Product Description

AN OVERFLOWING IN-BOX...AN OVERFLOWING SINK FULL OF DIRTY BREAKFAST DISHES...IS THIS WHAT THE EXPERTS MEAN BY "HAVING IT ALL"?

You've organized, prioritized, delegated, and simplified, and you still don't have enough time for your family, your spouse, your friends, your boss -- much less yourself! You're a veteran of the time-management wars, fighting for the life balance ideal -- and you're losing. So, short of quitting your job and running away from home, what do you do when you can't keep up? The answer, says Mary LoVerde, is to reach out and connect -- with loved ones, with colleagues, with yourself! Instead of wondering how you're going to get it all done, you'll master the connection solution by

• Asking FOUR SIMPLE QUESTIONS: A new way of figuring out what to do next

• Using MICROACTIONS: Teeny, tiny steps to propel you toward your goals

• Rethinking RITUALS AND TRADITIONS: Preserve what's important to you and your family, and get rid of the time-consuming things that everyone takes for granted

• Instituting POLICIES: Easy short-cuts sure to bring tranquillity into your daily life

• Making a MEMORY JAR: One of many creative ways to connect

If you're concerned about the quality of your home life, your work life, and your inner life, you're about to discover that connection works better than the fanciest daily planner you'll ever fall for. Toss out the to-do lists -- it's time to Stop Screaming at the Microwave...and connect!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #472442 in Books
• Published on: 1998-09-16
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Download Description
For the millions of people who tried time-management techniques, simplified their lives, nurtured their bodies and their souls, and still find themselves screaming at the microwave, this refreshingly practical guide shows how to create the life-enhancing connections that make the difference.

Amazon.com Audiobook Review
While many self-help books focus on how to organize, prioritize, and manage your time in order to operate at top efficiency, Stop Screaming at the Microwave takes a refreshingly different tack--slow down, start connecting with people, and learn how to feel good. This short but friendly abridged audiobook provides simple ideas to put you more in touch with your spouse, family, colleagues, and yourself, based on the philosophy that the more connected you are to others, the better you'll feel. Although you may have heard some of these ideas before, author Mary LoVerde reads them with an infectious enthusiasm that makes Stop Screaming a welcome change of pace for harried working people. (Running time: 1.5 hours, one cassette) --Sharon Griggins

Review
Jack Canfield

Coauthor, Chicken Soup for the Soul

What a wonderful collection of simple, practical ways to reconnect deeply with people that matter in your life. I highly recommend this book.

Linda Ellerbee

Americans are desperately seeking ways to be good workers and good family members at the same time. Mary LoVerde has some first rate solutions, and she understands that "one size does not fit all." This book is about "fanning your flame." So what are you waiting for?

Ken Blanchard

Coauthor of The One Minute Manager

Stop Screaming at the Microwave! is a must read for everyone! It will help you balance the complicated and stressful lives we are all leading today.

Sam Horn

Author of Tongue Fu!

Erma Bombeck's spirit lives on in Mary LoVerde's funny, insightful book on how to balance your personal and professional life -- without losing your mind or your sense of humor. The thought-provoking, life-changing suggestions are illustrated with real-life stories that keep the pages turning and the reader motivated. Men and women, young and old, single and married will all benefit from the author's ideas on how to lead a more congruent life, now, not someday.

Brian Tracy

Author of Maximum Achievement: Strategies and Skills That Will Unlock Your Hidden Powers to Succeed

Your ability to focus on the things that really matter will contribute more to our happiness than any other thing you do. This is a wonderful book that gives you a series of practical, proven methods you can use to get more living out of life.

Paul Pearsall

Author of Heart's Code and The Pleasure Prescription

An inspirational book, filled with charm, wisdom and wit, reminding us how much we all need each other.

J. Nathan Hill

President, Novus, Greenwood Trust Company

I have stopped screaming at the microwave! Thanks to Mary LoVerde for bringing this much needed piece of work into our lives.

Mary Jones

President, Assoc. of Operating Room Nurses Acadiana Chapter

Stop Screaming at the Microwave! has had a profound and lasting

effect upon my life. Don't miss this incredible book. It can change

your life also!

Ron Benirschke

Former NFL Man of the Year

Mary LoVerde is one of the really special people in life...her wit, wisdom and practical ideas are what we all need, and I can't recommend her book highly enough for all of us boomers trying to 'keep it all together'.

Customer Reviews

Life Balance
I read a great book on the weekend called, "Stop Screaming at the Microwave!" by Mary LoVerde. This book is not one that I would normally pick up and read, but since I heard Mary speak at an YPO event, I was duly inspired. Most of her lectures and most of the book is about life balance (one of the courses that I failed).

The interesting thing about the book is that it has a number of time management tips. I think this is great because one of the things that I often tell people when they question my high drive and push towards time management and efficiency is "good time management allows you to spend time doing what you choose to do". So if they want to be more balanced, they should stufy time management more.

One interesting vignette in her book was a story about something her daughter did and her daughter said, "You're not going to use this story in your talks, are you?" I get the same thing about blogging. You have to be careful now, I own the media.

One concept LoVerde talks about in her book are connections and the need to connect, and connecting deliberately. Again there is interesting analogies to this and business networking which she even speaks about. The gist of it is having a good number of connections can help de-stress your life.

One slide that I am adding to my time management seminar is one that Mary calls micro-actions or inch-by-inch. Instead of trying to tackle the whole project, just tackle a small part of it. Simply start the task and the rest goes from there. One example she uses in her book is, "Microactions can work in any field. My husband uses them with the high school students he counsels. Seventeen-year olds have a thousand ingenious reasons why they have not yet applied for college admission. Instead of harping on them to fill out the application and warning them of the dire consequences if they fail to act in time, he asks them to bring in a postage stamp. He instructs them first to lick the stamp (they roll their eyes) and then place it on an addressed envelope in his presence. He reminds them that everyone who has graduated from college first put a stamp on an envelope and mailed in the applications. The kids think his advice is so stupid they mail in the forms. What else are they going to do with the stamped envelope?"

Mary also talks about rituals as a way of grounding us and helping us to be centered. I often talk about habits that could also be referred to as rituals and we are the product of what we repeatedly do. She talks about creating possible rituals.

Many interesting parallels in this book to some of my tricks and habits. And don't worry, I wont get too laid back.

I would strongly recommend this book.

You gotta be kidding me...
I bought this book because I've got too much to do and too little time. The author's suggestion for how to prioritize, when faced with a choice of things I want to do, things I need to do, people I need to connect with? Choose "people" every time! Well, that is a lovely thought, but she doesn't give a whole lot of advice on how to keep the rest of your life from going to the dogs while you spend all your time playing touchy-feely with your loved ones. LoVerde's imaginative solution to her own time crunch was to stop cooking. Marvelous option if you can afford to eat out every day, and don't care much about nutrition. Not a workable option for most of us out here in the real world.

Several excellent ideas
Although we are swimming (perhaps drowning) in self help books in general -- and "how to live the good life" books in particular -- this book provided several excellent ideas which I had not seen in other books of its ilk. In this day and age, getting even one novel and useful idea out of a book is the exception rather than the rule.

Granted, there are many parts of this book which didn't apply to me (a great deal of it centers around spouse and children). But her ideas for a "Memory Jar," a "Feel Good File," and a "Policy statement" were worth the price of the book alone.

Although it won't change my life (that would be asking a lot from ANY book), I found "Stop Screaming at the Microwave" to be better than average.