Tedious writing, not enough practical advice
927272
I thought this book was not particularly helpful.
It had about 20 pages of useful rhetoric advice and actual helpful information.
If not required, I would skip.
1343212
I bought this book for my Kindle, which is kind of a waste as there are checklists & some writing of your goals, dreams, etc.

I got about halfway through this book, & realized I wasn't reading anything I haven't read before about organizing my stuff--must decide to keep, throw away, or donate; everything in its place; put it where you use it...

Many of the solutions offered ended with, "If you feel you can't accomplish this, you may benefit from hiring a professional organizer". Given that this book is written by a professional organizer, it read like a very long business card.

Most people cannot solve their guest room needs by installing a Murphy Bed, but perhaps if you can afford a personal organizer, it's not a problem.

I didn't finish reading the book; I got less than halfway, glanced through the rest of the chapters, and was done with it.
1748933
While there were glimmers of useful, persuasive arguments hidden within a few pages of the book both for and against children, they were unfortunately lost amongst a blase collection of autobiographical tedium. I would say that most of the authors are not relate able - mothers who get pregnant by felons in jail, whom they met in jail, bi-polar depressives, 48 year old lesbian partners etc. The stories are, for the most part, well written, but offer very few actual reasons behind the decision to have children or remain childless. For the most part (i.e. over 90%) they are factual stories of how the author did or did not physically end up with children. I was looking for a book that would give some insight into this huge decision (which my wife and I are currently struggling with), and it definitely does not fit into this category. I feel like I wasted my time reading the book (and my $10!).
400490
This book is more style than substance.  The wide variety of fonts and styles and the inclusion of puzzles (which the author does not explain; he directs the reader to flip to the back of the book for answers) makes it incredibly hard to glean any information from the text.  I was so distracted by all the bolds and underlines and italics and larger font and smaller font and brain teasers (presumably designed to give hints about the point the author was trying to make) that I can't even tell you what the first chapter was about.  The reason I can't tell you what the first chapter is about is because it isn't about anything; the overly complicated presentation disguises the fact that nothing in this book is original or particularly useful.

While the author eventually abandons his "solve the puzzle to get the hint" approach to offering advice, the remainder of the book is just as poorly presented and just as poorly organized as the first few chapters.

Find a book more concerned with content than presentation.  For basic how-to advice, the Elements of Fiction Writing series is much better.  Another reviewer suggested Stephen King's On Writing, which is also good.
754377
This seemed like a book to give my HR lady. The author filled it with a bunch of basic stuff. It was common sense fluff she broke down into too many categories and over complicated. She really meant that step by step part. The book is layed out well and easy to read but its too long. I don't have the time or patience to sift through a big Dummies Guide to Customer Service. If you need an elementary breakdown on things like hygiene, then buy this. If not, skip it. It wasn't worth the money to me personally.
633671
I didn't find this writing readable, so I can't recommend this book.  There is some very basic good advice in this text that seems rather common sense to me.  BUT it is so buried in mile high sexism that I'm sure you can find good writing tips in a more modern, less biased text.
2640330
I was really interested in this subject and thought I chose this book carefully.  I liked the table of contents and am sure that the author did a tremendous amount of reseach for this book.  The style of writing, however, is so bad that I can't finish it.  It is written in a droning, dry, over-generalized undergraduate academic style that puts you right to sleep.  The author chose to write a formal report, full of unnecessarily long, awkward sentences and stiff language, and gave away the opportunity to tell the stories of these important river basins.  This is not a complaint about wanting to be more entertained.  There is a lot of information to convey and few readers will be familar with the details.  Still, the pain of reading this book just isn't worth the time and effort it will take to finish.
3319521
I have ADD/ADHD/whatever you want to call it... and this book helped, sort of. The problem was, it had good ideas, but most of what I read in here I had learned on my own while dealing with my ADHD. One example; a tip they give you is to leave items out to help you remember (like put your keys on the kitchen table so you remember it in the morning, etc). Something like that is just common sense when you have these types of scattered thoughts and issues. My main problem with this book is the writing and ideas are so simple that after a while, I found it borderline offensive. They probably thought, "these simpletons need small words, big font sizes, and the information repeated multiple times or they'll go running off towards something shiny."  It seems like the authors are so out of touch that they felt the need to address the reader like a child. They might as well put pictures and simple diagrams inside too. Even the book itself is large, with large fonts as if designed for a senior citizen. Thanks for the extra legibility, but my eyes are fine.

