Donna McGeorge - The 1 Day Refund

5 About the author About the author Donna McGeorge makes work work . She is passionate about enhancing the time we spend in the workplace (too much, for many of us) to ensure it is effective and productive, and enjoyable. Donna has worked with managers and leaders throughout Australia and the Asia–Pacific for over 20 years. In 2020 she, like many of us, transitioned her work from live, in‐person to online. She delivers productivity programs, keynotes and webinars globally across a mix of industries. Her CV is as eclectic as her record collection (yes, classic vinyl). In addition to roles at Telstra, Qantas, Ernst & Young and Ansett, she has managed Theatre, Sports and Concert Tours for the UK‐based travel company Keith Prowse and been the Asia–Pacific Organisational Development Manager for the Ford Motor Company in Shanghai. Donna also shares her knowledge for good through appearances on The Today Show , radio interviews across Australia and writing articles for publications including The Age , Boss Magazine , Smart Company , B&T Magazine and HRM . The 1‐Day Refund is the third book in her ‘It's About Time' productivity series. The other two are The 25‐Minute Meeting and The First 2 Hours , published by John Wiley & Sons in 2018 and 2019 respectively. She runs her business from her home in Hope Island, South East Queensland, a region known for its world‐class beaches, but her most creative moments come while sipping tea on her balcony and gazing at the meandering waterways with her husband, Steve, and her dog, Prudence. Donna believes that while workplaces are complex, they are not hard. More often than not it's getting the simple things right, consistently, that has the greatest impact. She also knows that when we decide to be intentional, we can surprise ourselves with what we can achieve. www.donnamcgeorge.com

6 Acknowledgements Acknowledgements In 2018 I published my first ‘proper' book, The 25‐Minute Meeting . It was a super‐steep learning curve, and I couldn't have done it without the team who supported me. In 2019, just a year later, I published The First 2 Hours and, following the global pandemic, here I am in 2021, publishing my third book. Again, it has been a team effort. Lucy Raymond, Chris Shorten, Renee Aurish and the team at Wiley — thank you for offering me the opportunity to turn two books into a series and working hard with me to get the title and message right for this one. You have opened up my work to the world and I'm forever grateful. Kelly Irving — legend. We worked at a rocking pace for this one! I have come to rely heavily not only on your editing skill but on your intellect, your deep knowledge (no doubt from reading HEAPS of books) and your no‐nonsense approach to writing great business books. Blessed to have you in my world. Janine Garner — you loved my stuff so much you started sharing it far and wide before it was even fully developed in my head! Thank you for putting me in front of your valued inner circle and clients. Anne Marie — once again your honesty and humour in applying your exquisite knowledge of the Queen's English are appreciated and loved. It was during our regular morning walks, where I shared, mused and debriefed many of the concepts in this book. Thank you. Emma McGeorge — you continue to be the inspiration for much of my writing as I strive to create a better corporate working environment for everyone and, particularly, for you. I love you, my darling girl. And finally, there is nothing I could do in my professional or personal life without the loving support of my husband, Steve. Our location has changed since the last time I wrote acknowledgements for a book, but nothing else has. You are still of service. You still swap out empty cups of tea and bring me snacks without my noticing. I'm still blessed. Thank you, my love.

7 Introduction

8 How to use this book

9 Begin Reading

10 Final chapter bonus!

11 Your savings plan

12 Where to now?

13 Work with me

14 Sources

15 Index

16 End User License Agreement

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STOP what you're doing and read this. And then stop doing the things that are sucking your time, head space and creativity. Donna once again brings practical, fluff‐free guidance to regain space and time to spend on what matters most.

— Steph Clarke, facilitator, designer and podcaster(Steph’s Business Bookshelf )

Organisations have always asked ‘how do we get the most done in the shortest amount of time?’. The question for us as individuals is, ‘how can I best spend my own time?’ Donna makes work work and in this brilliant addition to her productivity series, she tackles the relationship between work and time, and shows us how to get a refund of our most valuable commodity – time.

— Matt Church author of Rise Up: an evolution in leadership and founder of Thought Leaders

We all remember a great teacher. Holding attention. Caring to make important matters practical and bringing joy to life. Donna is such a teacher. She brings care, attention and practicality into her teaching and writing about time, every time. In her latest book The 1‐Day Refund , Donna puts a powerful promise on the cover, that's not left hanging. It's great to know there's a bit of science behind the 85% that yields flow, Donna then delivers the ideas, tools and techniques to think differently about how we achieve this. How we govern time ourselves makes for a better leader in each of us.

The 1‐Day Refund completes Donna's ‘Trilogy on Time’ — it's a great bookend to her teaching and writing on being effective with the time we have available and making life better for everyone.

— Dr Richard Hodge, This Century Leadership and Governance, DrRichardHodge.com