(TIME & TIDE)

Too many people in America have become very proficient at spending other people's time and money without their consent or approval.

If you have ever had to deal with:

utilities (such as gas, electric, telephone, cable)

or certain governmental agencies and bureaucracies, contractors or delivery services,

to borrow and expression from former Senator Hillary Clinton,

"you know what I mean."

Even the distinguished late historian and educator John Hope Franklin was not exempt from being a victim of that affliction and writes: "Unfortunately, my willingness to serve numerous causes was interpreted by a great many as license to request more of my time."

He gives more details on page 165 of the first edition of his monumental work "Mirror to America."

TIME MANAGEMENT INFORMATION

time management consultant Alan Laiken's 80/20 rule

http://www.amazon.com/review/product/0451167724

Alan Laiken, author of, How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life, says to ask, "What is the best possible use of my time right now?"

55 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

Small cost, rich reward, September 3, 2001

By  Russell Fanelli (Longmeadow, MA USA) - See all my reviews

How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life is, perhaps, the best book on time management ever written. It does not waste your time but gets right to the point. You must establish SMART (specific, measurable, achieveable, related/relevant, and time framed) goals for yourself and then prioritize them using Lakein's A/C system. "A" goals are the most important to you and you must plan on spending 80% of your time to achieve them. "C" goals (TV, lawn care, shopping, etc.) are the place where most people "waste" their lives and spend 80% of their time. This ratio must be reversed, according to Lakein.

He would agree with e.e. cummings that "To be nobody but yourself in a world that is night and day trying to make you just like everybody else means to fight the hardest fight any human being can fight, and never stop fighting." Once we have set goals that utilize our unique talents and abilities, we will have the will power and determination to do the work necessary to achieve them.

To accomplish our goals Lakein recommends that we make a daily "to do" list and always start with "A's," not "C's." Most of our time is spent working harder on things that don't matter. We may be efficient, but Lakein suggests that our goal is to do what matters most and become effective. "Work smarter, not harder" is the mantra he wants us to repeat and couple that saying with his last piece of advice --"Do it now."

Stick your finger into this small book and any page you hit will have wise words to put into action. Learning comes from daily practice and developing habits that "put first things first," taken from Stephen Covey's best seller, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People -- also recommended is Covey's fine book on effective living appropriately titled First Things First.

Rarely has a book that costs so little paid such rich dividends. You won't be disappointed.

http://www.amazon.com/How-Control-Your-Time-Life/dp/B000GQSPLY/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t

How To Get Control Of Your Time And Your Life (Paperback)

by Alan Lakein (Author)