Buy BEFORE you start your dissertation!, 14 Aug 2006
I started my dissertation very late - too late - and bought this book to help me through. It's a very simple, uncomplicated book which helps you set out your dissertation in the right way and guide you through the process of planning it, writing it, and checking it.

Also, as it is written by an ex lecturer the advice is coming from the right sort of person. There is a checklist at the back of the book which helps you mark your own piece of work and check that you've done the basics. It also has some useful tips yo help you avoid the most common errors.

I managed to get a First for my dissertation, thanks largely to this book. But save yourself rushing about like I did if you can, and buy this simple little book early, before you start!

very helpful and it's in plain english, 18 Apr 2005
I bought this book alongside with other books on writing dissertations. I found this the most useful and helpful of the lot as it was written in a clear logical way that i could understand, there were no fancy words, complicated issues etc.

Throughout my dissertation it has provided me with guidance on what to write in certain sections of my work, not only that it has provided me with the structure of what a dissertation should look like. Overall it has kept me sane and I would definately recommend it to people who are undertaking a dissertation, plus it is at a reasonable price too.

Lets wait and see., 01 Jun 2004
I bought this book some time ago, knowing that i would have to choose a dissertation for when i go back to university in Sept 2004. The task is much more difficult as i am currently on placement in Westminster and my university is in Sheffield so its impossible to recieve any help/ advice on what i am supposed to do. I haven't read a book in at least 8 years and then that was a shakespear book for my GCSE's i think? Anyway this was the first book i have read in all that time and found it easy to get into. It had some nice tips and advice on how to choose the right subject. It was very limited in parts and after reading two thirds of the way into the book i got bored and just flicked through the rest - it was unhelpful for my subject of Business information systems as i think it is more aimed at social degree's and masters thesis students. I did take a couple of tips from it and feel that it was a good first book to read in order to progress onto other more MEATY titles, which will go more into depth about dissertation writing. I have Since gave the book to my girlfriend and read three other titles (becoming the proverbial book worm) - i hope she gets more from it than i did. I will see if it was helpful, when i begin my final year in Sept.

Very helpful!, 11 Feb 2004
I have used this book constantly whilst thinking about my dissertation and when doing the write up. Very helpful, and very informative!

If only I had bought it sooner..., 04 Jun 2003
This book is ideal for when you are first thinking about your dissertation. Unfortunely I panic bought it when I was doing the writing up, so it was unable to provide me with information that I didnt already know at that point. I will definitely pass it on to someone going into their final year as it is a good starting point.

Buy BEFORE you start your dissertation!, 14 Aug 2006
I started my dissertation very late - too late - and bought this book to help me through. It's a very simple, uncomplicated book which helps you set out your dissertation in the right way and guide you through the process of planning it, writing it, and checking it.

Also, as it is written by an ex lecturer the advice is coming from the right sort of person. There is a checklist at the back of the book which helps you mark your own piece of work and check that you've done the basics. It also has some useful tips yo help you avoid the most common errors.

I managed to get a First for my dissertation, thanks largely to this book. But save yourself rushing about like I did if you can, and buy this simple little book early, before you start!

very helpful and it's in plain english, 18 Apr 2005
I bought this book alongside with other books on writing dissertations. I found this the most useful and helpful of the lot as it was written in a clear logical way that i could understand, there were no fancy words, complicated issues etc.

Throughout my dissertation it has provided me with guidance on what to write in certain sections of my work, not only that it has provided me with the structure of what a dissertation should look like. Overall it has kept me sane and I would definately recommend it to people who are undertaking a dissertation, plus it is at a reasonable price too.

Lets wait and see., 01 Jun 2004
I bought this book some time ago, knowing that i would have to choose a dissertation for when i go back to university in Sept 2004. The task is much more difficult as i am currently on placement in Westminster and my university is in Sheffield so its impossible to recieve any help/ advice on what i am supposed to do. I haven't read a book in at least 8 years and then that was a shakespear book for my GCSE's i think? Anyway this was the first book i have read in all that time and found it easy to get into. It had some nice tips and advice on how to choose the right subject. It was very limited in parts and after reading two thirds of the way into the book i got bored and just flicked through the rest - it was unhelpful for my subject of Business information systems as i think it is more aimed at social degree's and masters thesis students. I did take a couple of tips from it and feel that it was a good first book to read in order to progress onto other more MEATY titles, which will go more into depth about dissertation writing. I have Since gave the book to my girlfriend and read three other titles (becoming the proverbial book worm) - i hope she gets more from it than i did. I will see if it was helpful, when i begin my final year in Sept.

Very helpful!, 11 Feb 2004
I have used this book constantly whilst thinking about my dissertation and when doing the write up. Very helpful, and very informative!

