Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff At Work – Richard Carlson, Ph.D.
ADDexec summary:
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff at Work is a nice little book of advice and affirmations. Nearly one-third of the 100 entries have direct relevance to ADDexecutives (see examples below). However, many of the entries also contain ideas that are either counterproductive or overly simplistic for the adult with attention deficit disorder. It’s worth buying and reading for the good parts, but be prepared to discard many chunks.
Additional review:
An earlier ADDexecutive post quoted Carlson’s advice, “Accept the fact that there is almost always going to be someone mad at you.” For ADDexecs (who are often extra sensitive to criticism), this is very useful advice.
Unfortunately, Carlson’s good advice is often packaged in too many words:
The fact that someone is virtually always going to be mad or at least disappointed in you is inevitable because while you’re busy trying to please one person, you’re often disappointing someone else. Even if your intentions are entirely pure and positive, you simply can’t be in two places at one time.
Then again, for the ADDexec who skims and only reads half the words on a page, Carlson’s writing style may be perfect. *
Another criticism is that Carlson’s tips are sometimes too simplistic for the adult with attention deficit disorder, or just plain wrong. For example:
Item 72. Complete as Many Tasks as Possible
Wouldn’t it be easier to simply plan ahead and do whatever is necessary to get the job done – all the way done?
This is an easy habit to break. Take an honest look at your own tendencies. If you are someone who often almost finishes something, take note of the tendency and commit yourself to that last final completion. You can do it – and when you do, your life is going to seem so much easier.
If things were that simple for adults with ADD, the people who make Strattera and Adderall would be in big trouble.
In Item 39, “Get a really comfortable with using voicemail”, Carlson says:
I always chuckle when someone says to me, “Gee, you leave really long voicemail messages.” While it’s true that I sometimes do so, it’s a potentially stressful mistake to think of them as “long.” The truth is, even the longest voicemail messages, if they aren’t even remotely effective, are huge timesavers and excellent communication skills.
In most instances, the longest voicemail message, you can leave is around three minutes. In those three minutes, you can be very detailed, specific information, and respond carefully and accurately to specific questions or concerns, all the while allowing the other person the luxury of reflecting on your comments, hearing them several times, if necessary, and listening at their leisure.
This was lousy advice in 1998 when Carlson published this book. In 2007, with e-mail in common use, it’s just plain nuts.
Despite these criticisms, Carlson’s book does provide plenty of apt advice for the ADDexec, like:
5. Have some “no phone” time at work.
58. Don’t be too quick to comment.
76. Learn to say no without guilt.
42. Stop scrambling.
With ~1/3 of the book directly relevant to the ADDexec and another ~1/3 fairly useful for any business person, it’s not a bad buy. Especially since it’s broken up into 100 chapters with each tip as a chapter title. Especially if you skim.
Buy Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff at Work: Simple Ways to Minimize Stress and Conflict While Bringing Out the Best in Yourself and Others (Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff Series)
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*the ADDexecutive promises to reduce its own wordiness before long.
available used from $0.01.
from Amazon, used and new from $0.14 to $10.20.
, Barry Schwartz observes that at beyond a certain point, the privilege of having more choices becomes the burden of having too many choices. At this point, he writes:
