Cool Time: A Hands-on Plan for Managing Work and Balancing Time

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Time management, according to Steve Prentice, is not about specific
tools (planners, diaries, software) but about the techniques for using
these tools. “It’s about creating your own system for keeping in
control and feeling in control.”

There’s little new in this exploration of time management except the
terminology Prentice applies to tried-and-true strategies. Prioritizing
your work becomes “triage,” for example. Planning in advance and
reviewing your progress at the end of the day is an “I-Beam.” A
to-do list becomes “appointments” with yourself.

With an emphasis on showing how control can make a difference, concepts
such as the Pareto principle, project management, continuous
improvement, and critical path are explained. While control is central
to success, a case is made for flexibility as the key to strength. Other
content includes the “tools of influence” (negotiation,
communication), 55-minute meetings, handling interruptions, voice mail,
call display, stealth messaging, email, filing systems, work–life
balance, travel, and obstacles to implementing change.

The book is directed at office workers. Most of the ideas for taking
control assume that readers hold white-collar positions at the senior
support-staff level or higher.

The style is bland, neither intrusive nor inspiring, and the new
terminology does encourage readers to take a second look at why they are
not applying the strategies to their work.