If only I had bought it sooner..., 04 Jun 2003
This book is ideal for when you are first thinking about your dissertation. Unfortunely I panic bought it when I was doing the writing up, so it was unable to provide me with information that I didnt already know at that point. I will definitely pass it on to someone going into their final year as it is a good starting point.

One of the best books I have read, 04 Oct 2008
This is one of the best books I have read, it makes you re-evaluate your life and see that it is for now - not later as later may never come. He does go a bit too much ionto what he thinks you should do with your free time but overall loads to gain from this this book. It is especially suited to those who have an online business like he does and most of the reference companies are American so that foe me was a downside as if there were UK reference companies for outside fullfillment etc that would make it more worthwhile however worth buying and defo gives a different perspective to life and what it can be.

There is one poem in there towards the end that I thought was so powerfull, I have typed up and put on me fridge !!

The 4-Hour Work Week, 16 Sep 2008
After reading the reviews and skimming the book in a local bookstore I bought this book.
To be honest it isn't a bad read and some tips (like leaving a message on your email, focusing on outcomes before you have a meeting and outsourcing where possible) were quite interesting but the main drawback seemed to me that it was really just a book for management and sale people not real producers and "wealth creators"
If you are a factory worker making cars, computers widgets etc you have to be there full time you can't outsource that work.
If you are a doctor you need to be there more than 4 hours a week
A teacher, nurse, shop worker, bus driver, airline pilot (the list goes on and on) can't expect to be paid a full salary for a 10% workload.
It just reinforces my prejudices that we really don't need managers at all!!
Remember the space ship in hitch hikers guide that was full of management gurus and telephone sanitizers-- Now they could do a 4 hour week!!

The Wealth Coach Loved The 4-Hour Work Week, 02 Sep 2008
I really liked several things about this book, not least that Tim Ferris didn't make it all sound easy, but rather, showed us why it is important to find a way to be financially free. Driven, successful people often find it hard to just lie on a beach, and how would you just take off on your own if you have always had people around you.....it sort of put me off a bit - which could have been sabotaging my long term success! I've always struggled with the idea of what to do when I no longer have to stay in the UK, when the kids are grown up, but can travel the world drawing a passive income from my business.....well, thanks to Tim, now I know what I'm going to do, I'm going to have "purposeful holidays". I'm going to go and live for 3-6 months at a time in an area I've always liked the sound of, rent apartements rather than live in hotels, and learn how to do things, speak languages, help people. How cool is that thought? I highly recommend this book which complements the other wealth creation biggies like "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and "Think & Grow Rich", "One Minute Millionaire" etc. My only tiny niggle with the book was that Tim didn't go into too much detail about his path and challenges creating his own internet business and passive income, that would have been really interesting, but could form the basis for his next book perhaps?

A different view of work and life, 29 Aug 2008
I found this book great, not purely because of the actual content as a process to go through to reinvent your life, but more because it offeres such a different perspective and way of looking at life and people's priorities.

The process described is deceptively simple and challenging and there are some good points in there even if you don't make the whole jump. Plus there are some marevellous quotes along the way (I'm a sucker for quotations).

Reading this made me reevaluate how I prioritise work and life in general. I haven't gone the whole hog and joined the new rich (yet) but its already helped me with a more rounded view of the world and my part in it.

Creating the Life You Want to Live, 26 Aug 2008
This is an amazing book where I rediscovered the fact that life is short and not doing what you love is a waste of precious time. That being said not all jobs are rewarding or satisfying, but the energy and your self expression you bring to that job makes all the difference in the world. The ideas presented in this book are definitely not your traditional ones around the work place. Here Tim Ferris presents a whole new reality of what the work place can and has become for many people. One of discovering ways to work less hours, make more money and spent more time in activities outside of your workplace you like to do, ie traveling. You could say it's all about how you spend your time...quality vs quantity.

In reading Tim's book I was reminded of 2 brilliant authors named Ariel and Shya Kane who also present a non traditional approach to achieving and maintaining enlightenment without the previously conceived approach or need for years of working on yourself. Where you live life with a centeredness and ease no matter what life circumstances arise. The Kane's book titles include "Working on Yourself Doesnt Work: A Book about Instantaneous Transformation," "Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment" and "How to Create a Magical Relationship." I highly recommend all these books. Life is way too short to not be living it as your heart desires.

Buy BEFORE you start your dissertation!, 14 Aug 2006
I started my dissertation very late - too late - and bought this book to help me through. It's a very simple, uncomplicated book which helps you set out your dissertation in the right way and guide you through the process of planning it, writing it, and checking it.

