Review - Chapter 1: Find more time

I've decided to read one chapter a week. I will review each chapter as I go.

To stay in line with my other reviews, here is the Amazon:
You have a sink full of dishes to wash, three loads of laundry to do, seventeen bills to pay, thirty-six e-mails to answer, a big stack of novels on the nightstand you’d love to read, and zero minutes of free time. You can’t add more hours to the day, but Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro®, will help you make the most of the time you have and get things done.

The Productivity Pro® helps you determine what you have under control and where you need to improve. Are you good at managing your bills but can’t find time to exercise? Do you get your kids to all their activities but end up constantly behind on laundry? Laura Stack shows you how to improve every area of your life.

Whether you need help on just a few things or feel like your life is totally out of control, Find More Time will help you organize your space, time, and information to reduce your stress and create and sustain a productive home environment, so you’ll have more time to enjoy your life.

Ok, now for the Introduction:
Laura summarizes how she is going to help us find more time in our lives. She has based her system on 8 Pillars. With strong pillars supporting your life, you can handle anything. They are Plans, Priorities, Personality, Pests, Possessions, Paper, Post, and Play. And I just realized they all start with P!

She has a quiz for each one of these Pillars to determine which ones need work. She also notes you do not have to follow the chapters in order, and each chapter is devoted to a Pillar. (I haven't taken the quizzes yet) I'm going in order, cuz that's just the kind of person I am.

Chapter 1 - Mastering the first Pillar - Plans:
I'm doing pretty good in this area. It's all about lists. A master list, daily to-do lists, number lists, goal lists, lists for your kids to follow, etc...
I am a list maniac. But as I read what Laura does, I realize I'm not such a maniac, she has me beat!

I do need to work on my long-term goals. I have the short-term down, but nothing for long-term.

I also need to write my own mission statement. An essential written document that helps you make decisions about the way you spend your time and evaluate your choices. I've got nothing. At first I was going to ignore this bit of advice, but when I read her reasoning, I decided I need to think about it.

She also talks about breaking down your goals into simple tasks. I thought that I did do this, but I realize now that I could do it better.

I loved the part about making lists for your kids. It's a wonderful idea! I've been doing it since my kids started school. Back then the lists were just pictures of what they needed to do, now it's all words.

I really like it when I read a book that tells me how to make my life better, and I go through most of it saying "I already do that!" I like it even more when I learn how to do it better.

Along with the lists, she talks about how these lists make your day go more smoothly and help you to deal with the unexpected. It didn't take very long to read the chapter and make notes on it. I really think it is doable to read a chapter a week (breaking the goal of reading this book down into manageable steps!)

So far I recommend this book for those of you who feel frazzled at times and don't know how you are going to get everything done. It's simple, but not too simple.