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The Get Productive Grid: A Simple and proven work-life balance system to help you thrive
Want to stop being held hostage by deadlines? Tired of seeing what truly matters rarely getting completed?
Would you like to live a fuller life? One where you achieve results, have a rewarding personal life whilst nurturing your whole personal and professional being?
The Grid can unlock the secret to success for you...
Magdalena Bak-Maier, trained neuroscientist (PhD, Caltech), top coach and author of Get Productive! provocatively suggests that you can 'have it all'. In this her second book, Bak-Maier shows how to cultivate balance and truly thrive using her original, tested, creative and easy to master Grid system.
The Grid is for you if you find yourself saying...
- 'I work hard but feel I'm not getting anywhere.' - 'I lack time for life outside my work (dating, hobbies, friends, holidays or family).' - 'My to-do list is never-ending.' - 'I don't have energy for anything other than work and need weekends to recover.' - 'I'm settling for less because "having it all" seems unattainable.'
Too many lives are skewed towards work, careers, care for others and neglect of self she says. What's even worse, many people hardly notice how out of balance their lives have become while they "chase their tail," feel stressed, overwhelmed and unfulfilled. Bak-Maier makes a case for an attractive alternative using her tried and tested Grid method.
This practical book sets out to help you transform your life by teaching you how to surf your energy so that instead of tiring and reacting to life, you continuously refuel your heart and mind to be the artist of it. The Grid shows you how to create results and success by engaging with key parts of life you choose to have.
Once you start applying the Grid approach to your life, you will start to feel clear, inspired and energised. The Grid will help you balance your energy and effort in a way that restores you and helps you achieve more. With exercises to get you started, the Gridding process is your key to succeed, thrive and sustain yourself and others. The Grid is a useful approach for those who want results without burnout and those in leadership roles who want to model good practice and create cultures grounded in wellbeing.
Committed 'Gridders' find that they live more in tune with their values, act with integrity, achieve more and find time to be spontaneous and creative more often. Their confidence soars as they see the practical steps they take towards creating lives they truly want. In other words their heart and mind get on the same track and what's important gets done more often and better than what seems urgent. This book will show you how to take the same approach and make it your own to help you truly make time count.
Would you like to live a fuller life? One where you achieve results, have a rewarding personal life whilst nurturing your whole personal and professional being?
The Grid can unlock the secret to success for you...
Magdalena Bak-Maier, trained neuroscientist (PhD, Caltech), top coach and author of Get Productive! provocatively suggests that you can 'have it all'. In this her second book, Bak-Maier shows how to cultivate balance and truly thrive using her original, tested, creative and easy to master Grid system.
The Grid is for you if you find yourself saying...
- 'I work hard but feel I'm not getting anywhere.' - 'I lack time for life outside my work (dating, hobbies, friends, holidays or family).' - 'My to-do list is never-ending.' - 'I don't have energy for anything other than work and need weekends to recover.' - 'I'm settling for less because "having it all" seems unattainable.'
Too many lives are skewed towards work, careers, care for others and neglect of self she says. What's even worse, many people hardly notice how out of balance their lives have become while they "chase their tail," feel stressed, overwhelmed and unfulfilled. Bak-Maier makes a case for an attractive alternative using her tried and tested Grid method.
This practical book sets out to help you transform your life by teaching you how to surf your energy so that instead of tiring and reacting to life, you continuously refuel your heart and mind to be the artist of it. The Grid shows you how to create results and success by engaging with key parts of life you choose to have.
Once you start applying the Grid approach to your life, you will start to feel clear, inspired and energised. The Grid will help you balance your energy and effort in a way that restores you and helps you achieve more. With exercises to get you started, the Gridding process is your key to succeed, thrive and sustain yourself and others. The Grid is a useful approach for those who want results without burnout and those in leadership roles who want to model good practice and create cultures grounded in wellbeing.
Committed 'Gridders' find that they live more in tune with their values, act with integrity, achieve more and find time to be spontaneous and creative more often. Their confidence soars as they see the practical steps they take towards creating lives they truly want. In other words their heart and mind get on the same track and what's important gets done more often and better than what seems urgent. This book will show you how to take the same approach and make it your own to help you truly make time count.
