It’s really not that serious – and if you just take a moment to think about it..he’s using it as a term to mean “the extra time you have left in your day after you sleep and work”

How much time that is – is all dependent on each individual. But the bottom line is – if you want a change in your life, look at what extra time you have and see what you are doing with it.

If you want to relax and watch TV – that is your choice. But then do not get upset if your life is not where you want it to be – because watching TV in your spare time is the choice you made as opposed to doing something more constructive.

The only difference between those who become really successful in life and those who don’t is that they made the choice to use whatever time they had available to them to work towards achieving their goals.

I think this is a great wake up call for everyone – as it causes you to think “What am I really doing with my time? And is this what I really WANT to be doing with my time?”

If you’re doing what you want to do – then you should be happy and at peace with that.

If not – figure out what it is that will make you happy and find a way to start doing it.

We each have 24hrs in a day – you can either waste it, or use it constructively..the choice is yours and yours only.

Oh, and its original publication date? 1908.

I may sigh over Elaine St James’ references to “go-go 80s” and “us Boomers” in Simplify Your Life, but she focuses on the practical points of taking back your time, saying no to what you don’t want to do, making time for what you WANT to do — and doesn’t make me feel like I’ve been dragged to yet another MLM presentation.

A subtle, but important distinction.

Those of you complaining about your commute, kids, cooking, job, etc. — those are all choices you have made, so deal with it. Either stop complaining or make some changes. I am married with a small child and my husband and I both have careers. We split the household chores and parenting evenly. I wouldn’t have married someone who didn’t. Ladies, this is not 1950 — demand a little equality in your marriages!!

Furthermore, the author never once says not to spend time with your family or suggests that you work for another 8 hours. This book is focused on people who want to see a positive change in their life, and after reading all of these whiney comments, I would say most of you would benefit greatly from reading this book. It is filled with a ton of great ideas and many things I have never thought of. I am very happy with my life and still found this book to be an outstanding resource for me, so I am sure it will do wonders for those of you who are so unhappy and feel like you have no time.

Also, the author realizes that most people don’t have 8 hours – it is one of the first things he addresses – it is simply used as a broad term for the time one is not sleeping or working. I would think most people would “get” that.

Why don’t you check out Amazon.com’s reviews from people who have actually read the book. Also note it has been endorsed by Seth Godin, David Allen, Daniel Pink, Kim Barnouin, and other very smart, successful people.

I also read the author’s popular blog on CBS Moneywatch called Your Other 8 Hours, and truly enjoy it.

Personally, this framework got me thinking about my own other 8 hours, and how much of it is squandered by surfing the web for new gadgets and stuff to buy, watching streaming movies on Netflix, or doing addition 2-3 hours of work in the evenings. The opportunity costs include spending time playing with my two young sons or hanging out with my wife, or at the very least read a good book to learn something new, or pursuit my hobby of photography to create something new.

I continually am impressed with JD’s determination and discipline to make better use of his time and turning his finances around. And sharing his experiences to help others. Thanks for a great review, the book is on its way to my mailbox from Amazon!

But even though the name is misleading, and the first reflex is to feel kinda cheated by the title (“the other 8 hours?” you think “who the hell actually has 8 hours?”), the important thing to remember is that it’s about the concept.
Okay, for most people it might be one or two hours, still, it’s important to get these back and not realise at the end of the day that they flew by.

And what about the hours linked to work but when you don’t work? You can get them back, to. If you use public transportation, you can use the commute to read. My father drives to work but listens to audio books on the way, or spoken word CDs. I know someone who plays handheld games on the bus… That might not seem very productive, but it’s the only time she plays them, meaning that by the time she gets home she’s ready for more important things and doesn’t need to relax.

And if, like me, you have a long break, you can bring things along to work on during that break. It might not be ideal of course but it IS time and you can try and work with it rather than just lose it. For instance, there are audio language courses that have 20 minute lessons to take daily. I could have taken one every day during my lunch break, instead I complained that my time was wasted, and did nothing.

I think it’s important not to be too fatalistic, and try to see if there is anything you can do with your time. And if you really only have one hour or two and have not way to use the others, then get the most of these at least.

So yeah, the title isn’t very realistic, but the advice itself is interesting either way.

The best Time Management advice can be found in one of the first books on the subject from 1960. “How To Get Control Of Your Time And Your Life” by Alan Lakein. It is short, buzz term free, in most libraries and can be bought for $5.

It emphasizes priorities over squeezing more into less time.

Like Greg C said, in that 8 hours is recuperation time….preparing meals, relaxing, thinking.

Not everyone can be on the go until they go to sleep.

