Cool Time and the Two-Pound Bucket: Time Management for the 24-Hour Person

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.

It is rare to find anything new in time management literature. With most
authors concentrating on new ways to sell the old ABC priorities method,
the strategies in this book stand out as fresh and practical.

Prentice’s first departure from the traditional is to apply time
management to the whole person, including personal, social, and leisure
as well as business activities. Next, he has some real strategies, not
merely tips and helpful hints. I-Beam is a strategy, as is the Keystone
Period, Active Agenda, Follow-up, and Cool Time (a fresh label for and a
new perspective on planning ahead). And he adds computer technology to
the time management toolkit.

The book targets the while-collar world and is rich in methods for
making the most effective use of meetings, e-mail, voice mail, and web
searches. Topics as diverse as nutrition, corporate culture, anger,
sick-building syndrome, parking, and antivirus software are all touched
on in this incredibly detailed work. Project management receives a
careful review, including critical path, triage (prioritizing), the
80/20 principle, the SMART test, contingency planning, and strategic
timing.

Prentice presents time management as a lifestyle choice. It’s about
focus and control. Its goal is balance, not overwork. When the bucket is
full, attempting to add more means something will be forced out.

His intense, no-nonsense lecture style means that only the truly
desperate will read the book from cover to cover. Which is okay, as it
is rich enough to give value regardless of the method of attack.