your work life & allows you to work on the tricks that enables you to have your 'weekend' for what actually it is meant😉

📌 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴- 4.2/5

🤔 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱?
Every working individual, professional, freelancer and even students can read this. Improve productivity on weekdays, so you can get a quality time to spend your weekends the way you wish to.

[Arun Verma · Rating 5 out of 5]

📚 𝘿𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙣𝙟𝙤𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠❓

𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘.

We all face work pressure. Sometimes, it becomes so hard to keep up to the work schedule and it induces stress. The book aims to show you how to feel less stressed while working and how to manage your time so that you can enjoy more free time.

It is a practical guide to manage time efficiently. Various steps are mentioned in order to take control of your time and get full results. These steps are:
🔹 3-Part Problem-Solving Framework:
1️⃣ Situational Awareness
2️⃣ Self-Awareness
3️⃣ Solution Activation
🔹 Finding the small tweaks that will lead to the big results.
🔹 Detaching yourself emotionally and mentally from your to-do-list.
🔹 Understanding good stress and 5 steps to add these bursts of flow state into every work day.
🔹 How to have significant control over stress response to outside circumstances.
🔹 Melting the ice cubes before it becomes Snowman. I find this metaphor very interesting. Here, ice cubes represents: Misplaced emotions, Negative story lines, and Barriers to performance i.e. worry, judgement, not setting boundaries and frequent interruptions.
🔹 Task Circle Method: Steps to create a task circle that helps you to manage your various tasks effectively.

I find these steps logical and practicable in daily life. Related questions are mentioned after each chapter which further helps you to make a plan. Incorporating each of the above into your day-to-day life will remove unnecessary stress.

💫 I recommend this book to every professional who wants a stress free, more productive and balanced work life.


Instagram handle- @getsmarterwithbooks

[Daksh · Rating 5 out of 5]

👁️The book " Take back your weekends: Stress less. Do more. Be happier. " is an amazing and very unique read by the Author Allison Graham. It's a short and engaging read of around just 148 pages which will keep the readers hooked till the end. There's a fantastic concept to know in this book of leveraging stress and use it for doing focussed work during weekends. I really appreciate the author for writing this beauty. In the 21st century, people are always packed with various works even in sundays and saturdays. We hardly get time to spend with our families, friends and people around. Even though we want to enjoy, we can't due to work burden. But the author has solved your queries and brought up an awesome solution by which even your work will be completed and also you will be able to enjoy. This book is really a blessing for the today's generation. I would highly recommend this book. It gives an insight about how to perfectly balance read to organise most of our works, things in a much more simpler way. Every chapters contain certain sets of questions asked regarding the related topic which makes the book more interesting to read. The author encourages the readers to take a step forward and start doing the same. Focussing on the work life is important but relaxing and enjoyed each and every moment of life freely should be equally prioritised. The language used is simple and easy for anyone to understand. The writing style along is quite cool along with the usage of good, clear words. The narration done by the author is smooth and flawless throughout till the end. The tittle of the book is appropriate for the content. Also, the cover looks simple and cool. Overall, this book is worth spending your time. Just loved it.

[readbyken · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if you worked without destructive stress?
—
Take Back Your Weekends: Stress Less, Do More, Be Happier explores the tasks, obstacles, and adversities we face on the pathway to free time. Graham defines a specific 3-step framework for us to separate good stress from bad, regaining good self awareness, and diminishing our toxic need for control. This framework will ultimately serve us in taking back our weekends.
—
Overall, the concepts developed and discussed throughout this book are clever, enlightening, and encouraging. The framework brought forth by Graham is nothing you haven’t already heard before, but her inclusion of personal stories, background context, and a fresh tone kept my interest throughout.
—
It is a quick and easy read, broken into small, almost choppy paragraphs throughout - more of a guidebook, if you will. All that to say, you can easily pull the most impactful messages and keep them in your back pocket for future referencing. At the risk of being somewhat “preachy”, Graham narrowly escapes this by presenting “paths” to take - and you, as the reader, get to choose your own path.
—
I’d strongly encourage anyone to pick this up who have struggled with work/life balance; be it a student of a professional. I, for one, will be getting copies for my coworkers in the hopes it helps them find a healthier stress dynamic in their own lives as well. Because, as Graham notes, “this stress response occupies more of your capacity than is necessary. It steals much needed space for what’s most important in your life.”

