Freedom from Tyranny of the Urgent

by Charles E. Hummel

Book Overview

Winner of the 2004 ECPA Platinum Book Award

Is the clock a slavemaster or a tool that serves you?
Does the quantity of your responsibilities squeeze out the quality of your life?
Are urgent things so pressing that you don't have "inner time" to sort out what's really important?
How can you discern what God wants you to do?

Charles Hummel's classic booklet Tyranny of the Urgent has sold over one million...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0830812873
• ISBN13: 9780830812875
• Release Date: August 1997
• Publisher: IVP
• Length: 135 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

A Superb Title on Evaluating What Is Truly Important

"Freedom From Tyranny of the Urgent" was a great and enjoyable read and challenged me to seriously evaluate my priorities and schedule. With a family, full-time job, serving as an adjunct faculty at a local community college, serving at a local church, and with things to do around the house, I HAVE to think hard about what is important and what is urgent. Among the important points covered include: 1. Our problem is letting the urgent things take priority over the important things. 2. We are free only when we know and exercise the purpose for which we were created. 3. Who we are is more important to God than what we do. 4. Efficient vs. Effective prioritizing. 5. How to plan to say no to urgent plans and pleas. 6. Our increased pace of life has resulted in a decreased sense of direction and goals. 7. Learn to live in the present instead of the past or future (do not let the past drag you down, we are not guaranteed tomorrow). 8. God will guide our decisions and actions as we seek Him. 9. We will be released from much of life's tyranny when we learn to be quiet before the Lord (to this I say a hearty "AMEN" as I still struggle in this area). I will definitely refer to the title yearly and highly recommend the book to anyone who wants to have more of a sense of control over one's life from an admittingly Christian perspective. Read, enjoy, and be challenged to think about your priorities!

Freedom from Tyranny of the Urgent

In my openion this book is a must read for every Christian who has found themselves not having the "time" to accomplish what God has in a 24 hour day. The author does a fantastic job of using scripture to point out that Christ had urgent request before Him often but He did what the Father planned for Him to do. Jesus obeyed the Father with the plan His Father had choosen Him for.This book has taught me to carfully examine the time God has given me and pay close attention to the urgent, a cell call, email, whatever the urgent and make sure it is of God. Also the author helps you to evaluate your time in writing to see where you waist time. In doing this you creat time to accomplish the task you are called to and eliminate those "urgent" things that distract you. I highly recommend this book.

Unlike typical orginizational books

Several years ago, I bought this book for myself. It was a great help during a time of massive transition. Today, I am buying it for a friend. If you know that you don't have time for what is really important to you, but you aren't sure why or how to fix it - this book is like a ray of sunshine piercing through the clouds. Unlike typical organizational books this book does not focus on taming paper, cataloging information, to do lists or household choirs. This book does not assume that each reader is the same. But, this book does focus on the freedom to be in the center of God's will and how that applies to your life, one day at a time. An added plus for the time cruched person who needs this saged wisdom: the book is a relatively quick read. Today it is being placed on my annual must read list - I highly reccomend it.

Extraordinary Book that will Enrich the Life of the Believer

Hummel's "Freedom from Tyranny..." is a wonderful amplification of his booklet "Tyranny of the Urgent." Like its predecessor, the book encourages you to examine your life and realign your priorities by seeking to live a holy life. This book is a beautiful balance of illustrative vignettes, Scripture, and Hummel's thoughts.The book is very encouraging, uplifting, and peace-inducing. I've been leading a small group study in which we are slowly digesting the book and attempting, with God's help, to apply it. The group members unanimously love the book. They all feel uplifted and have remarked on Hummel's giftedness in encouraging us rather than making us feel guilty that we haven't mastered the topics yet.This book is a gift to yourself. I encourage you to read it with an open heart, then give a copy to loved ones.I've returned to order an additional five. That brings my total to 20 so far.God bless you.

Reclaim Your Time

This book is great for someone who is stressed out because they are always so busy dealing with the urgent that they find themself forgetting the important. While many books on time management are great for motivation - this one brings time management tips to you in a practical manner - with questions for reflection and application at the end of each chapter. There were two sections of this book that I found particularly helpful. One dealt with the difference between being efficient - and being effective. Before reading this, I had never realized that a person could show 100% efficiency in something but never have it be effective in helping anyone! The second section that helped me was a list of 7 tips and ways to say no. One of the most helpful tips was to learn to "go with your gifts" when making the choice between two good things. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn to reclaim their time.