Take Back Your Life!: Using Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 to Get Organized and Stay Organized
Rating: 5 of 5
It works
Rating: 4 of 5
you get what you put into it.
This is a better book then first glance would tell you. I have had my copy 4 6 months. 4 5 of those I looked it over... skipped about & gradually convinced myself that I didn't need the "help" & "solutions" offered. Then I had a major job crisis that forced me to face the fact that my "organization" system didn't work. I had lost one too many threads on my professional life. I was finally ready to face that a change was needed. I forced myself to read the book since I had already spent good money on it.
I could not be more pleased. Yes, it is work. It is time consuming & it isn't easy. However, to make a major change in how you approach your work & life simply won't be easy.
This text gives you a start to finish methodology 4 organizing your e-mail, schedule & to do list. It can get you on track & ensure that your commitments are properly ranked organized & given the best possible chance to succeed. It does however require that you take the time to learn the system & adhere to the directives it gives. This is an all or nothing game.
On the downside, it also requires that you continue to feed time & effort into the system to keep it on track. However, as the system becomes more familiar this time is minimized. I am down to only 45 minutes of schedule "renewal" per week.
If you are looking 4 filing methodology- keep looking, However, if you are looking 4 a method to control the flood of taskings, e-mail & random data that flows your way & disrupts your schedule, this is the best I have found. Career back on track!
I could not be more pleased. Yes, it is work. It is time consuming & it isn't easy. However, to make a major change in how you approach your work & life simply won't be easy.
This text gives you a start to finish methodology 4 organizing your e-mail, schedule & to do list. It can get you on track & ensure that your commitments are properly ranked organized & given the best possible chance to succeed. It does however require that you take the time to learn the system & adhere to the directives it gives. This is an all or nothing game.
On the downside, it also requires that you continue to feed time & effort into the system to keep it on track. However, as the system becomes more familiar this time is minimized. I am down to only 45 minutes of schedule "renewal" per week.
If you are looking 4 filing methodology- keep looking, However, if you are looking 4 a method to control the flood of taskings, e-mail & random data that flows your way & disrupts your schedule, this is the best I have found. Career back on track!
Rating: 3 of 5
Take Back Your Copy
As I mentioned in my review of Take Back Your Life (TBYL) Special Edition, this book is a derivative work - basically a loosely-gathered compilation of ideas & techniques ranging from David Allen to Stephen Covey. It may be useful 4 people looking 4 a friendly, lightweight, introductory text to personal information management (PIM) centered on Outlook.
Since I was disappointed with the first edition, I sat down with this new edition to see if there were any improvements. I will say that a major flaw of first edition, the glaring lack of information concerning Meaningful Objectives (a core part of the system), has been addressed in this edition. This is handled by demoting Meaningful Objectives & adding something called Unifying Goals, which themselves are supported by Areas of Focus. Meaningful Objectives now roll up to Areas of Focus, which in turn support Unifying Goals.
This is certainly an improvement & perhaps it will be useful to you. However, the book does a poor job of helping you define any of these things, so the system kind of collapses under its own weight, in my opinion.
Other than this, & some other updates required because the authors are now working in Outlook 2007, the book is largely unchanged. Therefore, my opinion is largely unchanged. TBYL is a chatty volume with a low signal-to-noise ratio & a variety of vignettes designed to "humanize" the material. More often, they come across like testimonials & contribute more to padding the book than illustrating the point. TBYL also has the irritating habit of taking simple, workable terms (like those from GTD) & renaming them as part of the author's proprietary system. Contexts become Planning & Action Categories, Next Actions become Strategic Next Actions (SNAs) with no real advantage to the reader. Finally, compared to Micheal Linenberger, the authors have a mediocre understanding of how to use Outlook to its full potential.
As I wrote in my previous review, if you are serious about PIM or are a businessperson, I think the source material would serve you better. Start with Getting Things Done (GTD) to get a brilliant overview of how to address the overload in your life, followed by Total Workday Control 2nd edition (for Outlook 2007; use the 1st edition 4 earlier incarnations of Outlook) to fine tune that understanding. Finally, pick up 7 Habits of Highly Effective People to get the big picture, or as Allen calls it the "50,000 foot view level."
Since I was disappointed with the first edition, I sat down with this new edition to see if there were any improvements. I will say that a major flaw of first edition, the glaring lack of information concerning Meaningful Objectives (a core part of the system), has been addressed in this edition. This is handled by demoting Meaningful Objectives & adding something called Unifying Goals, which themselves are supported by Areas of Focus. Meaningful Objectives now roll up to Areas of Focus, which in turn support Unifying Goals.
This is certainly an improvement & perhaps it will be useful to you. However, the book does a poor job of helping you define any of these things, so the system kind of collapses under its own weight, in my opinion.
Other than this, & some other updates required because the authors are now working in Outlook 2007, the book is largely unchanged. Therefore, my opinion is largely unchanged. TBYL is a chatty volume with a low signal-to-noise ratio & a variety of vignettes designed to "humanize" the material. More often, they come across like testimonials & contribute more to padding the book than illustrating the point. TBYL also has the irritating habit of taking simple, workable terms (like those from GTD) & renaming them as part of the author's proprietary system. Contexts become Planning & Action Categories, Next Actions become Strategic Next Actions (SNAs) with no real advantage to the reader. Finally, compared to Micheal Linenberger, the authors have a mediocre understanding of how to use Outlook to its full potential.