134 pages, Paperback
Published December 17, 2015
About the author
Magdalena Bak-Maier
6 books1 followerMagdalena Bak-Maier helps people connect heart and mind and live it. Magdalena is a talent developer, educator, researcher, author and the founder of Make Time Count, a company and eco-system devoted to empowering individuals and organisations to succeed and thrive. Her incisive models and tools have enabled a variety of teams (among them senior NASA engineers, CEOs and NHS Doctors) to challenge conventional thinking, tackle turbulence and complexity and deliver outstanding results, while learning how to nurture themselves and others. Her Get Productive Grid is a simple and proven holistic system to help people balance life and work and to excel. Grid is Magdalena's contribution to help transform the well-being agenda from government policy into personal practice. In the Grid, Magdalena Bak-Maier merges her extensive science training (PhD, Caltech) with many years of helping people get more out of their lives. She lives in London.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 1, 2019
I bought this book a few months ago and have been working with the grids that Magdalena proposes for a while. The concept is deceptively simple - a 4 box grid which divides between work and life, and then between internal (things that give you energy) and external (things that require you to expend energy to achieve). The energy in this sense is motivational energy. We all have things we do to refuel - be it meditation, reading a good book etc - stuff we do for us, that we enjoy and recharges our batteries. We also have stuff we enjoy and that requires us to use our motivation - perhaps engaging with a new client, planning a birthday party, or holiday etc.
The system that Magdalena has created allows you to first, identify all the things that are really important to you, and then, in a flexible way that is responsive to your own ebb and flow, achieve those things in a way that is balanced.
I've recently completed the three month review that Magdalena recommends. It showed that particularly in one area I was out of balance in some key ways. Simply having my grids to look back on as visual cues on how my life was arranged has allowed me to identify ways to improve - to make more time for things that weren't getting the attention they deserved.
What I love about the grid is the way it helps me identify things that can be done quickly and make a big difference. For instance, when you've got 15 minutes to spare, don't want to start something new, but are not sure what to do next. I look at my grid and go 'Oh, that's right, that's a simple job I can complete quickly and can happily say I've made a difference'. Recently this was taking a series of small steps to plan a birthday party.
One of the strengths of the grid is that it encourages you to break jobs down into their component tasks. This makes the overall job much more manageable, and less daunting as you get a sense of satisfaction by completing the interim steps which take you ever closer to your objective.
I'm grateful to Magdalena for writing the book, and to my coach at work who introduced me to it. I hope you can also find the power in this deceptively simple approach.
The system that Magdalena has created allows you to first, identify all the things that are really important to you, and then, in a flexible way that is responsive to your own ebb and flow, achieve those things in a way that is balanced.
I've recently completed the three month review that Magdalena recommends. It showed that particularly in one area I was out of balance in some key ways. Simply having my grids to look back on as visual cues on how my life was arranged has allowed me to identify ways to improve - to make more time for things that weren't getting the attention they deserved.
What I love about the grid is the way it helps me identify things that can be done quickly and make a big difference. For instance, when you've got 15 minutes to spare, don't want to start something new, but are not sure what to do next. I look at my grid and go 'Oh, that's right, that's a simple job I can complete quickly and can happily say I've made a difference'. Recently this was taking a series of small steps to plan a birthday party.
One of the strengths of the grid is that it encourages you to break jobs down into their component tasks. This makes the overall job much more manageable, and less daunting as you get a sense of satisfaction by completing the interim steps which take you ever closer to your objective.
I'm grateful to Magdalena for writing the book, and to my coach at work who introduced me to it. I hope you can also find the power in this deceptively simple approach.
January 7, 2020
I'm glad I read the Get Productive Grid at the beginning of the year, the time when I'm naturally in planning mode for the next 12 months. (My husband and I use the time around the change of year to put a lot of intention and energy on planning.) The self-reflection exercises in this book are very aligned with what we already do BUT I have to say, many of the answers that flowed organically from this written introspective process today were different than what I had come up with during conversation with my husband just a few days ago! Not contrary to in any way, but just "extra." Additional information. New angles to consider. I found it very useful and insightful.
It's interesting that this system eschews the use of deadlines, since so many productivity books lean heavily on deadlines as necessary for forward motion on goals. I personally like the idea of no deadlines because often, for me, meeting those goals feels like a perpetual attempt to "avoid failure" rather than a satisfying process of accomplishment. So this approach appeals to me.
Overall, I appreciate the author's holistic mindset. I resonate with her perspective about life-work balance. This book is a quick and easy read with really good suggestions for just about everyone. You might find value in different parts than I did, and that just shows how useful it is for a wide reading audience.
It's interesting that this system eschews the use of deadlines, since so many productivity books lean heavily on deadlines as necessary for forward motion on goals. I personally like the idea of no deadlines because often, for me, meeting those goals feels like a perpetual attempt to "avoid failure" rather than a satisfying process of accomplishment. So this approach appeals to me.
Overall, I appreciate the author's holistic mindset. I resonate with her perspective about life-work balance. This book is a quick and easy read with really good suggestions for just about everyone. You might find value in different parts than I did, and that just shows how useful it is for a wide reading audience.
