Review Written By Bernie Weisz Historian Contact: BernWei1@aol.com June 20, 2010 Pembroke Pines, Florida
Title of review: Time Management=24 60 minute "gifts" a day, 168 hours a week to make life happen for you instead of to you!, Have you ever had a day off from work and planned to accomplish an agenda, only to go back to your job the next day dissatisfied that little or none of what you planned occurred? Ever go on a vacation only to just waste your time away and do nothing? Ever pick up a book and plan to read it in a few days, and find it on your nightstand a few weeks later virtually untouched? Even worse, are you guilty of the haphazard job search, the wasted time staring at the television, Internet or gabbing on the telephone gossiping about inconsequential, unimportant gossip? Do you remember 10 years ago? How fast did those times go until now? Don't you wish you had that time back to do whatever you dreamed? The unattained degree, the wrong soul mate, the bad job fit, the empty savings account-all occurring as a result of making poor conscious choices between satisfaction and sacrifice. And the dreadful result of not making the correct choices: allowing other forces to dictate how your life plays out. If you have answered "yes" to any of the past questions or scenarios then attorney Jim Randel's "The Skinny On Time Management" will really make you stop and think what you are doing with your time and life, e.g. your past, present and future.

What is time management? Well, let's briefly talk about what it is not. Individuals that cannot properly manage their time may be unable to sit still, plan ahead, finish tasks, or be fully aware of what's going on around them. To themselves, their family, classmates and others they may seem to exist in a whirly-gig of disorganized or frenzied activity. Some mental health professionals contend that the symptoms of "Attention Deficit Disorder" are behaviors such as often fidgeting with hands or feet, or squirming while seated, having difficulty remaining seated, awaiting one's turn in games or group activities, blurting out answers before questions are completed, and having difficulty in following instructions. Even further, an individual with this affliction has difficulty sustaining attention in completing tasks or play activities, shifting from one to another. They experience difficulty playing quietly, talk excessively, and interrupt or intrude on others, often not listening to what is being said. However, just because an individual forgets things necessary for tasks or activities, and is easily distracted by extraneous stimuli, it is not definitive that they have this disorder. After reading Mr. Randel's book, it is possible to come to the conclusion that the aforementioned symptoms of ADD could be confused with a person that simply does not have effective time management skills. Avoided are the unnecessary, stigmatizing and embarrassing labels of a non existent condition that could very well be a self fulfilling prophesy. Jim Randel asserts that thoughts are "things" just like any other tangible item and can be kicked out of one's own mind, just like a misbehaving cat would be tossed out of a house.
If you have been diagnosed with ADD, before you throw your "Ritalin" or "Concerta" out and cancel your next appointment with a therapist, you might want to read Mr. Randel's book. Conversely, if you feel like bad time management has resulted in you not making anything with your life and you view with woeful regret your past because of all the countless missed opportunities you did not capitalize on, then this book is also for you. As concisely as possible, Jim Randel shows the reader how procrastination is the enemy, detailing effective steps how to make choices about your time and set goals. Randel argues that by intelligently prioritizing one's time, you will increase the probability that your life will proceed on your agenda, not someone else's, or worse, by fate. A consequence of not making good choices, particularly between sacrifice and satisfaction, allows "other forces" to dictate how the bad time manager's life will play out. Psychoanalytically speaking, and apologetically addressing all adherents to the field of "Behaviorism", the successful time manager is one who effectively knows how to effectively use his "ego" to balance his "id" and "superego". Yes, that's right. We are today a product of yesterday's choices. The only way we can change the future is by acquiring and mastering strong time management skills.

Time management is the art of arranging, organizing, scheduling, and budgeting one's time for the purpose of generating more effective work and productivity. It has become crucial in recent years thanks to the 24/7, busy world in which we live. Time management is important for everyone. While time management books and seminars often place their focus on business leaders and corporations, time management is also crucial for students, teachers, factory workers, professionals, and home makers. It is critical for the individual who owns his or her own business or who runs a home based business if it is to economically survive. Another integral part of time management Randel stresses is planning ahead. Sometimes, successful time management involves putting in more time at the outset in order to reorganize one's life, as well as the delay of gratification. Randel quotes Tony Robbin's suggestion of: "The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you're in control of your life. If you don't, life controls you." Aside from sublimation, another step in efficient time management is to organize the workspace or home. If one's office and filing system are a disaster, time will be wasted trying to work efficiently in a disorderly place, with distractions foiling one's time management. After cleaning, purging, and reorganizing the home or office, the next step in time management is planning. Careful attention must be given to look at all activities one participates in during a week. Possibly going overboard, Randel insists that every last detail should be written down, including the time it takes to shower, dress, commute, attend meetings, make phone calls, clean the house, cook dinner, pick up the children from school, eat meals, etc. However, Randel is not a sadist. Important to the successful time manager is an allowance for entertainment or exercise, such as driving to the gym, going for a walk, watching television, or surfing the Internet.

In addition, Jim Randel shows the layman to time management that after one writes down every last activity, there is very little time left for sleeping. Consequently, the end result is that many activities and behaviors must be pared down, eliminated, consolidated, or delegated. Critical to avoiding a time manager's worst enemy, e.g. procrastination, one must prioritize activities on a scale of descending importance. Deeming tasks and activities that have the highest importance must be acted on first. Another hallmark of time management is to have a calendar or daily planner, which will help one to stay on task. However, sublimation and self-discipline are critical. Regardless of the best "to-do list" in the world, someone without the aforementioned traits will not be able to look at or follow his own daily planner. Jim Randel's book differs from all others currently on the market. He firmly believes that most 400 page self-help and education books of what he calls loquacious "drivel" could have been done better in 50 pages. Pointing the accusing at what he calls "pointlessly long words and ridiculously complex sentences", Randel commiserates as to why college students sleep until noon. Boldly stating the issue with most college texts, Randel asserts: "It isn't the sex, drugs and rock and roll. No way! They have to read this garbage every day! Personally, I'd rather read the phone book". When one first picks up this book, you would think this is a child's book, with Randal's bright idea of using stick figure drawings and an entertaining comic book layout. Without confusing format with content, the author presents easy to understand analogies that rapidly communicate important information on the intricacies of time management.

Meant to be read in one hour, this easy to understand book is the product of over 100 books and articles on time management. With the bibliography listing the most valuable on the subject, Jim Randel is quick to mention the redundancy of them all. In regards to time management, all of the information culled in the aforementioned books points to the fact that there are really only 50 principles important to the student of this subject. Once those are mastered, you will have learned all you need to know about this. The bottom line of this publication is the belief that every hour of one's own life must be used in the most effective way possible. Every student of time management must use their energy as effectively as possible by considering in advance where, when and how one wishes to take action. Stressed is the cliche "every hour of planning is worth 5 in execution." Randel insists that since there are activities that have more reward than others, the majority of one's energies should be towards those that give you the "biggest bang for your buck." Twenty percent of your actions produce 80% of your results. Randel tries to show the reader how to identify which of your actions and efforts are the critical 20%. Have you ever heard the expression "work smart, not hard?" Obviously, time is an invaluable opportunity to make something great happen and to change your life. Ultimately, time management is about making correct, beneficial choices that will help you achieve your goals. This book will give you the strategies to do this. If the thoughts and actions outlined in the beginning of this review applies to you, this book is indispensable!