My Desk Is Driving Me Crazy: End Overwhelm, Do Less, and Accomplish More

by Sue Rasmussen

As an entrepreneur, you’re smart, confident, good at what you do, and you help your clients get amazing results. But you also know that being busy, stressed, and overwhelmed is holding you back from the success and the difference you really want to make. Maybe your day feels like a never-ending to-do list, or you’re drowning in email. Then there are webinars, podcasts, newsletters, social media – and the pace keeps picking up. You wonder if you'll ever get on top of things and feel in control. The cost to your business is enormous. When you procrastinate, feel paralyzed, avoid making decisions, or have trouble focusing on the most important actions to take, you end up being much less productive and effective. Bottom line? When you work for yourself, you simply can't afford to be overwhelmed, stressed, or scattered. Traditional time-management approaches encourage you to speed up, fit more in, and get more efficient – so you can cross everything off your to-do list. However, they don’t stop to consider that maybe you shouldn't be trying to do everything on your to-do list in the first place. When you're overwhelmed or too busy, focusing on getting more done isn't the answer. So what is the answer? In this counter-intuitive book you’ll discover how to easily sort through what is important and what isn't – and let the non-important things go – so you can put your energy on what truly matters to you instead, with ease and clarity. This book will help fewer hours, yet accomplish much moreLet go of things that waste your time and drain your energyMake decisions that are right for you and your businessEliminate “fear of missing out” and “shiny object syndrome” for goodFocus on the actions that bring you the best results – and let go of the rest

Genres: Nonfiction, Productivity

79 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 30, 2016

Reviews

[Juliane Roell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has good advice on getting organised, mostly by "doing less", making good choices on what is what and being honest with oneself. The advice is straightforward and not too surprising, but it comes from a place of depth and wisdom. I found it easy to read and digest. It came at the right time as a welcome reminder to stay true to my principles, be more radical in making choices and trusting my spirituality more. Recommended.

[Erin Goettsch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is super short, and the title, while funny, doesn’t much match the content - BUT there’s some good ideas here. It probably could have been whittled down to an article online and been just as beneficial but it wasn’t a terrible hour’s read. The 80/20 thing seems particularly insightful (although this book is aimed at business owners and assumes no one has a boss who, like, MAKES you do things that aren’t a productive use of big-picture time so).

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Didn't think I would enjoy this. Ended up reading it in two days. Have applied some suggestions allready. Great book, great ideas.

[Heather Erickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard, Good Advice for Eliminating Overwhelm

This is fantastic advice to help get you out of the trap of busyness. We are constantly being pulled in 10 different directions at any given time because we have allowed it to happen. I loved the advice, "Get rid of the good, to make room for great."

The steps the author recommends aren't easy. In fact they may feel similar to breaking an addiction. They are necessary, though. I've been trying to take control of my schedule and my inbox and it feels like coralling kittens. It takes being radical and ruthless as you cull the unnecessary out of your life.

This is a well written book filled with great, advice that you CAN and should implement. I'd recommend this to...well, everyone!

[Michele Dunkel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. I will be using as a workbook

This is a quick, uplifting, hopeful read. I am now on my second read through it while actually implementing Sue Rasmussen's suggestions. Very excited about the changes. Will comment more at a later date.