The New Science of Time Management: Why Emotional Awareness Matters Most for Control of Your Schedule by Robby Slaughter. Method Press 2019. 225 pages.
You have to be intrigued by a book on time management whose first sentence is "Let's face it: You can't really manage your time." In starting with such an assertion, Robby Slaughter sets a high bar for us to continue reading, as well as for himself to justify his approach to the topic, as he immediately makes clear this book is not the usual rose-colored how-to treatment of our most precious resource: time.
Like me, you might have read a lot of books on time management, applied their principles, and when eventually reverting to your own habits and rituals, held fast to one, at most two, recommended techniques before they too fade in the turmoil of a pressure-packed period when your time management depended on others who have their own conflicting priorities. How can you manage your own time when running from one emergency to another fraught with unavoidable project-derailing delays, seemingly endless damage control, and distracting political consequences?
Slaughter unflinchingly and candidly explains it all in The New Science of Time Management. He describes case studies to illustrate universal theories from philosophy, psychology, and business, which he blends into his practical structured suggestions for time mastery. While reading under his spell, you will find yourself saying, "Now I know why I can't tell how long that job will take" (Kappa Effect/Tau Effect), "What's true for here is not necessarily true for there" (Learned Helplessness), "Oh, how I love getting things done" (Mindfulness), "I knew it!" (Social Loafing), "No wonder that happens to me" (Zeigarnik Effect), "That's what happens to my team" (Bystander Effect), and much more. For the deep thinkers, the author provides source material to back up his claims and encourage independent research on the studies and precepts he cites.
If you want a theoretical basis to justify or to discover your time management practices, successes, failures, and lessons learned, read The New Science of Time Management. At once. In spurts. Repeat.
