Time to Parent: Organizing Your Life to Bring Out the Best in Your Child and You

by Julie Morgenstern Narrated by Julie Morgenstern

Overview

This program is read by the author.

The bestselling organizational guru takes on the ultimate time-management challenge-
parenting, from toddlers to teens-with concrete ways to structure and spend true quality time with your kids.

Would you ever take a job without a job description, let alone one that requires a lifetime contract? Parents do this every day, and yet there is no instruction manual that offers achievable methods for containing and organizing the seemingly endless job of parenting. Finding a healthy balance between raising a human and being a human often feels impossible, but Julie Morgenstern shows you how to harness your own strengths and weaknesses to make the job your own. This revolutionary roadmap includes:

A unique framework with eight quadrants that separates parenting responsibilities into actionable, manageable tasks-for the whole bumpy ride from cradle to college.
Simple strategies to stay truly present and focused, whether you're playing with your kids, enjoying a meal with your significant other, or getting ahead on that big proposal for work.
Clever tips to make the most of in-between time-Just 5-15 minutes of your undivided attention has a huge impact on kids.
Permission to take personal time without feeling guilty, and the science and case studies that show how important self-care is and how to make time for it.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

06/18/2018
Professional organizer Morgenstern systematically instructs parents on how to find more opportunities for family time with her proven techniques and real-life experiences. By learning to prioritize and stay away from time and energy traps and “low-value activities,” parents, she promises, can take control of their schedules and achieve balance. Morgenstern addresses the challenge in two sections: “Raising a Human Being: Doing Your P.A.R.T.” focuses on the four core responsibilities of child-rearing (provide, arrange, relate, and teach) and “Being a Human Being: Fueling Your S.E.L.F.” refers to four self-nurturing needs (sleep, exercise, love, and fun), each described and presented with instructive anecdotes about real families’ problems and solutions. Also vital are four time-management skills: “selective perfectionism,” resisting technology’s siren call, making mindful transitions between different child-rearing responsibilities, and delegating. Morgenstern’s clever maximum-minimum-moderate triage system parses time-consuming tasks into three levels of effort (for instance, for a child’s birthday, the maximum-minimum-moderate choices could be, respectively, baking a cake from scratch, buying supermarket cupcakes, and making cupcakes from a mix). Morgenstern successfully demonstrates how the organizational acumen displayed in her previous books can be usefully applied to the all-important job of parenting. (Sept.)

From the Publisher

You won’t find any corny categorization of time management personality types in her work, no Meyers-Briggs- or 5 Love Languages-type buckets into which people can slot themselves…But there are patterns Ms. Morgenstern has identified that can help people understand and improve the way they approach time management.”—The New York Times

“Morgenstern’s many fans will appreciate the organizational insights she brings to the parenting arena as well as the concrete ideas for finding more time for family and self-care.” —Library Journal *starred review*

"Julie Morgenstern provides what all parents need: realistic, practical strategies that will help them take better care of their children and—just as important—themselves." —Lisa Damour, PhD and author of Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood

"As we all know, parenting is a daunting task, but Morgenstern's bite-size, achievable goals and skill levels are simple to digest. Backed by scientific data and personal experience, the book is full of straightforward advice presented in an intriguing way...A multi-part, common-sense approach to parenting that addresses a wide variety of the issues parents face in their complex lives." —Kirkus Reviews

“Type-A parents, rejoice! Morgenstern brings her expert organizational and time-management tips and tricks to her first parenting book… This book is for everyone seeking balance while dealing with the reality of raising children of any age." —Booklist

School Library Journal

★ 11/01/2018

What more common emotion for parents to experience than doubt, says best-selling author Morgenstern (Organizing from the Inside Out). They must balance the impossible: raising humans and being human. Here, the professional organizer and time-management coach offers the book she craved as her children grew up, a guide to organizing the job of parenting that allows moms and dads to spend more time with their kids, partners, friends, and for self-care by carefully prioritizing their limited hours. According to the author, a lack of clarity often leads to time clutter, which hijacks our time, steals our focus, and results in neglect of not only our children but our own needs. A self-assessment section aids readers in zeroing in on strengths and struggles, with Morgenstern emphasizing a growth-and-presence perspective and providing a multitude of time-saving strategies across the age spectrum to combat the need for perfection that too often paralyzes parents. VERDICT Morgenstern's many fans will appreciate the organizational insights she brings to the parenting arena as well as the concrete ideas for finding more time for family and self-care.Julia M. Reffner, Richmond, VA

Kirkus Reviews

2018-05-28
A new method for taking on "the ultimate time-management project."In her latest self-help book, Morgenstern (SHED Your Stuff, Change Your Life: A Four-Step Guide to Getting Unstuck, 2008, etc.), an internationally recognized organization consultant who has appeared on Oprah, Today, and other outlets, tackles parenting. To make comprehension easier, the author uses acronyms to break down the subject into eight manageable areas: provide, arrange, relate, and teach, followed by sleep, exercise, love, and fun. The first four areas are geared toward the child, whether it's providing food and a home, sharing teachable moments, or arranging/scheduling a doctor's appointment. The second four sections are for parents, so they can experience life independent of their roles as mom or dad—and have it long before the child leaves the nest. Morgenstern provides readers with several assessment tests to help parents discover the areas where they might be under- or overperforming. "No matter how practiced you are at the eight responsibilities in P.A.R.T. and S.E.L.F., what's actually required of parents is the ability to continuously and seamlessly transition among all eight roles, and that's tougher than it looks," writes the author. "Like a master juggler who effortlessly tosses bowling pins…to a specific height at a specific arc and rhythm, so, too, must parents hone the essential time-management muscles that allow you to switch among eight roles while keeping every single one in motion." As we all know, parenting is a daunting task, but Morgenstern's bite-size, achievable goals and skill levels are simple to digest. Backed by scientific data and personal experience, the book is full of straightforward advice presented in an intriguing way. It will appeal especially to those who like to-do lists and find joy in checking off items as they are accomplished.A multipart common-sense approach to parenting that addresses a wide variety of the issues parents face in their complex lives.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169226584
Publisher:	Macmillan Audio
Publication date:	09/11/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged

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