Books about Simpler from Amazon.com

Connie Cox and Cris Evatt, the authors of Simply Organized have teamed up once again and created a new step-by-step guide to simplifying your life in only thirty days. Organized in a day-by-day format, the book offers simple steps which take in an hour or less to cut down on clutter Each section is followed by instructions for more in-depth simplifying each area (one's workplace, closets, vacation, or errand routines, a cluttered mind, and more), and a tip checklist is included for readers interested in "maximum simplification." Written in an inspirational style and a clear, down-to-earth format, 30 Days To A Simpler Life contains adages, anecdotes, and quotes from philosophers, designers, psychologists, financial planners, and other experts. The authors also include a guide to related books, newsletters, and websites to further assist readers in reaching their goal of simpler living .
Price: $5.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

In the classroom, activity-based costing (ABC) looks like a great way to manage a company's limited resources. But executives who have tried to implement ABC in their organizations on any significant scale have often abandoned the attempt in the face of rising costs and employee irritation. Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing is the solution to the problems associated with large-scale ABC implementation. In this book, Kaplan and Anderson offer a revised model where managers can estimate the resource demands imposed by each transaction, product, or customer, rather than rely on time-consuming and costly employee surveys.

In their new model, Kaplan and Anderson focus on the two parameters managers need to estimate: how much it costs per time unit to supply resources to the business activities (the total overhead expenditure of a department divided by the total number of minutes of employee time available) and how much time it takes to carry out one unit of each kind of activity (as estimated or observed by the manager). Rather than endlessly updating and maintaining ABC data, this book with allow managers to spend their time addressing the deficiencies the model reveals: inefficient processes, unprofitable products and customers, and excess capacity.

Kaplan and Anderson lead the discussion of Time-Driven ABC in the first seven chapters, followed by individual cases studies of actual implementations by Acorn consultants in diverse settings..
Price: $21.45 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This is the book for you if you've ever had the urge to tell off your boss, quit your job, hurl your Palm Pilot into the trash, and move to a farm. Written by bestselling stress consultant and psychotherapist Dr. Richard Carlson Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, it advocates the cultivation of a personal mindfulness and "thought navigation" to foster a sense of mental calmness and increased creativity and productivity.

With sage tips reminiscent of those in Jon Kabat-Zinn's Wherever You Go, There You Are, Carlson recommends a "Psychology of Mind" approach that involves being fully present in each situation and not letting the attitudes of others ruin your day. This way, your thoughts become more organized--wiser, if you will--and you get more work done without even trying. This time management trick is what he says will improve your life--not a cell phone or an electronic scheduler or a personal assistant. Carlson's advice can be taken to heart, as he's used these techniques to improve his own life. While he was working on his Ph.D., he rose at 4 a.m. and "gulped down ten or fifteen cups of coffee" each day just to get all his work done, and would bristle if family emergencies took him away from his studying.

Not only does Carlson promise to help boost one's productivity, but he says that relationships and intimacy will improve as well. He maintains that disagreements--at home or at work--are less likely to blow up into full-fledged arguments if you're being calm and levelheaded. "A mind operating at the speed of life can see things as they really are," he writes. "Slowing down gives you needed perspective during times of transition and stress. When you operate at the speed of life and your child desires privacy, you'll probably remember that almost all teenagers go through phases of wanting space from their parents....Rather than take it personally, you'll be able to see the bigger picture. If your mind is moving too quickly, events as well as your own thoughts about events become much larger than they really are."

For anyone fed up with life's chaos, Slowing Down to the Speed of Life should prove to be an immensely helpful mental health manual. --Erica Jorgensen.
Price: $3.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Following on the success of her first book, Make It Simpler Paper Piecing, Anita Grossman-Solomon is back with a new collection of 60 traditional 6" blocks that are easily assembled without using a single pin. Quilters will be amazed with the pinless, fold-and-sew technique and see-through vellum foundation paper that eliminate the need to cut units apart. Quilters will love seeing their blocks "unfold" with perfect points using this easy fold-and-sew technique.

