The Simplicity Survival Handbook: 32 Ways To Do Less And Accomplish More

by William D Jensen

In a world of more-better-faster, the challenges and stresses have never been too much to do, not enough time. And in an economy where worker talent (know-how, energy, attention, commitment, and creativity) is at a premium, everyone is trying to maximize personal productivity. In The Simplicity Survival Handbook , Bill Jensen offers the antidote you're a practical guide to doing less in a world of more, and making it count. From "How to Write Shorter Emails for Better Results" to "How to Use Your Mentor to Help You Do Less," Jensen offers step-by-step strategies, tactics, and techniques for communicating more effectively, setting priorities, and balancing the competing demands on your time, while avoiding the time-sinkers. He takes on corporate foolishness, walking you through how to be more productive and take greater control of your workday and, by extension, your life.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Self Help, Productivity, Personal Growth, Personal Development, Buisness

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2003

Reviews

[Aziza Aouhassi]

" The devil is not the behavior of the boss, it's the denial own power and expectation that someone else will lead us to A better tomorrow" Peter Block

[Douglas Lord]

“Simplify,” advised Thoreau. These 32 gems will surely help corporate business-folk do just that. Not just tips or ideas, this is thoroughly researched, road-tested, timesaving advice, rooted in Jensen’s (Simplicity: The New Competitive Advantage in a World of More, Better, Faster) belief that readers must focus on the important stuff and completely ditch the rest if they are to run a tight ship. Thus, “delete 75 percent of your email” isn’t just an empty edict–it’s direct advice backed up with experience. “This isn’t a manual for overthrowing your company,” Jensen notes; it’s more a guide to happy productivity. The Do-Less Toolkit in the back effectively and powerfully reduces already clear concepts to one-page summaries. A thought-provoking antidote to more structured approaches, like that of Etienne Wenger and others’ Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge; recommended for corporate drones.

Find reviews of books for men at Books for Dudes, Books for Dudes, the online reader's advisory column for men from Library Journal. Copyright Library Journal.

[Liz Licata]

The Handbook has a lot of good advice for how to do less and get more done. I found the majority of Jensen’s guidelines to be helpful and I think it would benefit people to look at how they are spending their time at work critically. Jensen points out that there are 1440 minutes in the day, and you shouldn’t waste any of them.

One of the more useful pieces of advice I found in the book is to ask “Why?” up to five times when getting a new project or responsibility. This is designed to help you figure out what the ultimate goal of the project actually is. Then you will have a better idea of how to proceed. My job involves a lot of hand waving sometimes, so I think this will be very helpful in clarifying my priorities.

[Lisa]

I give this somewhere between four and five stars. By the end, I have a bunch of post-its and markers so I could go back and read a few key points or refer to other resources the book mentioned. That's the sign of a good book for me.

[Matt Burgess]

The Simplicity Handbook (2003), William "Bill" Jensen
The Simplicity Handbook is a refreshingly honest, humourous take on our approach to work. The introduction rubbed me the right way when author Bill Jensen unabashedly tells his reader that reading the entire book is not necessary. Interestingly enough this exertion hooked me into reading the entire book and kept me engaged for its entirety.

Consider two approaches to the Simplicity Handbook. Author Bill Jensen recommends reading only the five chapters that scream at you. My recommendation is to take your time reading all chapters, but not at once. Depending on your schedule, speed and retention rate consider either one chapter per day or one per week.

The only criticism I have for the book is its layout. A few characteristics and special sections are consistently found throughout the book, but overall I felt they could have been organized for more effective reading. I was often overwhelmed with the number of bulleted and bold-faced items, which is why I recommended a phased approach in reading.

In totality, the Simplicity Handbook is recommened to disgruntled workers, challenged managers and business owners interested in creating mutually beneficial working environments.

[Ryan Garaygay]

good points. though could be common knowledge by now you'd be surprised how many still fall on the trap of either sending an email with unclear impact, next steps, expectations etc. And others get dragged down into engaging such emails. Good to be reminded of small things that could help manage work/life.

disclaimer: read only thru getAbstract

[Rebecca]

I thought this was a great book! For those suffering from information/task/job responsibility overload, I think the advice in this book will help relieve a lot of that tension.

As for me, I came out with some great ideas for training, communication, and presentation.

[Frangipani]

I loved the first few chapters of this book. Jensen has some radical but great ideas about how to cut through the information overload that assaults all of us daily. Recommended by Mark Orchant in Outlook 2007 the Unofficial Guide.

[Addie LeMaster]

Even though I went against the rule and read it from cover to cover I loved it. So many great tips and tricks to do less and get more. It put things very simply and got the information I needed in a great way. I wish more self help books were like this!

[Masatoshi Nishimura]

I didn't find any value from this book. It was not backed by a research nor based on a case study. The idea was ordinary too. For anyone thinking of reading this books, there're tons of better books out there like Deep Work by Cal Newport.

[S]

658.402 JEN

[Linda]

Not what I was expecting. This had more to do with careers and I was looking for something related to personal and home simplicity.

[John]

An excellent book focused on making better use of your time at work. Improve your productivity through fewer meetings quicker communication more transparency and by concentrating on what matters.

[Lori Grant]

A must-read book on how to be productive in your job as your manage your career.