Below is my book review/summary of Get Everything Done and Still Have Time to Play by Mark Forester
The book in 3 sentences
- The ‘word’ no is the fundamental time management tool, you can’t do more if you’re doing too much.
- Time management is about overcoming resistance and focusing our attention
- We need to build into our lives time to think, time to reflect
Impressions
I’ve read a lot of productivity books but this one really got me thinking and focusing on how much I fit into my life. Especially now I’m a parent, I have even less time than before. I was surprised when I did the commitments inventory how little time I do have. I couldn’t fit any more activities into my life than I already do and still give them the attention they deserve. Even then I’m not giving some activities the attention they do deserve in the first place!
I also tried his technique of rotating between activities in brief time bursts to get past the resistance and get things moving. This allowed me to begin writing a 12-page document at work which has been on my backlog for some time.
Who should read it?
Anyone who thinks they need to fit increasingly more into their life. Or that there is some way to fit everything in and do it well.
How the book changed me
I’ve started to reprioritise my life around giving the things I need to do and the things I want to do enough of my time and attention. For example, cleaning and maintaining my home before was just another thing I needed to check off my list before all the other more important things. Now I’m deliberately giving it the time it needs to do it well. It’s not perfect and I don’t have the system down yet for doing this, but it’s better than it was before. I also feel far less stressed about doing it as it’s something I’m committed to doing.
I’ve stepped back on the number of commitments I have.
My Top 3 quotes
“Above all, remember that it is better to do a few things well than a lot of things badly.” (Mark Forster, Get Everything Done)
“If you have too many commitments there is no system of prioritisation that will make it possible for you to give proper attention to all of them.” (Mark Forster, Get Everything Done)
“Good systems are essential for efficient work. The time spent in designing a system will be saved many times over every day that it is in place. But often, in spite of the irritation caused by a bad or non-existent system, it is just too much trouble or we haven’t got time to work out a better one. So we carry on month after month or year after year working at less than our full potential.” (Mark Forster, Get Everything Done)
Summary and Notes
- Good time-managers decide what they intend to do and do it
- We cannot manage time but we can learn to direct our attention
- We need to learn how to overcome resistance and direct our attention
- Say no, commit to less
- When we say yes to one thing we say no to a thousand other things
- A checklist is a list of smaller tasks working towards a bigger task, a Todo list is a never-ending list of tasks. Use checklists not Todo lists
- Anything not given sufficient attention will start to wither and break, our homes, cars, families, friendships
- It is essential we build in time to think and time to reflect