Bottom line: The book DOES indeed have many helpful tips on how to organize your life, but it's described in a simple, overly drawn out way. If you're really having trouble, and looking for kind of a beginners guide, the book may help you with the basics. Personally, as a moderately ADD-affected guy, I found it irritating, mostly speaking to common sense, and written in a boring amateurish way. Who knows, though, maybe I don't quite fit the audience they were going for.
1804966
A writer writing about writing should write well. Well, better than well; to be taken seriously the presentation should be in itself dramatic, engaging, original, informative and insightful. Ideally it offer new insights, perspectives, information. This pedantic, boring book offers none of these. Nothing like these. Not even close.

The advice is thin, obvious, trite and I doubt
you can get anything substantive or useful.

When on an impulse I buy a book and discover it's not at all what I'd hoped for, I feel sad, even frustrated. With this flat-footed rehash of how-to expository I felt really irked, mad at myself.
It would far better if you just read fiction. And far more enjoyable, too.

If you must read a how-to tome, skim through brighter books of this kind by E.M. Forster, John Gardner, Robert Olmstead, Damon Knight, Rust Hills, Valerie Shaw, Francine Proust, Rick DeMartinis...
They inspire, point out what makes good writing good and artfully point the way.

Better yet, just read, then just write.
1504112
This book is self-published by a man who suffers from bipolar disorder.  He has led a tumultuous life, about which he goes into great detail.  He has conducted seminars for those with bipolar disorder encouraging people to consider the benefits of bipolar disorder.  For these reasons, I anticipated the book to be helpful.

I was greatly disappointed.  While the author has a wealth of experience from which to draw, he has little clinical knowledge of the effects bipolar can have on different people, drawing only from his own limited experience.  His writing style is scattered and hard to follow.  Reading one paragraph, I wasn't sure if his point was that thoughts come to him at odd times, or perhaps that he has creative thoughts because of his bipolar, or even if it is impersonal to use a washcloth in the shower.  All three of those topics were covered in a space of a few short sentences.

This man may or may not give helpful seminars.  I have never been to one, so I cannot speak on that.  His writing style, however, is not organized, focued, or educated on the topic enough to be helpful.

I do not recommend this book for anyone as it appears to be of little informational value.
2200153
If you are truly trying to limit yourself to the essential - skip this book.

As a public school teacher my life is divided into two very different patterns. During the school year my life is very much dedicated to the needs of others. During summer vacations I put all that aside and devote time to myself.

I picked up this audiobook with hopes to find tips to help me achieve greater effectiveness in both these aspects of my life. During the summer, when I set my own goals and priorities, I imagine my life fits the model that Babauta seems to be targeting. My life appears to be more similar to his as a self-employed writer. Unfortunately, his tips offer nothing new and should be evident to anyone with common sense. For example, he suggests that if you have to email a client who typically spends $100 on your business versus attending a meeting with a client who spends thousands of dollars you should...attend the meeting. Really? Does that really need to be said?

