How Outliers Stop Being Lazy

Achieve More, Accomplish the Impossible Today, The 48-Hour Day

By: Mikel Ivanson

Narrated by: Gregory Allen Siders

Length: 2 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's Summary

Ten times your productivity today.

Stop being lazy and accomplish more right now.

What if you could instantly become more productive in whatever you do? What if you could regain the passion you once had for work or business? What if you could work with a smile and never get burnt out again? What would you do with the newly regained time? Would you travel more? Spend more time with loved ones? Would you stop procrastinating and chase your dreams? This book will show you exactly how you can become productive and get more out of life.

Centuries ago humanity never had the benefits of technology we enjoy today. But with our cars, washing machines, airplanes, computers, cell phones, and other machines, we seem to be busier than ever. Spending time with the family for many is a luxury confirmed to a few designated days in a year. But how is it we are so busy but yet we are managing not to achieve much? I woke up one morning completely burnt out from the demands of my high-paying corporate job and decided there had to be a better way. I eventually became an author and within a few years found myself back at that place of being burnt out and struggling with heart issues. (Did you know stress-related heart disease is the number-one cause of death in America?) That is when I discovered the life-changing difference between busy and productive. Being productive is not just about success - it's also about living a healthy and fulfilled life.

In this book I will share with you the secrets I uncovered in my study of some of the greatest achievers of modern history.

©2016 Mikel Ivanson (P)2017 Mikel Ivanson

Some interesting points, other rather extreme

As a person who is always busy and without enough time to tackle new and old things this book struck me as very interesting. It gives many tips to help people in using their time in a more effective way. Although it is aimed at people wanting to improve at their work but also in their personal life, I found that some of the chapters are only aimed at managers.

It gives the already known tips like making to do list, prioritizing, planning ahead, and having realistic goals; but it goes beyond that and proposes things that in some cases may seem quite extreme, and probably successful.

It is clear that in order to be an outlier (someone above the norm), one has to do some sacrifices, and this book exposes them all without sweet coating it.

There were four things that I did not like from the book: first, the subtitle '48 hours day', which seems a bit misleading. We all know that days have just 24 hours, and that by applying what learned on the book we could make more of it, but if one is already an organized and forward person, I find it difficult to accomplish double and make the day count like 48 hours.

Second, Ivanson recommends consuming high energy foods without going into details. Usually what people understand for energy foods are poor nutritional snacks loaded with sugar. This will indeed give you a push, but also a sugar crash not much later. I learned to stay away from those foods from personal experience, since the energy they give is not real.

Third, Ivanson recommends to moderate liquid intake to avoid wasting time going to the bathroom. As we all know, most of us do not even drink the minimum we should to keep our bodies healthy, so suggesting to reduce the liquid intake is just plain dangerous for some.

Fourth, Ivanson says that everybody needs 7-8 hours of sleep each night. On other places I have read that we need 8-9, and this is for me and many people I know. It is true that some need more and some need less, but for the ones of us that need more (due to health issues, not just plain laziness), it is a bit enraging to listen to this kind of recommendations.

Gregory Allen Siders did a decent job narrating this book, in a way that kept me interested until the end, even though many concepts were repeated again and again. His pronunciation was clear and his tone was inviting. The audio production was correct.

This book has some quite interesting parts, but I think I would just recommend it if someone has real issues managing time, or wants to improve managerial skills. For most of the people, focusing on the basics will be more than enough.

I received a copy of this book in audio format from the narrator in exchange for an honest review.