January 12, 2020
This is a quick but highly motivating read that can be completed in one sitting — maybe longer if you take the time to do the exercises. I completed it over a weekend. I’m glad I read this in January as it helped me clarify some goals for the coming year. At the heart of the Grid system is the act of identifying priorities in four key life areas, so that you can focus your time and energy on things that are the most important to you, as well as activities that support overall wellness and replenish your energy.
If you’re already accustomed to setting major life goals and breaking them down into actionable milestones, this will likely all be review. If, however, you’ve never taken the time to identify your core values and set long-term written goals, the Grid system provides an easy-to-use framework for doing so. What I like about it is that it creates a succinct visual summary of what you accomplish each month (or for whatever time frame you choose to use). The author recommends a quarterly Grid review to not only evaluate what you’ve accomplished (which can be highly motivating in itself), but also identify where you need to make changes, whether in terms of seeking more support, setting more actionable tasks, or identifying underlying reasons for procrastination.
The book could use a good professional edit as there are some grammatical and typographical errors.
If you’re already accustomed to setting major life goals and breaking them down into actionable milestones, this will likely all be review. If, however, you’ve never taken the time to identify your core values and set long-term written goals, the Grid system provides an easy-to-use framework for doing so. What I like about it is that it creates a succinct visual summary of what you accomplish each month (or for whatever time frame you choose to use). The author recommends a quarterly Grid review to not only evaluate what you’ve accomplished (which can be highly motivating in itself), but also identify where you need to make changes, whether in terms of seeking more support, setting more actionable tasks, or identifying underlying reasons for procrastination.
The book could use a good professional edit as there are some grammatical and typographical errors.
January 10, 2020
This book was very easy to read and comprehend which lends to the simplistic magic of the grid itself. The author, Magdalena Bak-Maier, has really nailed it with the concept of holistic productivity. Bak-Maier introduces the idea with such confidence and clarity and gives step-by-step instructions on how to use the grid in a way that will be helpful, healthful, and holistically productive for each individual and their needs.
Personally, I am someone who loves a to-do list. I have them all over the place, tacked to my various other lists and calendars and it seems almost never-ending. When I take a step back it certainly seems daunting, my need to continuously be organizing my to-do lists. Bak-Maier gives us a very accessible way to incorporate more structure into our lives while also actually getting those to-do's done.
I highly recommend this for people looking to get a little more holistically organized and productive.
Personally, I am someone who loves a to-do list. I have them all over the place, tacked to my various other lists and calendars and it seems almost never-ending. When I take a step back it certainly seems daunting, my need to continuously be organizing my to-do lists. Bak-Maier gives us a very accessible way to incorporate more structure into our lives while also actually getting those to-do's done.
I highly recommend this for people looking to get a little more holistically organized and productive.
June 19, 2020
Thanks you Magdalena for sharing your knowledge and experience through this book. I am grateful for inspiring my life flow on so many things I am learning from you through your books. Thanks to it, today I celebrate who I am and all that I will become (Louise Hay). The Get Productive GRID is not just a book, but an easy and an actionable tool/habit to practice by all of us who want to #MakeTimeCount, succeeding in all dimensions of our lifes (life, wellbeing, work and career).
This book is for you, if you are “thriving” to live the life you want or “thriving” for work-life balance or just “thriving” to re-set plans to accommodate priorities/new ways of living due to the unprecedented times of pandemic.
I wish this book inspires you as much as it is helping me guide to add on new life and work successes.
This book is for you, if you are “thriving” to live the life you want or “thriving” for work-life balance or just “thriving” to re-set plans to accommodate priorities/new ways of living due to the unprecedented times of pandemic.
I wish this book inspires you as much as it is helping me guide to add on new life and work successes.
June 19, 2020
This was actually recommended to me by a counsellor/therapist I saw several years ago while at uni and I finally got round to checking it out. Personally I found the grid idea a bit 'out-there' but the purpose behind it, and the way it's explained throughout the pages, I really can't fault although I have to admit, I'm yet to try it out for myself. It certainly offers a different way of organising your life, so if you're someone who likes to veer away from the 'norm' so to speak, I think this would appeal to you.
February 23, 2016
I never believed that such books would really be able to help me 'get productive' and released from a state of stuckness. But having read this book I am now convinced that the 'Grid' does work! The exercises in the book gave me great insight into the areas of my life where I needed to refocus my attention and energy. Creating a Grid makes you look at all areas of your life to create balance from which to build towards achieving ones goals as well as dreams. The marker pen is now my best friend - a necessary tool if you become a Gridder! Although I'm still an early adopter, I will continue gridding my life. It's not just about career and health, but also about making time for loved ones and friends, which we can all lose sight of in these times. Highly recommended!
August 7, 2016
Great book to look at how to improve your overall life balance
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews