People & Strategy Winter 2015 Vol. 38 Issue 1 - 64

Overworked and
Overwhelmed:
The Mindfulness Alternative

Author: Scott Eblin
Publisher: Wiley, 2013
Reviewer: Susan H. Gebelein

Never has an audience for a book been so well defined. Scott Eblin,
executive coach, speaker, and author, has written a book that express
how so many people feel: Overworked and Overwhelmed. Scott provides a clear recipe for people to redirect the course and pace of
their lives so that they are more present, more effective, and more
intentional in their personal, professional, and community lives. And
as a byproduct, they may actually live longer-and certainly with more
purpose and probably joy.
Clearly, the book is not for people who believe they thrive on stress
and multi-tasking, who thoroughly enjoy being over scheduled and
busy, or who take pride in being "on" 24/7, 365. Eblin provides
research on how busy and stressed people are these days and the
merits of mindfulness. There is less focus on research to convince
the reader that this overstressed life is not a good idea or that due
to the continually activated stress response in the brain, people
actually make poorer and poorer decisions. So, for those looking for
greater understanding of what neuroscience knows about leadership
and organizational performance, this is not that book.
What Eblin does do well is to introduce the concept of mindfulness
as a key practice to break out of the cycle of feeling overworked and
overwhelmed. He defines mindfulness as "awareness plus intention." He illustrates that mindfulness is not passive; rather,
mindfulness provides the ability to be more conscious, more present,
and more intentional. He also defines performance as "potential
minus interferences." Eblin views people who are not living intentionally or with mindfulness as limiting their potential by the "interference"
in their lives.
Scott then provides information about Life GPS, a personal planning
model that he and his wife developed to help focus on what is important. The book shares the steps to take to refocus one's life and
develop routines that enable people to "show up at their best." It

begins with figuring out what you are like "at your best person," and
then explores what prevents us from showing up at our best.
Eblin provides routines in the physical, mental, relational, and spiritual domains to help a person live their life "at their best person."
He uses clever images like personal operating rhythms and "killer
apps" to categorize his recommendations, and then provides stories
and examples to illustrate them. He even includes tips to keep the
promise to one's self to pay attention to and follow through on these
important routines.
As any book on mindfulness, breathing takes center stage as a way
to reduce clutter and stress. The value of breathing has a long and
rich history of research behind it. It is to Eblin's credit that he presents
deep breathing-or mindfulness breathing-as a key, useful routine,
but does not succumb to the excess of other popular writers and the
media that claim most of the world problems would be solved if
everyone practiced mindfulness. Eblin is also wise enough to know
that simply telling a person to breathe deeply does not make it happen. He sheares a number of resources to help the reader learn this
practice.
Sories about people who have been helped by this approach or who
have something to share about living intentionally are a strength of
the book. A favorite lesson learned was told by U.S. Coast Guard
Admiral Thad Allen, an excellent example of someone who deliberately approaches situations intentionally, whether it was dealing with
Katrina or other difficult situations he has been called in "to fix."
Eblins's anecdotes come primarily from business situations, mainly
CEOs and HR executives, but he also shares some oldies. And quite
frankly, if you do not know the Chinese farmer story that illustrates
you never know how things will turn out in the long run, I'd recommend
reading the book for that story alone. It provides perspective at times
of challenge and celebration.
Overworked and Overwhelmed is an easy read, good for an airplane
or the beach. You will get more from it if you take the time to use the
resources built into the structure. In addition to the GPS tools and
the tips and routines, the book is structured with learning points and
questions for reflection for the reader to use.
So if you want to feel less overworked and overwhelmed, or if you're
looking to recommend a resource for others who want to refocus their
lives, this book is it. It's not rocket science, but the book provides
practical methods to become more mindful and focused about one's
life and, in doing so, feel less out of control of it.

USING A POSITIVE LENS continued from page 63

* Relationships are an important catalyst for social change no
matter if the change occurs in the African countryside or
within a community health initiative.

Together with the introduction and conclusion, the four summary chapters provide a good synopsis of the key insights. The
reader who wants a deeper dive can explore the individual chapters. HR practitioners may be most interested in the sections on
change agents and on health care, given that these seem most
relevant to an organizational context.

* People are more likely to initiate change when they understand the interaction bet ween the individual and an
organization and are able to think refl ectively about their
contributions to an organization.

In sum, this is a theoretically oriented book that may be of interest
to HR professionals who are seeking ideas about how to engage
and empower employees. Most important, this book offers many
insights into how to create the conditions for social change, whether inside or outside the boundaries of an organization.

of responsibility, etc.), thus keeping the focus on forces for
change, rather than on forces of stability.

PEOPLE & STRATEGY

People & Strategy Winter 2015 Vol. 38 Issue 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of People & Strategy Winter 2015 Vol. 38 Issue 1