Best Laid Plans by Sarah Hart-Unger

BEST LAID PLANS by Sarah Hart-Unger offers “A Simple Planning System for Living a Life That You Love.” Hart-Unger is a pediatric endocrinologist and podcaster (Best Laid Plans) and seems to be a very high energy person with tons of enthusiasm, particularly regarding time management (“more proactivity means less reactivity”). She begins by suggesting three fundamental tools: an accurate and complete calendar system, nested goal-making, and airtight task management. Those comments (developed in subsequent chapters) are all very helpful and rather inspiring. I would like to see a print copy of this book to get a sense of whether there are diagrams, charts, and/or bullet point summaries, all of which I think could be beneficial. I also wonder to what extent follow-through could be an issue as this process definitely seemed like something to share with a friend (Hart-Unger encourages planning with others) so that you could try to hold each other accountable. One advantage which the author has - and may not fully appreciate in the planning context - is that she works three days a week as a doctor and has two other weekdays to pursue her business and creative interests. Having control over one’s schedule, along with big blocks of time to devote to specific tasks, would lead to a sense of accomplishment, further reinforcing the planning habit. Hart-Unger is wise enough to realize that we can all feel overwhelmed and devotes a chapter to feeling stuck, “Burnout, Overload, Big Project Intimidation, and Procrastination;” another chapter focuses on challenges (e.g., learning curve, perfectionism, and time sucks). These are followed by a final chapter filled with examples of the specifics used by a variety of “peaceful planners.” BEST LAID PLANS has ideas for everyone from truly disorganized to the frequent list-maker. I hope she sets a goal to adapt (further simplify) her text for high school and/or college students – they could benefit from practicing and establishing these habits early in life.

Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

MEDITATIONS FOR MORTALS by Oliver Burkeman (Four Thousand Weeks) is subtitled “Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts.” The publisher describes this title as “a guiding philosophy of life Oliver Burkeman calls imperfectionism.” What stood out for me was the question: “How do we shed the illusion that life will really begin as soon as we can get on top of everything?” Ironically, I truly need to carve out some time to spend reflecting on this text, but I did attend – and thoroughly enjoyed – the discussion between Burkeman and Daniel Pink recently which was hosted by Family Action Network. Their far-ranging conversation covered many of Burkeman’s suggestions like crafting a done list or try not to picture a “bucket” that needs to be emptied, but instead a river of choices. There was a great emphasis on not overanalyzing and “just doing it” or finishing a task to fully benefit from the resulting endorphins. Burkeman, a British author and journalist, wrote “This Column Will Change Your Life” for The Guardian until 2020. More recently, The Wall Street Journal published a short excerpt about freedom from MEDITATIONS FOR MORTALS which notes “Once you begin to approach life as a matter of trade-offs and consequences, it’s easier to say no to things you might not previously have dared to turn down.” And Burkeman writes further for Fast Company, extolling the virtues of “why ‘daily-ish’ habits can be better than everyday routines.” Much to ponder.

A Dirty Guide to a Clean Home by Melissa Dilkes Pateras

A DIRTY GUIDE TO A CLEAN HOME by Melissa Dilkes Pateras, known as the Laundry Lesbian online, outlines “Housekeeping Hacks You Can't Live Without” in an irreverent, but useful manner. She begins with encouraging less clutter, noting “your memories are stored within you and not in your stuff.” Lists of helpful questions (Do I love it? Would I buy it again today if it broke?) and the big clutter culprits (gifts, mugs, towels and bedding, water bottles…) will have readers smiling and nodding in agreement. Her energetic and encouraging tone will prompt readers to get organized and to take action. As Pateras says, “there are big cleans and little cleans. There are deep cleans and everyday tidies sometimes you need one but not the other.” She offers a ton of specific suggestions for cleaning bathrooms, kitchens, appliances, floors, etc. and lists a variety of tools and products to use. Another section of her book focuses on fixing and upgrading, or, as she says “things you thought you had to hire a TaskRabbit to do but you can actually do yourself” (like change a shower head, switching doorknobs, or caulking).  There’s also an entire section on laundry (washing drying, stain removal, ironing) which is followed by one on maintaining appliances. An informative guide.  

Erasing the Finish Line by Ana Homayoun

ERASING THE FINISH LINE by Ana Homayoun is subtitled “The New Blueprint for Success Beyond Grades and College Admission.” The only dispute I have with that is: is this really “new”? Homayoun points out the importance of developing a system, connections, perspective, and acceptance. She rightly stresses the importance and impact of executive functioning skills like organization, planning, and prioritizing, plus self-motivation (starting and completing tasks, meeting deadlines), adaptable thinking, and feeling comfortable with asking for help. These are all key life skills which we practice in high school again and again, particularly on a big, individual project like Junior Theme. Each chapter begins with an anecdote introducing a former student, like Nira, excited to be admitted to Notre Dame, who says, “the hardest part of college was learning to manage time and keep track of what I was responsible for and holding myself accountable when ... there was no one there to wake me up in the morning.” Good advice from a peer of sorts, and at one point Homayoun also includes several strategies to “help children [emphasis added; why choose that term?] develop multiple circles of connection.” Overall, however, her work is very text heavy and could benefit from more bullet points, checklists, and even sample exercises to further support the students she seeks to help. It seems likely that Homayoun has resisted this more directed guidance because she specifically says, “rather than doggedly pursuing the never-ending list of “must dos” and “should dos,” it's time for us to accept that there is not one “perfect” way to find success.” Yes, hard to argue with that; we have had Homayoun’s earlier work (That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week) in our collection and will likely be adding ERASING THE FINISH LINE, also. Approximately ten percent of the book is devoted to references and notes which will interest researchers and those curious readers wishing to learn more. Also worth considering: 6 Super Skills for Executive Functioning by Lara Honos-Webb. 