Also, as it is written by an ex lecturer the advice is coming from the right sort of person. There is a checklist at the back of the book which helps you mark your own piece of work and check that you've done the basics. It also has some useful tips yo help you avoid the most common errors.

I managed to get a First for my dissertation, thanks largely to this book. But save yourself rushing about like I did if you can, and buy this simple little book early, before you start!

very helpful and it's in plain english, 18 Apr 2005
I bought this book alongside with other books on writing dissertations. I found this the most useful and helpful of the lot as it was written in a clear logical way that i could understand, there were no fancy words, complicated issues etc.

Throughout my dissertation it has provided me with guidance on what to write in certain sections of my work, not only that it has provided me with the structure of what a dissertation should look like. Overall it has kept me sane and I would definately recommend it to people who are undertaking a dissertation, plus it is at a reasonable price too.

Lets wait and see., 01 Jun 2004
I bought this book some time ago, knowing that i would have to choose a dissertation for when i go back to university in Sept 2004. The task is much more difficult as i am currently on placement in Westminster and my university is in Sheffield so its impossible to recieve any help/ advice on what i am supposed to do. I haven't read a book in at least 8 years and then that was a shakespear book for my GCSE's i think? Anyway this was the first book i have read in all that time and found it easy to get into. It had some nice tips and advice on how to choose the right subject. It was very limited in parts and after reading two thirds of the way into the book i got bored and just flicked through the rest - it was unhelpful for my subject of Business information systems as i think it is more aimed at social degree's and masters thesis students. I did take a couple of tips from it and feel that it was a good first book to read in order to progress onto other more MEATY titles, which will go more into depth about dissertation writing. I have Since gave the book to my girlfriend and read three other titles (becoming the proverbial book worm) - i hope she gets more from it than i did. I will see if it was helpful, when i begin my final year in Sept.

Very helpful!, 11 Feb 2004
I have used this book constantly whilst thinking about my dissertation and when doing the write up. Very helpful, and very informative!

If only I had bought it sooner..., 04 Jun 2003
This book is ideal for when you are first thinking about your dissertation. Unfortunely I panic bought it when I was doing the writing up, so it was unable to provide me with information that I didnt already know at that point. I will definitely pass it on to someone going into their final year as it is a good starting point.

One of the best books I have read, 04 Oct 2008
This is one of the best books I have read, it makes you re-evaluate your life and see that it is for now - not later as later may never come. He does go a bit too much ionto what he thinks you should do with your free time but overall loads to gain from this this book. It is especially suited to those who have an online business like he does and most of the reference companies are American so that foe me was a downside as if there were UK reference companies for outside fullfillment etc that would make it more worthwhile however worth buying and defo gives a different perspective to life and what it can be.

There is one poem in there towards the end that I thought was so powerfull, I have typed up and put on me fridge !!

The 4-Hour Work Week, 16 Sep 2008
After reading the reviews and skimming the book in a local bookstore I bought this book.
To be honest it isn't a bad read and some tips (like leaving a message on your email, focusing on outcomes before you have a meeting and outsourcing where possible) were quite interesting but the main drawback seemed to me that it was really just a book for management and sale people not real producers and "wealth creators"
If you are a factory worker making cars, computers widgets etc you have to be there full time you can't outsource that work.
If you are a doctor you need to be there more than 4 hours a week
A teacher, nurse, shop worker, bus driver, airline pilot (the list goes on and on) can't expect to be paid a full salary for a 10% workload.
It just reinforces my prejudices that we really don't need managers at all!!
Remember the space ship in hitch hikers guide that was full of management gurus and telephone sanitizers-- Now they could do a 4 hour week!!

The Wealth Coach Loved The 4-Hour Work Week, 02 Sep 2008
I really liked several things about this book, not least that Tim Ferris didn't make it all sound easy, but rather, showed us why it is important to find a way to be financially free. Driven, successful people often find it hard to just lie on a beach, and how would you just take off on your own if you have always had people around you.....it sort of put me off a bit - which could have been sabotaging my long term success! I've always struggled with the idea of what to do when I no longer have to stay in the UK, when the kids are grown up, but can travel the world drawing a passive income from my business.....well, thanks to Tim, now I know what I'm going to do, I'm going to have "purposeful holidays". I'm going to go and live for 3-6 months at a time in an area I've always liked the sound of, rent apartements rather than live in hotels, and learn how to do things, speak languages, help people. How cool is that thought? I highly recommend this book which complements the other wealth creation biggies like "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and "Think & Grow Rich", "One Minute Millionaire" etc. My only tiny niggle with the book was that Tim didn't go into too much detail about his path and challenges creating his own internet business and passive income, that would have been really interesting, but could form the basis for his next book perhaps?