During the school year, I feel my life leads a pattern that the author obviously can't relate to. He doesn't appear to have experience working in an enviroment where others determine your prioritites. Babauta outlines an example of two reporters. One journalist writes several stories during the week. The second journalist picks one article, devotes days to extensive research, and writes an award winning article. Great. But how does this apply to the many of us with jobs that require us to juggle multi-tasks. Believe me I would love to say "I am devoting this week to planning award winning science lessons. Math, language arts, parent communication, meetings with administration, mentoring new teachers, student safety, classroom management, data analysis, and cupcake parties are not essential and can wait." An impossible goal...or at least I didn't find any worthwhile tips in this book to demostrate how it would be possible.
1196259
i couldn't finish this book, i tried to but couldn't. its just a list of common sense tips like paying attention or getting rest. i find helmut spends more time explaining why or how something works instead of giving practical examples or useful drills or step-by-step instructions. you'll find yourself spending a lot of rime reading benefits than actual time learning the application.
3461104
After completing The Disciplined Investor, I am disappointed to say that this book is little more than a dictionary of investing terms, which, in its own right, could be useful, if the definitions were not convoluted nor the examples poor.  Sadly, I did not walk away from the book with an investing strategy of any sort.  To further complicate the content problems of the book, the writing is very amateurish, with repetitive sentence structures, vague generalizations, and a plethora of common sense applications.  I'd avoid this book, try and find another on investing.
415950
I had to try hard to like a Try Hard. This book was exhausting yet also irritating to read to the end. Like others who have reviewed, there are fantastic tidbits of worthiness for this book to be read - the rest of it is just drivel that should have been picked up by an editor. There were passages that I sent a screenshot to my boyfriend, with the message 'CAN YOU ACTUALLY BELIEVE THIS??? UGH.', to which he tried (on more than one occasion) to convince me to stop reading this stupid book. Unfortunately, I didn't listen to his good advice.
1465809
I tried very hard to like this book.  I understand the premise the author is coming from (being goal driven changes something from a passion into a chore), I agree with some of his points, I even highlighted some great quotes and took notes....but at the end of the day, its not a very good book and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

1.  The author brags that it took 20 hours to write the book.....yeah, we could tell.  Its like he was sharing his philosophy with someone over coffee then decided to transcribe the conversation.  There's not a lot of depth.  A few quotes from others thrown in here and there.
2.  It needs a good editing.  There are few typos (nothing huge) and the writing style screams "I'm in my 20's!"  The book tries to be personable/conversation-like, but cleaning up from a good editor would help in the places where it is just obnoxious and immature.
3.  The advice and examples are not practical.  There was only one example in the book (the one about the guy loving baseball) that as an adult over 30, married with kids, I could relate to.  The rest of his examples screamed "I'm in my 20's...with no responsibilities."
4.  His premise about not using goal setting with weight loss/health, is extremely flawed. For example, the vegetable vs. ice cream debate was silly.  Reality check: I may not like vegetables, but the quality of my life is going to be a whole lot better if I choke a few down every week. Goals are the same way.

Bottom Line: Ditching the goal setting mentality is a great idea when it comes to hobbies and things you are passionate about, but it is not a life philosophy.  The author fails to make the case that setting goals is a "flawed approach...to life in general."
3881315
I found this book to have a lot of useful information, but it starts off very wordy. I read a little bit each night, instead of sitting down and trying to read large sections of the book.  I would get bored and forget what I'd read.
The Pregnancy Diet
There is a recipe section, that if I had the time, may be of some use. However, making cream of tomato soup from scratch is time consuming and more expensive that buying the can and adding milk. All of the recipes in that section need to be made from scratch, even the French fries, not a practical suggestion for someone who has a job.
Part 2 - Nine Months & Counting
The Question & Answer format was really helpful. Most of the questions give you about half a page of really useful information, with facts, but not overstating the answer to the question presented.
Part 3
From postpartum to breastfeeding to Daddy, the section mixes the Q & A format with the informational format from the 1st section of the book. This section is very useful for understand your postpartum 1-6 weeks and tips for breastfeeding holds. The "Expectant Father" section is in the Q & A format, and may have some things that Mommy hasn't realized about Daddy. You're husband or partner may not read the whole book, but is 1 chapter really gonna hurt him?
Part 4 - Special Concerns
This was something that had never even crossed my mind until I read this book. From common colds to measles, as well as how to deal with symptoms of illness. "I have a fever, should I take aspirin?" and a bunch of other questions like that. It is an informative section that some may not even think about when they are expecting.
Pregnancy Notes section
I think that this is a very creative section because you have 2 pages to write down your personal notes for each month. The book also suggests that you show the notes to your doctor, so they know what's going on, since they can't be with you 24/7.
2792795
Was recommended this book from a reputable source but this is actually the only book I did not enjoy from their recommendations.
It is FAR too wordy, unfocused, and the writing is bad to be honest.
There really isn't too much valuable information in this book.
Like my review title says this could be summarized into a few pages.