Gettin' (un)Busy: 5 Steps to Kill Busyness and Live with Purpose, Productivity, and Peace

This book has rattled my chain and changed my life. I heard it on the “Read to Lead” podcast, then looked up all the other podcast interviews I could find - and then I knew I really needed to just buy the book. It arrived in the midst of COVID when I already needed break from my crazy rat race solopreneur life, laced with burnout. It could not have been a better message for the moment! I basically quit everything I was doing and started over from zero while reading this book. I probably still work a little too much, but I have priorities instead of dreams now, and that’s HUGE. And when I’m tired, I don’t just push through anymore. My body and my family say thank you! I probably need to go back and revisit this book again to get my hours back down to where they were, but I love my work so much that I find it difficult to knock off at 4:30. PS, I could be imagining this, but I think I’m thinner? I sleep better, I wake up rested, I have more energy. Thank you so much for this book! And thanks “Read to Lead” for giving me the heads up about this one!

I thought this book would be about time management and better calendaring practices. I thought, “Yeah. I know I’m too busy. I know it’s bad. But what do you seriously want me to do about it? It’s just life.”Well, let me tell you, this book is far more than a better calendar system and a new morning routine. It’s a whole new way of thinking! I’m so glad I finally slowed down enough to read this book.Garland’s system is only as strong as your commitment to it. If you’re not “all in” and willing to “defend your yes” then you will be busy again.I’m a pastor. This book has dramatically changed my own life and I am now in the process of rolling It out to my staff and volunteer leadership. After we go through the pain of deconstruction, we hope to come out on the other side with a church that respects, protects, and equips our volunteers to live with purpose, productivity, and peace.

I very much appreciate Dr. Garland Vance's new book Gettin' (un)Busy. It's challenged my beliefs (some previously unconscious) about getting stuff done. When I started, I realized I felt high purpose, medium productivity and low peace - mostly bc I kept looking at all I had still unfinished. This book is helping me learn better mindsets and self-management with regards to busyness.

Dr. Garland Vance takes a new perspective on time management in his new book Getting (un)Busy. Instead of getting more things done or getting things done faster, he focuses on only doing work that fulfills your purpose (otherwise known as your why). This leads to peace when you are able to cut out all the things not fulfilling your purpose, slow down your pace of life, and still work towards accomplishing your purpose without exhausting yourself.As an entrepreneur, I’m surrounded by a culture that wears busyness like a badge of honor and leads many of us to burnout. So, this book was a refreshing read after a particular busy season in my life where I knew things needed to change for the health of myself and for my relationship with my family. Thankfully, Dr. Vance guides you through the process of getting unbusy by walking you through five steps to help you get there: Decide, Deconstruct, Design, Develop, & Draw Others In. If your work is causing you to feel exhausted, overwhelmed, and on the edge of burning out, I highly recommend you pick up a copy of Getting (un)Busy.

I received an advanced copy of this book for review. My interest in this book is two-fold: first, from the perspective of a health coach; second, as someone who suffered burned out and chronically ill for many years trying to be a superwoman Mom. I learned some very hard lessons on my own. As I read this book the words resonated with me.  We all know we are too “busy” as a society, but knowing is only half the battle. Most of us feel stuck and don’t really know how to make changes. Most people believe if you are more organized or manage your time better then they will have more free time. This is 100% the wrong thing to do. To become ”unbusy” you literally have “to stop and smell the roses”, giving yourself space to think, reflect, have down time. Garland gives steps, tools, examples, to help you discover how to make your live “unbusy”, more productive, and happier. There is even a course you can take. I think everyone can benefit from these principles.

We all want to live with purpose. And being productive can certainly make life flow easier, so why do so many of us focus on doing 'busy' work that doesn't necessarily move us any closer to our goals? In fact, we can find ourselves trying to rest at the end of the day and wind up going over all the of the commitments that didn't get done or even close to done because we were just so darn 'busy'. So now we are not sleeping and are exhausted and overwhelmed from having to start all over again the next day with an expanded - and never ending - to do list. One of the biggest takeaways in this book is giving yourself permission to say 'no' with no excuses. Give yourself permission to understand that you can't do it all and work on the things you can be effective in managing.

If you like Dave Ramsey’s baby steps for killing debt, then you will LOVE this book! Dr. Garland Vance lays out the root cause of over-commitment and 5 steps for killing busyness and making the most of the time we have. As a mother of 5, an extrovert, and someone who hates missing out on anything, I have battled busyness and over-scheduling my entire life. I have become an expert at color-coding calendars and more efficiently cramming more into our lives. This is the first attempt I have seen to address the root cause of time management struggles and lay out a strategy to bring true peace and focus to our home. The ideas in this book work.(I received an advance copy of this book)

I received an advance reader copy and sat right down to it. Leadership books are my favorite genre and Garland did NOT disappoint! You will discover the difference between busy and productive. I am applying his principals and finding so much more clarity on my work. What a blessing to stop feeling guilty when my day planner is not bursting at the seams.