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CrazyBusy
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CrazyBusy

Overstretched, Overbooked, and About to Snap! Strategies for Coping in a World Gone ADD

Edward M. Hallowell
Ballantine, 2006
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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Applicable
  • Engaging

Recommendation

Who better than a dyslexic psychologist specializing in Attention Deficit Disorder to list the ways modern life is making us all mentally ill? Edward M. Hallowell's breezy style and short, entertaining chapters are perfectly portioned for reading during the few calm moments in a hectic day. His sound advice is more than simple platitudes. Admit it: You're too busy to read this book right away, so you're reading the summary for now. What with your deadlines, commute and family commitments, you're reading the recommendation in the few seconds you have before you read e-mails, prepare for a meeting or pick up a carpool. Feel a jolt of recognition? getAbstract's diagnosis is that you need this book.

Summary

Two Paradoxes: Control and Connection

Millions of people are too busy, and they don't know how they got that way. No one sets out to be frantically busy, but people who end up frazzled, late and overwhelmed just accept it as a fact of modern life. Although working people are more productive than ever, the many drains on their time and energy actually keep them from enjoying the things that are most important. Here's the good news: You can make this fast, crazy world work for you instead of against you.

Even people who don't have Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) often experience such symptoms as feeling overloaded, having trouble tracking and completing projects, and getting frustrated and impatient. You may try to control every aspect of your life, only to end up feeling controlled by your duties and even your possessions. Accepting that you don't have complete control is the only thing that lets you work on what you do control. This acceptance leads to inner peace and joy.

The Internet and TV may create the illusion that you are connected with millions of people, but opportunities for live social interaction are dropping. Studies say isolation is as dangerous...

About the Author

Edward M. Hallowell, M.D., directs the Hallowell Center for Cognitive and Emotional Health in Sudbury, Massachusetts. Previously he taught at Harvard Medical School. He is the co-author of Delivered from Distraction: Getting the Most Out of Life with Attention Deficit Disorder and Driven to Distraction.

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