PRODUCTIVITY IS POWER

Rettig’s self-help book for undergraduates seeking to improve productivity.

In this guide, undergraduates are given strategies to increase “joyful productivity” and reduce challenges like procrastination, perfectionism, ineffectiveness, rejection, and time mismanagement. The author, a time management and productivity expert and teacher, centers her advice around five tenets: effectiveness, compassion, joyful work, resilience, and abundance. One of the major roadblocks to success is procrastination, which Rettig believes results from disempowerment: familial, societal, and transitional. The compassion section digs deeper into procrastination and its traits—negativity, grandiosity, and rigidity—and how to tap into one’s inner compassionate adult. Joyful work, she says, involves fostering creativity, embracing nonlinearity, and experimenting with new ways of doing things in general. Rettig also advises seeking healthy coping mechanisms, fostering empathy, and avoiding social media. Finally, the “abundance” section instructs readers on time management techniques; the author recommends investing two-thirds of one’s time into one’s mission and the remainder into “self-care and replenishing recreation.” Maintaining good boundaries, according to Rettig, can help students more effectively manage their busy schedules. The author combines her extensive knowledge with undergraduate-themed anecdotes to provide a balanced approach to collegiate challenges. Her casual tone (e.g., a chapter titled, “When Professors Screw Up”) and empathetic attitude will endear her to college students, and the chapters are short and easily digestible. Her expertise with this younger demographic is obvious. For example, she includes a helpful table that outlines the common productivity obstacles that students face, from freshman year to graduation. Rettig’s concepts are unique and often entertaining, like when she describes a project’s stages that include the “Honeymoon” (the overly optimistic beginning), the “Anti-Honeymoon” (the peak of disillusionment), the “Vast Middle” (trial and error), the “Home Stretch,” the momentary “Finale,” and “Sharing” (or handing it in). However, some of Retting’s tips may be unrealistic for young adults and digital natives, such as the suggestion to use two computers—one with WiFi disabled—during study time and “save minor online tasks—like looking up a date or writing a quick email—for your next online session.”

A practical and compassionate approach to common productivity challenges faced by college students.