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  • 168 Hours

  • You Have More Time Than You Think
  • By: Laura Vanderkam
  • Narrated by: Elizabeth London
  • Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (51 ratings)

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168 Hours

By: Laura Vanderkam
Narrated by: Elizabeth London
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Publisher's Summary

There are 168 hours in a week. This book is about where the time really goes, and how we can all use it better. It's an unquestioned truth of modern life: we are starved for time. With the rise of two-income families, extreme jobs, and 24/7 connectivity, life is so frenzied we can barely find time to breathe. We tell ourselves we'd like to read more, get to the gym regularly, try new hobbies, and accomplish all kinds of goals. But then we give up because there just aren't enough hours to do it all. Or else, if we don't make excuses, we make sacrifices. To get ahead at work we spend less time with our spouses. To carve out more family time, we put off getting in shape. To train for a marathon, we cut back on sleep. There has to be a better way - and Laura Vanderkam has found one.

After interviewing dozens of successful, happy people, she realized that they allocate their time differently than most of us. Instead of letting the daily grind crowd out the important stuff, they start by making sure there's time for the important stuff. They focus on what they do best and what only they can do. When plans go wrong and they run out of time, only their lesser priorities suffer. It's not always easy, but the payoff is enormous. Vanderkam shows that it really is possible to sleep eight hours a night, exercise five days a week, take piano lessons, and write a novel without giving up quality time for work, family, and other things that really matter. The key is to start with a blank slate and to fill up your 168 hours only with things that deserve your time. Of course, you probably won't read to your children at 2:00 am, or skip a Wednesday morning meeting to go hiking, but you can cut back on how much you watch TV, do laundry, or spend time on other less fulfilling activities. Vanderkam shares creative ways to rearrange your schedule to make room for the things that matter most.

©2010 Laura Vanderkam (P)2010 Gildan Media Corp

Critic Reviews

"We so often live our lives day by day. Laura wants us to think about doing it hour by hour. Living this mantra by example, she gets more done in a day than most of us do in a week." (Seth Godin, author of Linchpin)
"Laura Vanderkam shows us how to use our only real wealth-our 168 hours a week- to make our lives richer, not busier. That's a wonderful gift, because it's what genuine success is all about." (Geoff Colvin, author of Talent Is Overrated)

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A different way to view time.

A different perspective on time management that is down to earth and accessible for most people. This book makes use of both evidence based research and anecdotes from the authors own life.

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  • Dan
  • 19-10-2015

Repetitive but good

There were some really nice useful points in this and I'll definitely be outsourcing my non core competencies. It did however feel quite Repetitive and repeated certain points a lot. but maybe that's just a teaching technique.

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3 people found this helpful

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  • EVP
  • 28-08-2017

Worth a read for general ideas

I enjoyed this book and have learned some useful tips as well as some VERY useful statistics to encourage my in-laws to be less critical of the cleanliness of my house. I have a happy, well-balanced daughter and am carving out time for what counts!

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such a brilliant book

Helps readers move from survive to thrive. highly recommend to anyone feeling overwhelmed or over commited.

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The book for anyone that wants their time back

This book points out how much time we truly have in a a day and how to think about time differently. Also, by tracking your time you hold yourself accountable to the tasks that we truly do each day.
I recommend this book to anyone that thinks or feel so they are time poor

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