Routine Machine

By: John Lamerton

Narrated by: John Lamerton

Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Ordinary people + everyday habits = extraordinary results.

How does a 'normal bloke from Plymouth' achieve more success than he could ever have dreamed? By becoming a Routine Machine. This book will show you how you can follow a simple, everyday plan to achieve your goals without requiring superhuman effort or natural-born talent. 

In this book you will learn: 

• Why morning routines don’t need to start at 5 a.m.
• The one routine that makes everything else easier
• How '90s TV show Gladiators can cure your procrastination 
• Why John goes dog walking with Arnold Schwarzenegger 
• Plus insights from other Routine Machines, including Rik Mayall, Warren Buffett, Sir Richard Branson, Hulk Hogan, John Lennon, Stephen King, Sir Bradley Wiggins and the 1993/94 Plymouth Argyle squad

©2019 John Lamerton (P)2019 W. F. Howes Ltd

I'm getting results in just over a month

I didn't want to write a review on a book about daily habits before putting the content into practice and seeing if they would stick. Well! I am pleased to say they HAVE and I'm getting some great results.

Routine Machine is the only book I've read a second time straight after the first - John's advice to have a book debriefing before moving onto the next self help book and instead absorb the content and putting at least some of it into practice.

I am now actioning small tasks (without fail) each and every day which in turn is propelling me closer to my goals, giving me more energy and enthusiasm and freeing up time to do more of the things I love.

I've tried this all before! Information garnered from other books over time, excitement to get started and buzzing each time I ticked something off my list - but they didn't stick, not for more than a week anyway. This time was different, John has a way with words, he's down to earth and his voice projects this sincerely. He sounds more like a friend giving good advice than a multi-millionaire entrepreneur who is so far from your own mindset that the kind of lifestyle they live seems unreachable. None of this 10x bulls**t which obviously won't work for everyone, just small simple steps every day that move you towards your goal.

This is a book that I will return to again and again. Definitely recommended.

Nice enough but nothing new

I like John Lamerton. He seems like a nice guy who's had some good success and learned a lot along the way. I enjoyed his previous audiobook - Big Ideas for Small Businesses - and had high hopes for this one.
The book fulfils its objective as it explains how routines can make life easier, but by the end of it I wasn't convinced that I'd heard anything particularly new. John references some great books, including the epic Why We Sleep, and it felt like those, and other books, make the same points he raises, but with much more success.
On reflection, the best advice in the book is to set one goal for the day that will benefit your business, and to do that first, but I think that argument might have been better made by other people as well.

John's narration is good fun and, as I said, he's a good guy, so it pains me to criticise him.

If this is your first ever business book, you'll get some goodness from it, but if, like me, you've read all the big titles in this space, I'm not sure you'll get much from it.

More no nonsense advice from Mr Lamerton

I read Small Big Businesses a year or so ago and have adopted so much of the advice found in there. When I saw John had written a new book, I downloaded it immediately.

Mire great advice on getting into those all important routines to allow you to make a dint in life.

Yes, a lot of this is from other books, but having it all in once place AND having a UK-centric point of view rather than an American slant (which most of this sort of book tends to be), makes it somehow more accessible and therefore adoptable.

so, if you are looking at starting a new routine, yes, I can thoroughly recommend this book.

Not bad, subscribe-to-get-resources bit is spammy

Not a bad book though some aspects are repeats of sections you'll find by other authors (such as the story behind the British cycling team). Enough new stuff or old stuff put in new ways to keep me listening which I was happy about. Good focus.
The bad - the resources for the book (that I purchased) should just be available to me. I should not have to sign up to your mailing list and then get them via individual emails over a few day - this is outrageously spammy behaviour and cheapens your work. I bought it, just give them to me. Left a very nasty taste in my mouth as I'm now in the situation where I can't unsubscribe until I've got the resources and don't even know what they are or when I will get them! Really? Shoddy.

It doesn't just work, it REALLY works.

The most simple, easy to understand and implement, 'get your sh*t together' book I've ever listened to. And I've listened to a lot!
Focus on 1 thing and get it done each day. However small, it's about consistent, daily action towards your goal. Simple!

Great advice on how to discover your goals, as well as step-by-step guide for breaking those goals into 90 day, 30 day, weekly and daily action.

All been said before, but simply put. And I do simple!

Nothing new

Mr Stitch X below summed it up really - I lasted til 2 hours left of this book then had to stop.
Yes what he says Is true, nothing wrong there, it's just a bit dull tbh and could have been a lot shorter and to the point.

It's kind of a mini accumulation of many self help books, but just nothing new .... which is kinda the point to regular success (!!) but not an ideal listen if you've read/listened to quite a few of the top books

Changed my life

I don’t really know where to start with this review, I never leave reviews but I really wanted to on this one as Big Idea’s and Routine Machine has pretty much changed my life.

First thing I would say is I’ve listen to a lot of books on audible about Routine, Habits, Productivity, High Performance, Early Birds, etc but nothing has been as good as these books, I would even say they don’t even come close. What I like about these books are the homework tasks about not putting the book down and doing nothing about it and just moving on to the next book . I listen to John on audible as I was training for the London marathon at the time so when I couldn’t be bothered going for a run this book gave me that little bit extra as I was looking forward to what John was going to say next. When I liked an idea, I would get out my phone and type it in my notes, this wasn’t easy trying to carry on running whilst trying to look where I’m going and add a note.

When I first listen to John’s audible I was working as employed as a mortgage and protection broker, I was working long hours but was falling out of love with the job. I wanted to love the job I do again because if you love the job you do you never work a day in your life as they say. The biggest problem I had was I wanted to work for myself so I could make my own rules and this book gave me the confidence I needed and put routines in place so I could get the work done routinely and have more time to spend with my family. I used this book to prepare myself from going from employed to self-employed and now that I stared this adventure it’s help me plan out how to do stuff the right way from the start.

I’m really grateful that John wrote these books, this is just my story but these books could help a lot of people.

I’m looking forward to what the future holds for me. Wish me luck!

Thanks John.

Extremely patronising

One or two interesting insights and suggestions, and there is no questioning the author’s own success. However, a natural writer and reader he is not: it often felt like I was listening to a children’s book with the exceptionally patronising tone of writing and voice. (‘Your routines should stick like Sticky the stick insect stuck on a sticky bun’ he says - not once, but multiple times.) He often gives far, far too many examples for a simple point, prompting me to scream ‘I GET IT! I’M NOT THICK! MOVE ON!’ at my phone. There is also far too much about his children and their routines, which serve as absolutely unnecessary examples for his straightforward points. Three stars for the one or two useful insights, but don’t listen unless you enjoy being spoken to like an absolute moron.

Easy to follow and a great listen

I really enjoyed Routine Machine. I'm not an aspiring entrepreneur or even a business owner, but I was looking for something to give me a few ideas on how I could make my working / personal life a little more organised. This book is so easy to listen to and John Lamerton makes the time fly with witty anecdotes, real life facts and much more. I really hope I can take something away from this book, but regardless I really enjoyed it.

DO NOT GET THIS BOOK TO IMPROVE YOUR OWN ROUTINE

This is a book about the authors success and very little to do with actually creating your own routine.

He seems to really love Billionaires too so talks about them quite a bit

I wouldn't get this to improve your own routines