“Cre8tor” sounds dopey to me. Ten lashes for the editor who came up with it. Although I do like “LifeLeeches” applied to those mindless time wasting activities that suck the will out of those who know they could be using their time better.

I keep thinking of how Your Money or Your Life hooked me because it was about getting my life back, not throwing it away to chase some get-rich-quick guru. Or am I too jaded by family members who’ve preached everything from Amway to Shaklee to Mary Kay?

It’s all about choices and priorities. I watch tv. I use the internet ( I have to so I can eat). I also choose to spend a couple hours a day on preparing and eating meals, exercising, meditating, real quality time with the family,etc. Some of my time ( unfortunately) is spent on commuting to activities and rushing to get places. However, I make sure to make time for the things that really matter ( to me, your things may be different).

We all value certain things and then we prioritize. Watching TV could be someone’s priority, for whatever reason. Eating microwaved foodlike substances at your computer desk could be more important than enjoying other activities. Some people need to always be on the go. That’s up to you. But you can choose to use that time for other things.

The buzz terms and charts Covey used were gratuitous and they just served to obfuscate the material.

Either you have an original idea, way of presenting it or you don’t.

I play the LEGO videogames with my fiancee. And three of my guy friends and I have had a standing night for online games for almost four years now.

In both cases, however, it’s not about the game. When we have to skip a week (for holidays or scheduling purposes), I miss doing something with the guys. When my fiancee and I play games together, it’s cooperative puzzle solving and creates moments, comments, and jokes that crop up in the rest of our daily lives.

So I would suggest “Not So Important” activities matter when they’re done with someone who is important.

Important: writing more blogs, growing my Avon business, learning Dutch, drawing more
Not-So-Important: playing video games with Hubby, reading blogs I like, watching youtube videos

If I spent all my free time on the important stuff, and completely neglect the unimportant, it WOULD turn into an extra 8 hours of work. It takes a lot of self-discipline to one, make yourself prioritize, and two, make yourself..not skip the low-priority items on the list.

Sure, watching Youtube is less important, but it’s something I enjoy, and it adds something to my day to be able to take that time out for something that’s not necessarily important, but is enjoyable nonetheless.

There are those “do less, get more done” types that would poo-poo the idea of mulitasking, but if you focus on the time-sucks it might be very useful to mutlitask.

Growing up we had a tv in the kitchen. If you’re watching, you might as well prepare food or do dishes.
Commuting is the biggest “time suck” that I hate. I watched two parents have hour-long commutes their whole life, so I insist on living no more than 25 minutes away. Still, I use the time for NPR (dont watch tv news later on) and books on tape. It’s more relaxing than pop music stations. My husband takes the train instead of driving (longer time commute, but he can read, relax and exercise on his walk to the station).

One of my biggest motivations for pursuing self-employment is the ability to work from home.

Re: comments on how much time you have, yes, it’s only 8 hours if you have no family /friends commitments, no commute, don’t exercise, and so on. Not to mention that “outsourcing” cleaning, cooking, and errands is itself expensive and can contribute to making things more complicated than I want to deal with.

Finally: Do we really need yet another book on the concept of “are you using your time the way you want”? Does this book really include anything that wasn’t in The Tightwad Gazette, or Simplify Your Life, or Your Money Or Your Life? I mean, besides the stupid buzzwords?

What I’m amazed at is that some people still manage to get 8 hours of sleep per night. With a wife, two kids, and a cat sharing my house, I’m lucky to get 6 solid hours of sleep!

My first thought was to add up things like hygiene, food preparation, and commuting. I sure don’t feel like I am wasting 8 hours a day. I felt like it was maybe 2 hours a day. On the other hand – maybe with the weekends it averages to 8.

But after reading the comments I agree the message may really be: what are you spending your time on? What do you wish you had time to do? Replace the former with the latter and you will be better off.

However, I continue to disagree that the only way to wealth is to create artistic works, or be entrepreneurial. Entrepreneurial- or artistic-leaning people always say that. But for (some large)% of us, the reliable way to wealth is to work at a job you enjoy and save part of the paycheck.

Here are two examples from my own life.
1. I have been growing my hair out for over a year now. I thought I might like long hair again. It’s nice, but it takes me longer and longer to dry it in the morning (about 20 minutes currently). I’ve decided to cut it short again, to make life easier. That’s not to say I won’t have a cute hairstyle that requires styling, but I’ll save time there. It will also make my mornings less stressful.
2. I commute about 30 minutes each way. Before a trip to Paris, I checked out a series of French CDs from the library and listened to those on the road. It helped me bone up on my college French and didn’t take any more time out of my day. Anyone who is interested in a language and has a commute could do the same.