Anita Grossman Solomon is an award-winning quilter and quilting instructor who invented "Make It Simpler" techniques to make quilting faster and easier. She lives in New York City..
Price: $15.42 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Strikingly different from most business books--it opens and closes with a pair of very powerful black-and-white photo essays, for example--A Simpler Way lays out a fascinating and productive reexamination of the traditional tenets of organizational behavior. Internationally known consultants Margaret J. Wheatley (Leadership and the New Science) and Myron Kellner-Rogers focus on the basic themes of play, organization, self, emergence, and notions of coherence to explore how people really systemize their existence. The authors draw upon science, poetry, philosophy, and other unconventional corporate resources to suggest a completely original method of working together. "There is a simpler way to organize human endeavor," they write. "It requires a new way of being in the world. It requires being in the world without fear. Being in the world with play and creativity. Seeking after what's possible. Being willing to learn and to be surprised."

While A Simpler Way may appear too New Age for some readers, this beautifully produced book hits the mark by bringing together an array of unexpected ideas as the authors look anew at established theories of human behavior to propose a decidedly unique way of promoting organization and achieving success. --Howard Rothman.
Price: $9.34 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Here are more than 30 traditional-style, 6" quilt blocks that are easy to assemble without using a single pin! Prepare to be amazed as Anita Solomon's pinless, fold-and-sew technique and see-through vellum foundation paper eliminate the need to cut units apart. Block patterns include stars, baskets, and houses, and come complete with step-by-step instructions for both basic paper piecing and Solomon's special techniques. Both complete novices and expert quilters will love this ingenious new take on paper piecing..
Price: $23.15 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Talented people in today's organizations waste an estimated 40% of their time on unnecessary cooperation, communication and control Old-fashioned skills are too expensive and too slow to use in complex companies. Speed Lead distills the experience of more than 35,000 people in over 200 leading companies. The resulting radical view has enabled organizations to unravel the spaghetti of complexity, reduce project cycle times, and curb the costs of unnecessary travel..
Price: $15.59 [Notify me when price goes down.]

"Consider fat to be Enemy Number One," proclaims exercise physiologist, biochemist, and nutritionist Ted Broer. "I don't care how you attempt to justify your excess fat to me, I won't buy your argument." Broer, who claims to have the fat-loss program that works for "virtually all people" and "for a lifetime," wants to reintroduce words like gluttony, self-indulgence, and sloth to our vocabulary. Don't look for any fat acceptance from this guy!

You'll find most of Broer's "12 Vital Keys to Maximum Fat Loss" in other weight-loss plans, such as "Set realistic goals and motivating rewards" and "Take in sufficient fiber every day." Directions you won't find elsewhere include eating six meals each day totaling no more than 10 times your ideal body weight in calories, doing 25 minutes of aerobic exercise first thing in the morning before eating, and taking fat-fighting supplements daily.

Broer, a motivational speaker, will rev you up to make changes. He wants you to count calories at first because most people have no idea how many calories they're eating. He recommends increasing low-fat protein and avoiding high-glycemic-index carbohydrates (foods that turn to sugar quickly, like wheat products and white rice). Get rid of all junk food and everything containing sugar. Eat no pork, shellfish, high-fat dairy, processed flour, margarine, cheese, fried foods, aspartame, or pizza ("the number one reason we have so many fat children and teens").

Broer admits that no supplements will help if you don't change your diet and exercise, but he still offers his "top 10 fat-loss supplements" and additional recommendations of supplements and herbs, including ephedrine, which has been cited as the cause of death in several widely publicized cases. Although he admits that ephedrine can be so dangerous that it is banned in several states, he tells readers how to get around the ban--which strikes this reviewer as unscrupulous and dangerous advice. By the way, don't fall for the "5 secret supplements that melt body fat" mentioned on the cover--there are no such miracles. --Joan Price.
Price: $9.86 [Notify me when price goes down.]

To enhance and sustain its lean journey, a company must implement information systems that fully support and enhance the lean initiative. In this book, Jean Cunningham and Duane Jones introduce a case study of an actual lean implementation involving an IT system of a mid-size manufacturer, highlighting the IT issues faced during lean transformation. The book suggests changes that will be required in an information system to make it a partner with, rather than a barrier to, a company becoming a lean manufacturer and ultimately a lean enterprise. It showcases opportunities that will arise for the information systems team to eliminate waste and apply lean principles in its own operations..
Price: $31.10 [Notify me when price goes down.]