Spark by Chris Mettler and Jon Yarian

SPARK by Chris Mettler and Jon Yarian Offers “24 Concepts to Ignite, Unstick or Supercharge Your Work Life.”  With numerous short chapters, it is written in a relatively informal way “in everyday language and offers examples that real people can relate to.” Overall, this seems like a text which would be especially interesting to younger and mid-career workers, with advice like, “I learned to ask dumb questions, risk embarrassment, and embrace failure for the gift of knowledge it offers.” Both authors have extensive start-up business experience. Mettler has founded several companies and is currently Founder and Chairman of Sovereign, a marketing technology company; Yarian, described as a writer, speaker, serial entrepreneur, and performance coach, is Sovereign’s Senior Vice President of Operations and Strategy. They encourage readers to put aside preconceived notions and to be open to new ways of thinking and acting. For example, they define leadership as “the relinquishment of the illusion of control.” That, in turn allows people to see “your commitment to them and your vision for what is possible for you to accomplish together.” Isn’t that a terrific description of the best boss(es) you have had? SPARK is “a (mostly) modular book” with three main sections: the first involves concepts to work on within yourself, the second focuses on partnerships, teams, and interpersonal skills, and the third section looks more broadly across entire organizations and company culture. A final section suggests combinations and sequences. This relatively short (about 200 pages) but powerful book would be a fascinating text to read and discuss as a group.

One Year to an Organized Life by Regina Leeds

ONE YEAR TO AN ORGANIZED LIFE by Regina Leeds was previously published in 2008; these comments are about the first Hachette Go edition, published this month. This “Week-by-Week Mindful Guide to Getting Organized for Good” divides comments into 4 week segments on topics like time management, surviving a move, back to school season, and entertaining with joy. Leeds, a professional organizer for more than thirty years, does include a set of resources about charities, donations, tech organizing aids, and more. She utilizes personal anecdotes and a conversational tone; for example, she encourages readers to think about items forgotten in the past as well as four items the person takes on a trip but never uses. Then, Leeds challenges readers to leave those at home so as to travel lighter. Although ONE YEAR TO AN ORGANIZED LIFE could benefit from further updating (she refers to hanging folders and labelling tabs), overall it is a nice compilation of mostly commonsense ideas offered in a helpful, friendly manner.

Smart Brevity to better communicate

Reviewing SMART BREVITY by Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen and Roy Schwartz is intimidating. Two dozen chapters illustrate “The Power of Saying More with Less.” VandeHei, Allen, and Schwartz, co-creators of Axios and Politico, encourage readers to improve communication by “adapt[ing] to how people consume content – not how you wish they did or did once upon a time.” Ultimately, they offer ideas to increase value and efficiency by being more direct and helpful while wasting less time. Our writing teachers would agree with advice to “know your audience,” but would likely discourage frequent use of bullet points or to “do all of this on one screen of a phone, regardless of what it is.” Not happening. Our students are learning to write, need practice and often struggle with expressing key ideas. However, they could relate to the case stories, amusing anecdotes, and memorable quotes (“have the courage to take your hands off the keyboard” or “blobs of text make the eye sad”) in this guidebook. In his review, The Wall Street Journal’s Barton Swaim called SMART BREVITY “a slick, engaging and in some ways laudable effort;” he, too, raised a couple of points for follow-up: contrasting print versus screen reading and whether this writing style sacrifices nuance by identifying “the bottom line” versus encouraging readers to draw their own conclusions. Much to explore and contemplate here.

The No Club

THE NO CLUB by Linda Babcock, Brenda Peyser, Lise Vesterlund and Laurie Weingart is subtitled “Putting a Stop to Women's Dead-End Work.” The authors, experienced professionals and professors at Carnegie Mellon and University of Pittsburgh, have done an excellent job of identifying and researching a barrier to women’s advancement. Basically, they chose to focus on those tasks (e.g., arranging a holiday party or onboarding interns) which help the company, but not the individual doing the work and which women are often asked to do because of their gender. This book could promote a shift in thinking, not only for women as they reflect upon their careers, but also for organizations, as the authors advocate. THE NO CLUB received positive reviews from numerous business publications and includes a Glossary of Terms, an extremely helpful list of references and many, many notes. Intrigued? Babcock, Peyser, Vesterlund, and Weingart even include an appendix on “How to Start a No Club,” describing purpose, members, meetings, norms and suggesting best practices. Containing numerous recommendations for action, THE NO CLUB is a valuable resource for women at all stages, particularly young professionals.