Overloaded? Ill bet you are.We all lead busy lives. You fall into bed exhausted at the end of the day, feeling that youve got a lot done. Perhaps youare getting lots done.

But is it stuff that really matters? Or is it juststuff?

Its time to wise up. You willnever clear that list.

Get used to the idea that some things will never get done. Not delayed. Not rescheduled. Not re-prioritized. But simply dropped.

And from now on, instead of trying to clear that endless to-do list, youre going to do a much smarter thing. Youre going tojust do the important stuff.

And the brilliant thing is, you already have the power to do this.

That power is todo less.

Soon enough, youll have the space to enjoy the moment, be creative, find new or better ways of doing things, get ideas, and spot opportunities you would have missed when you were running around.

In short youll be happier. Much happier.

As soon as youstop doing, the power of doing less will begin to flow.

The Sunday Business Post has describedFergus O'Connell as having 'more strings to his bow than a Stradivarius'.Fergus has a First in Mathematical Physics from University College Cork and is one of the world's leading authorities on project management. His company ETP (www.etpint.com) - and his project management method Structured Project Management / The Ten Steps have influenced a generation of project managers. In 2003 this method was used to plan and execute the Special Olympics World Games, the world's biggest sporting event that year. Fergus's experience covers projects around the world; he has taught project management in Europe, North America, South America and Asia. He holds two patents.Fergus is the author of twelve business books. The first of these,How to Run Successful Projects: The Silver Bullet, has become both a bestseller and a classic and has been constantly in print for over twenty years. His book on common sense entitledSimply Brilliant also a bestseller and now in itsfourth edition was runner-up in the W H Smith Book Awards 2002. His books have been translated into twenty languages.

TO THE HESITATING PURCHASER viii

OVERLOADED? ILL BET YOU ARE x

MAYBE ITS TIME FOR A CHANGE xiv

1 THIS PROBLEM IS REALLY SERIOUS 1

2 WHY TIME MANAGEMENT COURSES DONT WORK 13

3 YOU WILL NEVER GET EVERYTHING DONE 25

4 KNOWING WHAT THE RIGHT STUFF IS 41

5 FILTER ONE: TO DO OR NOT TO DO 63

6 FILTER TWO: DOING IT ON YOUR TERMS 89

7 DONT FEEL GUILTY 105

8 ITS ABOUT GOOD HABITS 121

9 THE HARVEST 133