[Literary Views · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a bit guarded when starting Allison Graham's "Take Back Your Weekends". For one, I don't frequently read self-development books, but two, I really don't enjoy being told what to do. Graham's book truly surprised me. She includes Coaching Questions at the end of each section which are very insightful for a different perspective of how to organize your time.

I've noticed that even when I have time to relax, I'm thinking about my endless lists of to-do's. And I'm caught in a constant push and pull: I can't work because I'm tired, but when I have time to rest I feel guilty for not pushing on. But what most surprised me about Graham's work is how she connects this constant stress or pressure to our emotions around the tasks at hand. You build up a sense of resentment towards tasks that are really just... items.

" A to-do list doesn't end. The finish line always moves. Chasing its completion is a game you can't win. [...] The tasks to be done are not actually the problem. It's the negative emotional and mental connection to the unfinished tasks that's the problem."

Here are some takeaways:
Split projects into small tasks
Set blocks of 45-75mins for deep focus work
Have a deadline and a goal to achieve
Have a to-do list but don't let it haunt you
Don't attach negative emotions to your tasks
Find the difference between healthy stress, the one that pushes you to get things done, and negative stress, the one trying to tell you you're doing too much.

"You lose capacity to work and enjoy the present moment when you give copious amounts of energy to issues outside your control. For high achievers, feeling out of control can be triggering."

[The Royal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Today's work life is full of so much stress that people hardly getting time with family especially with themselves in the weekends. Even working harder from M2F they will get themselves in dirty hands in the weekends. In starting of the week they will find themselves planning for the weekend working like badass in the office throughout the week but in the end they find themselves in the dream pit again.

Have you wondered why it is happening?Have you ever tried to find the concrete solution to this? Most will reply with "NO". Coz it is genuine. So Author Allison Graham shares her thoughts and explains solutions for you in this book in very practical way. Easy, simple and effective she tries to keep it understandable for anyone who is looking for it.

You'll find relatable questions at the end of each chapter which makes it an effective reading. How procrastination and negativity plays major role in this and how to tackle those, she lets you travel through the book for finding it.
1. SITUATION AWARENESS
2.SELF AWARENESS
3. SOLUTION AWARENESS
How these above three steps makes it an effective reading overall.

Like sleep a human wants to get refresh after a stressful week. Its obvious. So this book presents itself a great read and it's friendly and personal word choice make it a powerful reading for those weekend seekers. I would say a recommended book for the people of 21st century.

[Shiromani Kant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me start with pros of this book:
1. Small size
2. Friendly writing
3. Applicable advices

Some cons now:
1. To be honest, I couldn't find any.

This book was a truly useful read and who doesn't enjoys a book with the power to level up your productivity. The objective of the book is pretty clear with its title - taking back your weekends. The writing style feels like Allison understands personally what we all usually suffer from - working on weekends.

Through this book, Allison shares a 3-part problem-solving framework:
1. Situational Awareness: This focuses on the issues at hand.
2. Self Awareness: This is where we reflect on how we're responding to challenges
3. Solution Activation: This is where we will create an informed perspective that leads to the best solutions.

Apart from this, the book also talks about many other productivity tips such as how to create a to-do list, which I loved the most. My top quote from the book is related to to-do list goes as:
"Either it’s your brain’s responsibility to remember a task or it’s your list’s responsibility. Not both. Write it and forget it."

Final Words:
An amazing read to learn managing time and enhancing productivity with easy and friendly language. Just get one, you won't regret it.

[Anuj Tiwari · Rating 5 out of 5]

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁
This book is the best problem solver book for all the entrepreneurs. It contains the importance of weekends and the problems that we face in enjoying our weekends. Here you will get detailed problem solving tips from the author which will help you improve your work life.

The more your work life is good the more your personal life will become better.This book will help you take periodic weekends which will help your boost your work life. Every workaholic person doesn’t want to stop working but there body and mind needs rest. This book will simply explain how short weekends can improve your work effectively.

𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄
This book has taught me a lot of important things that I never knew before. It helped in working more efficiently. The language of this book is very simple and the solutions mentioned in this book are very effective. This book talks about the core values in detail.

When talking about the work life there are many problems that we face. Due to this problem we have to skip our weekends. Author clearly explains that skipping our weekends won’t help. Author also tells us how to get rid of all your work during our weekends.

[Sushil Kumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a perfect self-help book that teaches you to take control of your life, how a person can stay organized. This book gives practical strategies that will help you build a stable and consistent system to help you manage your time in the most productive manner. This book is a practical guide to manage time efficiently. The author has talked about various steps in order to take control of your time and get full results which are given below:

📍 Situational Awareness
📍 Self-Awareness
📍 Solution Activation

I love short and effective reads and this book served me all. The writing style is quite cool along with the usage of good, clear words where the narration is very smooth and raw. Questions asked by the author at the end of every chapter regarding the related topic have made the book more effective since those questions provide a way to analyze ourselves and provide a platform for reflection.

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐍
📍 A framework to effectively solve any problem we face
📍 Difference between Tasks, Obstacles, and Adversities
📍 Leveraging stress to get the work done
📍 Managing tasks effectively
📍 To-Do lists and how we are making them wrong

[BrainStack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hands-on, straight to the point and super practical.

If you’re looking to try and redress your work / life balance, then this book does it in a great way.

I have struggled a lot in balancing my full-time job, my chores and side hustles. In this book, Allison gives a new perspective – developed with experience and competence.

What’s really original about this, it’s its 360-degree perspective on the problem – coming from a person that implemented that in her real life. Any time I feel like eliminating something from my life, or making a next step towards productivity, I do refer this.

Everything is explained via examples coming from real life, that show you how this advice can be implemented by anyone and with tangible results.

In particular, I appreciated Allison explain how to:
- Tackle Adversities, Obstacles and Tasks
- Create a Task Circle
- Split Larger Tasks into Smaller Tasks

Finally, the questions at the end of each chapter are a great way to think and gain awareness on one own situation.

A-must read for busy people! It's a book that I will repetitively make a trip back to!

[Unleash The Knowledge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Attention all Entrepreneurs and Hard Working Professionals who let their weekday work bleed into their precious weekends!

Are you neglecting family time and moments to recharge on the weekends to spend your time fulfilling that last-minute request from your boss or a new client?

Do you feel like you are on this hamster wheel with no end in sight?

Resiliency expert, Allison Graham is here to help!

Her new book: Take Back Your Weekends will help you:

- Find control during uncertain times
- Leverage good stress to produce optimal performance
- Problem-solve effectively
- Emotionally detach from the never-ending to-do list
- And much more!

Now in the Work-From-Home (WFH) era, it is easy to fall victim to the continuous cycle of work, 7 days a week. This should not be your life!

Personally, I have absolutely fallen victim to the hustle culture and the never-ending work cycle with WFH. This book impacted me tremendously and I know it will help you!

Grab Allison's new book or gift to a hard-working friend and help them take back the power and grab their weekends back!

[Prashant Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are working every day of the week, including the weekends then dude you are done. The unhealthiest practice you can do is not take rest and not take out time other than work. Today, young and even old generation are busy all the time. So, can you recall when is the last time, you took away some time to rest and chill out?

This book does not give you quick hacks that will work for short term. This book will give you strategy for a long term and will help you to find you a feeling of control during unprecedented times, how to optimize our performance, and accelerate our growth. This book will help you in taking back the control of your life and free up your valuable time.

Life is not about working, it’s also about relaxing and taking out some time and chillax. This is a short read of 150 page but I’d recommend you to read it gradually and apply all the principles practically. This is a step by step strategy. Stop procrastination and start working but also relaxing. I highly recommend it. MUST BUY.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the title was a little misleading, Graham's book offers insights into how to maximize your productivity during the workweek so that you don't end up having to work weekends.

This book, overall, was very well-written. The format makes it quite an easy read, even for casual readers. The "coaching questions" provide an interactive guide to boost your own productivity and figure out your work style. With Graham's thoughtful coaching questions, you can find how u as an individual can be more productive.