As I wrote in my previous review, if you are serious about PIM or are a businessperson, I think the source material would serve you better. Start with Getting Things Done (GTD) to get a brilliant overview of how to address the overload in your life, followed by Total Workday Control 2nd edition (for Outlook 2007; use the 1st edition 4 earlier incarnations of Outlook) to fine tune that understanding. Finally, pick up 7 Habits of Highly Effective People to get the big picture, or as Allen calls it the "50,000 foot view level."
Rating: 5 of 5
Stopped me from being an email junkie!
Are you an email junkie too? This book & system will help you to resolve those "instant replies" & get you back organized in your life.
I come from a highly technical background I used to support Outlook & email systems 4 years & I was the "king" of instant email replies. I could produce an answer in usually seconds. What I did not realize was that doing that instant reply was pulling me away from focusing on goals & other important areas of life. I remember being at a company meeting when smart phones first came out, I had difficulty in hearing what was being said because there were people doing emails via their little smart phones & not paying attention to the important information being delivered.
The McGhee Productivity System showed me that you focus your goals daily & not on your emails. I remember doing emails during dinners with friends, later at night, & early in the morning. I found I was doing emails at all hours, & not focusing on my goals. I had personal goals 4 nearly 8 years in my last job, yet never touched a one since I was only focused on work goals & email.
Now, my life is right on target. I shut off my smart phone from checking email after hours; I removed the notice "ghost flags" that shows up while I am working on other projects. I have now been hitting every one of my personal goals on a weekly basis & I have now gone back to college while training 4 a 1/2 Marathon. I now have each goal being worked on during each week & making advancements on each personal goal, at the same time, I am also hitting each of my business goals too.
"Take Back Your Life", this book has certainly helped me do exactly that. I strongly recommend this wonderful book.
I come from a highly technical background I used to support Outlook & email systems 4 years & I was the "king" of instant email replies. I could produce an answer in usually seconds. What I did not realize was that doing that instant reply was pulling me away from focusing on goals & other important areas of life. I remember being at a company meeting when smart phones first came out, I had difficulty in hearing what was being said because there were people doing emails via their little smart phones & not paying attention to the important information being delivered.
The McGhee Productivity System showed me that you focus your goals daily & not on your emails. I remember doing emails during dinners with friends, later at night, & early in the morning. I found I was doing emails at all hours, & not focusing on my goals. I had personal goals 4 nearly 8 years in my last job, yet never touched a one since I was only focused on work goals & email.
Now, my life is right on target. I shut off my smart phone from checking email after hours; I removed the notice "ghost flags" that shows up while I am working on other projects. I have now been hitting every one of my personal goals on a weekly basis & I have now gone back to college while training 4 a 1/2 Marathon. I now have each goal being worked on during each week & making advancements on each personal goal, at the same time, I am also hitting each of my business goals too.
"Take Back Your Life", this book has certainly helped me do exactly that. I strongly recommend this wonderful book.
Rating: 1 of 5
waste of Money
i was looking 4 a "how to" & tip book. This is a philosophical rambling about how one should look at getting organized. If i could return it, I would.
If you re bogged down by unrelenting e-mail messages, conflicting commitments, & endless interruptions, it s not too late to reclaim control of your workday & take back your life! By applying the same time management & productivity techniques used by leading companies, you can better manage all of your communications, action items, & interactions. In this book, productivity expert Sally McGhee shows you how to take control & reclaim something you thought you had lost forever: your work-life balance. Now you can benefit from Sally s popular & highly regarded corporate education programs, learning simple but powerful techniques 4 rebalancing your personal & professional commitments by using the latest productivity features in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. Learn the proven methods that empower you to clear away distractions & loose ends & focus on what s really important to you & your business. You will discover what defines, & what limits, your personal productivity & learn how to create your own management system. Examine how you collect & store information, process & organize your e-mail messages 4 efficiency, & plan & prioritize with the calendar features in Office Outlook 2007. Learn what thousands of people worldwide have discovered about taking control of their everyday productivity, & start transforming your own life today! Includes a tear-out poster of the proven McGhee Productivity Solutions Workflow Model suitable 4 keeping right next to your desk.
Helps you understand what defines, & what limits, your personal productivity
Demonstrates how to make Office Outlook 2007 part of an effective & highly personalized system 4 managing the constant stream of information that flows across your desktop
Delivers the same powerful personal organization techniques from a popular corporate training class taught in some of the world s most successful companies
Offers an engaging, easy-to-read style 4 users of all levels
Applies concepts & models from the fields of behavioral psychology & education
($12.50)
Buy Take Back Your Life!: Using Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 to Get Organized and Stay Organized Now!
After 80 or less emails in inbox with a total Outlook folder size of 350 MB.
Even after only reading 1/4th of this book there was an immediate change in my work life. After reading all of the book my personal life started to improve.
The only negative to this book is that it's so simple you'll wonder why you paid money 4 this information. However it's worth every penny you spend. I was even able to relay the concepts to other people to implement & these people saw an immediate improvement without even reading the book by just listening to what I could recite from my readings.