Tom Rath’s new book, Are You Fully Charged?: The 3 Keys to Energizing Your Work and Life, isn’t about college admissions. But any teenager who followed the advice would be happier, more successful, and a lot more appealing to colleges.
I’ve written many times before about the difference between just being busy and making an impact. When you’re too busy, it’s a lot harder to be remarkable.
Here’s Rath’s take on the subject:
“In this age of infinite information and endless distraction, it’s easy to spend an entire day reacting and responding…Manage your communications, online and offline, instead of letting them run your life. If you don’t you will inadvertently spend a majority of your time responding to other people’s needs instead of creating anything that lasts. Trying to do a little bit of everything leads to doing nothing of substance. When you let the demands of a day pull you in 20 different directions, they do exactly that—causing you to react to a bunch of small things instead of doing anything big.”