Summary: Time Management from the Inside Out

Review and Analysis of Morgenstern's Book

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• Publisher: Must Read Summaries
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9782511021996
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Time Management

The must-read summary of Julie Morgenstern's book: `Time Management from the Inside Out: The Foolproof System for Taking Control of Your Schedule - and Your Life`.

This complete summary of the ideas from Julie Morgenstern's book `Time Management from the Inside Out` shows that a robust, high quality time management system is actually an ongoing feedback loop consisting of four steps: learn, analyse, strategise and attack. In her book, the author explains that the objective of time management from the inside out is to design a scheduling system that fits your needs like a glove. The real measure of success in time management isn’t how much you achieve – it’s how you feel about how you’re spending your time. This summary will help you to achieve the right balance and become more productive.

Added-value of this summary:
• Save time
• Understand key concepts
• Expand your knowledge

To learn more, read `Time Management from the Inside Out` and discover the key to excellent time management.

Summary of Time Management From The Inside Out (Julie Morgenstern)

1. Learn

Main Idea

Obstacles to good time management come in three varieties:

1. Technical errors – the absence of the requisite skills and techniques of time management.
2. External realities – environmental problems beyond your direct control.
3. Psychological obstacles – the hidden, internal habits which can sabotage your attempts.

When you understand the variety of the obstacle you face, the way to move forward will often be obvious.

Supporting Ideas

Technical Errors

Common technical errors in time management include:

• Tasks that have no specific time assigned to them and thus keep on getting put off for a future date.
• Setting aside the wrong time for specific tasks – for example, attempting to approach a task that requires concentration when your personal energy levels are low.
• Being unrealistic and not allowing enough time.
• Being unable to delegate a task to someone else.
• Approaching a simple task in an overcomplicated way.
• Failing to remember everything you need to do.
• Trying to work in a disorganized physical workspace.

Technical errors are usually easily rectified. In fact, once you realize you’re suffering from a technical problem, the solution will often be just as obvious. Simply put, once you understand a technical problem, make the necessary adjustments and everything is in order. You can then move forward with confidence.

External Realities

Common external realities which can impede the effectiveness of a time management system are:

• Having an unrealistic workload – whether it is self-imposed or assigned by someone else.
• Health problems.
• Being in a transitional situation – personal life changes, moving, starting a new job, etc.
• Being forced to work in an environment where there are plenty of potential interruptions and distractions.
• Having a disorganized partner – professional or personal.

Unlike technical errors, external realities cannot be easily rectified. There are often significant hurdles standing in the way. Also, by definition, external realities are often beyond your direct control in any event.

Therefore, the key with minimizing the impact of external realities on your time management system is to develop ways to adapt to them. If you approach these problems with the objective of developing a pragmatic solution, you’ll be finding a way to move forward.

Also, cut yourself a little slack. There’s no reason you should take the blame for something which is an external reality. Instead, acknowledge it, find ways to work around it and keep pressing forward.

Psychological Obstacles

The most common mental blocks to achieving more are:

• You have unclear and non-specific goals and priorities – and therefore no basis for rational decisions.
• You enjoy being under pressure, therefore nothing gets done until it is a chaos situation.
• You hate having downtime – and therefore you keep your mind cluttered and your schedule tightly packed.
• You’re so busy trying to help other people you ignore important areas in your own life.
• You’re afraid to fail – therefore, you blame others or your circumstances instead.
• You don’t feel worthy of success.
• You’re afraid of upsetting the status quo.
• You enjoy being involved in a project and feel empty when the project is completed – regardless of the outcome.
• You’re a perfectionist – and can’t tell which tasks are worth loads of effort and which ones aren’t.
• You’re afraid that too much structure will stifle your creativity.

With any luck, finding better ways to first deal with technical errors and then external realities will help to diminish some of these psychological factors anyway. Also, just realizing what you’ve been doing and why will also help in dissolving these psychological obstacles.

If these types of issues do continue to be problems, try and identify exactly what the source of these feelings are. If you can do that, the best way to overcome wh...

Table of contents

• Title page
• Book Presentation
• Summary of Time Management From The Inside Out (Julie Morgenstern)
• About the Summary Publisher
• Copyright