While the book isn't really about taking back your weekends, I do think this will help me recognize some effective strategies to get everything done during the week so I have the option to have a work-free weekend.

My one complaint is that the book is riddled with self-plugs for the author's online course and personal LinkedIn page. The frequency of these self-plugs did make it a little more difficult to focus on the actual content.

note: I did receive an ARC for this book, but this review is based on opinions that are entirely my own.

[Gungun Pathak · Rating 5 out of 5]

💙It's been awhile since I read a book as authentic and sincere as this. While the content may seem common sense to some, it is the very same common sense that most of us choose to neglect.

💙There are lots of ideas in there and I could really use some of the stuff shared in there and get back more weekends to pursue a more fulfilling life. This is one book i am gonna get for my brother for sure. It's about time he gets some help to get back his weekends.

💙This book will put back the zest in life during your weekends. It offers many tips to organize your time, to be productive or just keep you occupied in a meaningful way.

💙 It was easy to understand and wordy at times at the beginning but it gives you great direction on how to live a satisfying life. How to set your priorities. Be more productive, be more stress-free and organized. This Book teaches you how to deal with bad stress. "Good stress makes us to perform".

💙I want you guys to make a choice pick up this book and read

[Shobhad · Rating 5 out of 5]

What have we become workaholics? Working every day of the other week and actually, not time for our loved ones and closed ones. Sometimes, not even for ourselves. So, what should we do? Maybe, cut down a few hours every now and then, maybe it will help in getting some spare time. But since that time, you’ll be so exerted to even do anything.

What does this book do for you? This book will give you proven strategy that will help you build a stable and consistent system to help you manage your time in the most productive manner. Let’s become the beast of both our professional and personal lives. Let’s double our growth and reduce the time consumption by half.

Finally, your family will stop complaining and find the time to enjoy life. A short, quick but effective read. Take each step and regain control of your life. A complete step by step process to help you be the man/woman you always wanted to be. Learn to work hard but also take enough time to relax.

@booksbyshobhad

[Intoxicating Pages · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a freelancer, I am always on the lookout for a book that’s going to make my work more efficient and profitable. Working as a writer and an EMT can sometimes swallow the week. I’ve read a lot of time management books in my time given that I’m an ADHD nutball who loves to juggle 20 things at one. All of them have the same flaw - I need to bend to their way of doing things rather than adapting strategies that complement how I work.

Allison Graham’s method is the first one that has made sense to my brain - she doesn’t tell me a complex strategy for managing time but rather involves me in the process of finding the time wasting slots in my day. She’s developed techniques that incorporate into the way I work rather than bending my work style around someone else’s program. The book is about the processes you already use and how to fine-tune them. I’ve already been getting time back and while I still work weekends (nature of the business), when I have off days, I am truly OFF.

[Roy Chaaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is like no other time management book. Alisson does not offer tips and tricks to manage your time better, because according to her long experience, each person has their own way of time management. Therefore, Allison helps the reader to be more aware of their time, how it spent so that they can find those extra times to benefit from and save the weekend. Allison also debugs the myths around certain known types of time management like simply writing a to-do list and talks about what is wrong with those strategies and why they are not sustainable.

This book is just meant to get you started with better managing your time. Within the book, Allison promotes her services as a coach and shows how she can help by ending each chapter with a set of coaching questions that she normally asks her clients.

[Krutam · Rating 4 out of 5]

The COVID19 pandemic has made us realize how important it is to keep our professional and personal lives separate. With my personal experience, I have lost track of dates, weekdays, and weekends. This problem is what the author addresses in this book. This is one of those and yet one in a million books on time management.

In this book, the author doesn't give steps on how to optimize your time. Instead, it provides a framework that one can use to identify their weak spots. The author believes that not everyone lags in the same area, and thus there is no one size fits all kind of thing in time management. The best thing about this book is that it keeps many things open-ended, forcing the reader to introspect.

My key takeaway from this book is Happiness Is Not Just About Hefty Earning. One Has To Decide What Makes Them Happy.