Taming the To-Do List: How to Choose Your Best Work Every Day

Written by Glynnis Whitwer

Narrated by Jennifer Scapetis-Tycer

No matter how hard women work or how much they accomplish in a day, there's lingering anxiety and guilt over what they didn't do. Glynnis Whitwer has identified what makes us feel so overburdened, and it's probably not what you think. Taming the To-Do List exposes a seismic shift in our society: from one in which most of us were proactive toward one where we now carry the burden of having to respond to every email, text, tweet, and message we receive. This major shift creates a cycle where everyone else sets the priorities for our days, rather than us designing our own lives.

Taming the To-Do List addresses this significant change in how we manage our time and the issue of procrastination from a woman's point of view. Combining practical, easy-to-apply advice with solid research and biblical truth, this book is a compassionate yet challenging message of hope for those struggling to choose their best work over busy work.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Oct 13, 2015
• ISBN: 9781494588199

Reviews for Taming the To-Do List

[stylo kiran · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

How to Clean and Organize Your House: Speed Cleaning, Decluttering, Organizing
Is an amazing audiobook! The audio quality is...

[Patricia Sorensen · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

In the first chapter, the author discusses, through the use of scripture, how procrastination is a sin. She reiterates this in the second chapter. She also discusses how bad choices and decisions are a result of us listening to Satan. I didn’t find any of that helpful to becoming less of a procrastinator. She did Talk about how we need to consider the cost of our bad decisions, which was an excellent point.She also discussed how, in general, as a society we are much more reactive than proactive. However, by chapter 4, I still Had not received any suggestions that would help me with my procrastination or better understand the roots of my procrastination. I was also tired of hearing how my procrastination indicated the disobedience to God’s will, so I quit listening. This seemed more like a lengthy sermon on procrastination thwarting God’s will rather than a book to help someone overcome procrastination.

[Lidia German · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love it ???Glory to God for woman of God that are a good example of His grace and mercy , With Jesus all things are possible.

[leann-362203 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What is the book about?

The title really threw me off just a little when I first saw it but the first chapter lays it all out for us beautifully! I clearly chose it based on the To-Do List aspect but was pleasantly surprised when I realized it is for those of us in this world that PROCRASTINATE!

Glynnis Whitwer, very clearly, shares her story and what brought her to write this book. She shares from a biblical perspective, throughout each chapter, reasons we may be procrastinating. She shares personal examples of how procrastination has harmed her along the way and kept her from doing things God has called her to do. She lays out ways to overcome this monster in our lives and how to live in victory and in God's will for our daily lives. It is one of the most practical books I have read in a very long time.

My reaction to the book...

The timing on this book, for me, was perfect and yet, here I am getting my review up late for this very reason... procrastinating. Clearly, this book was written for ME! LOL

I have some work to do with this book. As I begin the year 2016 I have some very logical and practical things I have gleaned from this book to push me forward. This book really fits beautifully with the Rubin book I read earlier this year on developing good habits but the aspect of God's word makes it even more convincing to me that I need to drop the procrastination once and for all.

If you are a procrastinator.... this is YOUR book, too.

My favorite takeaway comes on page 85...

"Our identity is NOT defined by our actions, and so we will never be a "failure" when our performance doesn't match our expectations. When we reassign the source of our value and worth to its rightful place, we will be free from the fear of failure or of the opinions of others.

The only thing that matters is what our heavenly Father thinks about us. We can rest knowing we are safe and secure in God's unconditional love."


I give this book 5 stars out of 5 for being a very practical and applicable for daily living.

This book was given to me at no cost from Baker Books Revell Division in exchange for an honest read and review of it's contents.

[staciele · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Are you constantly making to-do lists and moving the same items over week to week? Do you look at your to-do list and immediately do the easiest thing just so you can check something off? Do you put off projects and deadlines until the last minute?If you answered "Yes" to any of those questions, then my advice to you is to read this book. I was shocked while reading this book and realizing Whitwer was speaking directly to me. I am guilty of making to-do lists and constantly ignoring the bigger or harder tasks. It is much easier to finish the smaller and easier items and feel accomplished because I scratched off three or four things. But, the underlying problem is that I am really procrastinating on the bigger things I need to be doing.Whitwer makes this point because she too has avoided the bigger and harder projects. For years she found ways to avoid and make excuses for not writing this very book. But, by naming her issue, "procrastination", and then finding ways to work through those bigger tasks she obviously, was able to finish this book as well as a number of other elusive projects, Whitwer found she was less anxious, less overcommitted, and accomplished more by completing the steps she outlines in her book. Her first step was to remove some of her overwhelming commitments from her life and releasing the fear of letting those tasks go. Also, removing the perfectionist piece from any project allows more room for things to get done versus getting done perfectly.Her book of tips and advice applies to so many areas of my life. I never thought of myself as a procrastinator until I realized that is exactly what I am. Her tip for making a project list and then breaking each project down into its own task list was a "light bulb moment" for me. I have been moving the same tasks from my to-do list each week with no real intention of completing them. By, breaking each larger project up into steps allows me to not see it as such a huge project and inspires me to start and end each step along the way to actually finishing the whole project. Why I didn't figure this out before is beyond me.Whitwer is a Christian and bases a lot of her advice on wisdom from Scriptures. God's purpose for us is clearing detailed through the Bible and she relies on it to help her overcome her procrastinating tendencies. I found these passages reassuring and motivating as well.I will be keeping TAMING THE TO-DO LIST close by my desk, referring to it often when I am feeling overcommitted, anxious, and weighed down by projects. Her wise words of advice will be sure to push me to get the job done.Favorite Quotes:"Every yes to one choice is actually also a no to something else." Page 50"Excellence is possible in some things; perfection is possible in nothing. Excellence pushes us to do our best; perfectionism pushes us to be the best." Page 115