Why I Wrote Leverage Your Time; Balance Your Life

I wrote this book because most of us, almost all the time, fight the battle for possession and power. We find ourselves trapped on the freeway of rush. We have a shopping-mall mentality, a lunch hour McDonald's appetite, a sales-meeting life's philosophy. Before we know it, perhaps even without wanting to, we find our¬selves leaping into the commotion without really consid¬ering whether we have an option. Our minds are made static by noise - radios bellowing, TVs babbling, pagers beeping, traffic buzzing. Everywhere, all the time, voices call our names. All of us are busy, perhaps productive...and very tired.
All of us sense that we were not made for the rush ¬hour, freeway kind of life we frenetically live. We seek calm, not chaos. We know, innately, that simpler times create better times. We desire peace, a life that focuses on beauty and truth, a life separate from the cluttered existence our culture promotes.
Yet, activity is necessary. We must produce-all of us-or we become drones of society, unweaned heifers sucking the public teat. Inactivity destroys the zest for life. There's no joy in constant watching, just numbed buttocks and deadened minds. We were not made to sit and isolate ourselves. We were created for motion and mastery.
Is there a halfway point between burn out and rust out? Yes. Balance is a choice.
Each day we can find a place to retreat. We can turn off our noise boxes and enjoy a refuge where we can rest and renew. We can eliminate non-productive activi¬ties. We can say "no." We can reserve a corner of peace, close our eyes and step through our mind's windows into a simpler world. We can enjoy a book. Stroll down a for¬est's path.
The sweet fundamental things of life make living worthwhile. Life is balanced by being alive to both side of our nature - duty and serenity, work and love, activity and rest.
Nearly all of us blame our unbalanced life on the lack of time. We can be heard complaining in the eleva¬tor, in the office, in the grocery store, at church, at home, at the gym. We proclaim our dear time's loss. We marvel at time's swift foot. We recognize ourselves in these cries:
"I'm in the car all day and night taking the kids from one event to another."
"Too many projects!"
"Family? I never have enough time for them."
"The little things consume the time I could dedicate to important activities."
"I get a headache every time the phone rings."
"All those business meetings do for me is put callouses on my rear end."
"These constant interruptions make me sick to the stomach."
"We didn't take a vacation last year because our business consumed us."
"Time for myself? You've got to be kidding!"
"Committee meeting!?! Oh no!!! Not another one!!!"
"Life style? What's that?"
"A nap? Considered it But no time for one."
"Spiritual life? Oh yes, I attend church for an hour just about every Sunday."
"I could have 48 hours a day and still couldn't catch up."
Poor time management, not lack of time, engenders these complaints. Poor planning steals hours each day at home, at work, from the mother, the student, the teacher, the doctor, the lawyer...even the candlestick maker. This book was written for all of us - to help us enjoy a productive life, a balanced life, a successful, meaningful life - and to find time for every activity worthwhile...time for every season under the sun.
Haven't many books been written on time manage¬ment? Yes...hundreds rest on dusty shelves. Either they haven't been read or they haven't been understood. They are too impractical or too long. The more books that have been churned out, the less time we have to study them and practice the techniques suggested in them.
That's what makes Leverage Your Time, Balance Your Life unique. It's brief. To the point. Gives clear sug¬gestions. Can be read in one night. Referred to during the day. It can be read again and again, until every page becomes implanted in the mind. Leverage Your Time, Balance Your Life is a handbook. A handbook for living.
I wrote this book in the second person because it's designed for you. You are busy. You don't have time - ¬yet - for theory or romantic prose or stories. You just want the facts. Cut to the heart of the thing. Get on with it.
Applying what's written in Leverage Your Time, Balance Your Life will give you a fulfilled life, a balanced life. Practicing what's written here will help you:
Have time for your dreams to come true
Find time you never knew you had
Learn to set priorities
Organize your life
Learn to refuse worthless projects
Defeat procrastination
Organize efficient time-saving meetings
Give up the quest for perfection
Overcome indecisiveness
Balance your work and leisure time
Find time for romance
Cultivate a spiritual life that gives life meaning
Have fun every day
Use rest power
Improve family communication
Find time for your children
Rid your life of time wasters
Write bold, brief, empowering letters and memos. Defeat negative emotions that mess up your life
Rid yourself of bad habits that steal your time
Add more life to your years
Live one day at a time
Reduce paperwork clutter
Translate your dreams into achievable goals
Know your core values for a successful life