The 7 Minute Solution

The 7 Minute Solution, Time Strategies to Prioritize, Organize and Simplify Your Life at Work & At Home, by Allyson Lewis, Free Press 2014Can you imagine a time in your life when you were bored, sat down and reviewed an empty calendar, thought about making dinner four hours in advance, watched three episodes – in a row - of Bonanza?  Not happening in your life?  Well, then we all need a dose of The 7 Minute Solution because every minute counts!

But do not mistake this book for a Frederick Taylor or lean production system tome translated into Life – the book goes deeper, as author Allyson Lewis challenges us to go deeper:

          “…at the age of 41 I was completely out of shape, worked in a job I liked – but didn’t love, and I was tired… really really tired… I discovered that working hard and being productive are not necessarily the same thing… Greater productivity was mostly a matter of time management, but more productivity by itself was only limitedly gratifying.  To experience deep life gratification you must work toward the priorities that matter most to you.  You must know and be living into your highest values.  If you are not, then it is very easy to become simply more effective at being busy.”

Moving beyond time management mechanics into running to your true life purpose is a deeper challenge and fortunately Lewis offers us some good discovery tools, starting with a progressive series of exercises to help uncover Business-Life, Big Life and Home questions.  For instance, drawing on her own life experiences when she learned that a close friend was diagnosed with cancer and had only six months to live, she asks:

1.     What was your life like yesterday?

Upon hearing the diagnosis, Lewis realized that her life yesterday was “nothing…nothing,” and she wanted to change it.

2.     Picture your life ninety days from today.  How would you like to feel? And

3.    What tasks are you spending time and energy on that don’t contribute to what you want most out of life?  What would happen if you stopped giving those tasks your full attention?

This book is an excellent for life change, especially change of

 The type that seems to appear in middle age or after earth-shattering crisis, such as, in the author’s life, cancer and September 11.  It’s a great guide to use when approaching those “inflection” moments, the times when it becomes clear that these very precious days we have on this Earth may be limited, or worse, wasted.  Lewis advises us, “Time management alone will not make your life the best it can be.  You must also know how to manage meaning in your life.”  Love it!  Love it!