Book Review: Don T Sweat The Small Stuff

Mitchell Clark
April 5, 2015
Senior Seminar
Irene J Hillman
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff From the author of the #1 national bestseller Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff Richard Carlson, PH.D comes Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff at Work. This book helps people find simple ways to minimize stress and conflict while bringing out the best in yourself and others. In this book Dr. Carlson provides his readers with 100 ways of working smart and healthy both physically and mentally. Just like all of the other self-help books, it helps you make the changes that you need to become a better person in the long run. All of the 100 tips that Dr. Carlson outlines in this book, it is more focus on your time at the workplace and not like the chicken soup for your soul.

I took this summary to two different people at work so that I could compare the results. The two people that I chose were Jeremy and Courtney. The reason I picked these two was that I have noticed that they carry their stress in a different way. Jeremy is the type of person that tends to not be affected by stress at work while Courtney on the other hand wears her stress on her sleeves it seems like. I let Jeremy look through the table of contents and he picked out several of the tips that stood out to him that he does every day to help lower his stress levels. His favorite chapter was, #99 Remember, Small Stuff Happens. He pointed out that this is just like the saying “shit happens,” and those problems should be seen as speed bumps to negotiate gracefully, not barriers to be resented. One should recognize that life is full of hassles, and that these should be handled in stride. One should lay off the ego, because constant comparison with others will only raise one's stress. Courtney on the other hand does not really handle her stress like Jeremy. She is the type of person that will start to crack when the pressure of the stress keeps building. Her favorite chapter was #28 Stay Focused In The Now. She believes that it is important not to put too much thought in what tomorrow holds because we truly don’t know what today will hold or if we even wake up

As I got through the first couple of chapters I started to get a little disappointed because it seemed like this book was just 100 little essays on tips to minimize stress and conflict. As I kept reading the book it started to make sense that it would be written like it has. Dr. Carlson wanted his readers to focus more on the smaller problems that get heavier as they build upon each other. Just like in chapter 99 he states to remember that the small things will happen every day in your life but it is important to keep going over those speed bumps and keep moving. Carlson also gives some practical pointers for minimizing work-related stress. For instance, if we feel hurried in the morning, we should get up earlier to give us more time to get ready for work. Long commutes to work, instead of being hated as a waste of time, should be profitably spent listening to books on tape. To avoid the stress caused by constant phone calls, we should have a "no phone" time when we don't answer the phone. Voice mail should be used more often. To dissipate general stress, we should spend ten minutes each day doing absolutely nothing. And, since vacation trips themselves can be stressful, we should spend more of our vacations puttering around at home or visiting local events and