Of Time, Work, and Leisure Review

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(More customer reviews)What is the ultimate goal of a society? Two possible answers are: Work and Leisure. The goal of current US culture appears to be work, at least for the majority of people. Why shouldn't it be leisure instead?
This book, written in the very early 1960s, is still relevant today for the questions it asks, which are very neglected but of utmost importance, viz., is the "good life" solely constituted of work? This question is analyzed from a 1960s perspective so it is, sadly, fairly dated in that respect (though it is interesting in its analysis of how people spent leisure time four decades ago). The book is also a little plodding, and the argument is presented in a very disjointed and sometimes overly statistical fashion. I had to literally struggle through some of the later chapters. Nonetheless, the issues are still very relevant, and the questions De Grazia asks are still worth asking today (in fact, they may be more pressing today than they were in the 1960s).
The book does include a good historical survey of how the world has looked at leisure since the time of Aristotle. This is how the book begins, and it is completely engrossing for the first few chapters. De Grazia discusses the sticky issues surrounding leisure and slavery in a society, and outlines a history of how we have been gradually progressing "toward the work society."
This could easily have been a book in itself. Unfortunately, the book begins to drag later on. It gets bogged down in details and hard to follow arguments that contrast strongly with the book's beginning. There is, nonetheless, plenty to sink one's teeth into as the book's pace slows (the pace never stops, and it never becomes outright boring, it just doesn't maintain its momentum).
You will not get answers to any difficult questions in this book. What you will get is insight into the issues raised. In short, it is a rewarding but arduous read.

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Time and the Soul Review

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(More customer reviews)There were times when I had to just put this book down and breathe because of the truth in its pages. Needleman gets to the heart of "time and the soul." It is a short book and can be read quickly, but one reading will not suffice. An incredibly honest book.

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Time is the greatest modern scarcity. What used to be considered signs of success--being busy, having many responsibilities, being involved in many projects or activities--are today being felt as afflictions. The bestselling author of Money and the Meaning of Life, philosopher Jacob Needleman, shows how to take a bold and unconventional approach to time. The aim: to get more out of it by breaking free of our illusions about it. Needleman dispenses with tricks and techniques that only serve to make our obsessiveness more "efficient." Instead he shows how we can understand what our days are for. It's this understanding that allows time to finally begin to "breathe" in our lives.People can learn to experience time more purposefully and meaningfully. We need not be at time's mercy. Needleman rejects time-management techniques in order to reveal ancient and little-known modern practices for exploring one's internal clock. He reveals how time is experienced by the soul. Drawing on the wisdom literature that chronicles the ways of Buddhists, poets, and philosophers, one learns:What it could mean to chart one's real past, unclouded by emotionsHow memory can lie to us Why we need not be obsessed with the futureHow to experience time so that it is not an enemy robbing us of the joy of lifeHow to have more "nonpsychological time," or "time of the heart [that] does not move," such as moments of ecstasy or joy in which time is cut off from the physical worldHow to experience the gifts of time

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Out of Time: How the Sixteen Types Manage Their Time and Work Review

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(More customer reviews)A guide to time management from MBTI perspective. I use this kind of stuff all the time when coaching leaders on getting focused--it is amazing how much difference it makes to understand the person's type and what kinds of organizational tools and techniques will work with that type.

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Understanding time management in relationship to psychological type is an invaluable tool for everyone from high-school students to CEOs. This booklet provides detailed explorations of each type's approach to time management and work style. Contains comments from workshop participants, who offer personal observations about their own use of time management tools, solutions for overcoming time traps, what leads to procrastination, and how individual types are motivated. This booklet is best used in a setting where the participants have had an introduction to type or by individuals who have a basic knowledge of type.

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