A different view of work and life, 29 Aug 2008
I found this book great, not purely because of the actual content as a process to go through to reinvent your life, but more because it offeres such a different perspective and way of looking at life and people's priorities.

The process described is deceptively simple and challenging and there are some good points in there even if you don't make the whole jump. Plus there are some marevellous quotes along the way (I'm a sucker for quotations).

Reading this made me reevaluate how I prioritise work and life in general. I haven't gone the whole hog and joined the new rich (yet) but its already helped me with a more rounded view of the world and my part in it.

Creating the Life You Want to Live, 26 Aug 2008
This is an amazing book where I rediscovered the fact that life is short and not doing what you love is a waste of precious time. That being said not all jobs are rewarding or satisfying, but the energy and your self expression you bring to that job makes all the difference in the world. The ideas presented in this book are definitely not your traditional ones around the work place. Here Tim Ferris presents a whole new reality of what the work place can and has become for many people. One of discovering ways to work less hours, make more money and spent more time in activities outside of your workplace you like to do, ie traveling. You could say it's all about how you spend your time...quality vs quantity.

In reading Tim's book I was reminded of 2 brilliant authors named Ariel and Shya Kane who also present a non traditional approach to achieving and maintaining enlightenment without the previously conceived approach or need for years of working on yourself. Where you live life with a centeredness and ease no matter what life circumstances arise. The Kane's book titles include "Working on Yourself Doesnt Work: A Book about Instantaneous Transformation," "Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment" and "How to Create a Magical Relationship." I highly recommend all these books. Life is way too short to not be living it as your heart desires.

Excellent book, 01 Oct 2008
I used this in conjunction with the Experts Guide Job Interview DVD Job Interview Skills - Extended DVD & CD, and found them both to be indispensable.

Excellent guide to PDP, 09 Oct 2007
For students at school and university this is an essential guide. Personal and Professional Development Planning is key to making the most out of your experience in any educational institution. Employers are looking for much more that the diploma/degree that you emerge form Uni' with. You are required to be able to demostrate your skills and attributes as they apply to the work that you would be doing. Cottrell shows you how to draw these out, collect evidence and demonstrate what you have gained and achieved through your educational experience.



Lot's of detail, too much, not inspiring, 09 Feb 2006
i was dissapointed when i bought my copy of this book. it is set out very much as an academic text and not very user friendly. i was surprised by the style of book the author chose to do. mostly forms and questionaires to fill in, followed by some short paragraphs. it is very much the typical type of offering from an hr department when they are encouraging time management, or reflective practice. not inspiring or motivational at all. the content is ok, but reminded me very much of the type of exercise they gave us for professinal development courses at university. i did not get a lot from them either. thorough but left me dissapointed.

Buy BEFORE you start your dissertation!, 14 Aug 2006
I started my dissertation very late - too late - and bought this book to help me through. It's a very simple, uncomplicated book which helps you set out your dissertation in the right way and guide you through the process of planning it, writing it, and checking it.

Also, as it is written by an ex lecturer the advice is coming from the right sort of person. There is a checklist at the back of the book which helps you mark your own piece of work and check that you've done the basics. It also has some useful tips yo help you avoid the most common errors.

I managed to get a First for my dissertation, thanks largely to this book. But save yourself rushing about like I did if you can, and buy this simple little book early, before you start!

very helpful and it's in plain english, 18 Apr 2005
I bought this book alongside with other books on writing dissertations. I found this the most useful and helpful of the lot as it was written in a clear logical way that i could understand, there were no fancy words, complicated issues etc.

Throughout my dissertation it has provided me with guidance on what to write in certain sections of my work, not only that it has provided me with the structure of what a dissertation should look like. Overall it has kept me sane and I would definately recommend it to people who are undertaking a dissertation, plus it is at a reasonable price too.

Lets wait and see., 01 Jun 2004
I bought this book some time ago, knowing that i would have to choose a dissertation for when i go back to university in Sept 2004. The task is much more difficult as i am currently on placement in Westminster and my university is in Sheffield so its impossible to recieve any help/ advice on what i am supposed to do. I haven't read a book in at least 8 years and then that was a shakespear book for my GCSE's i think? Anyway this was the first book i have read in all that time and found it easy to get into. It had some nice tips and advice on how to choose the right subject. It was very limited in parts and after reading two thirds of the way into the book i got bored and just flicked through the rest - it was unhelpful for my subject of Business information systems as i think it is more aimed at social degree's and masters thesis students. I did take a couple of tips from it and feel that it was a good first book to read in order to progress onto other more MEATY titles, which will go more into depth about dissertation writing. I have Since gave the book to my girlfriend and read three other titles (becoming the proverbial book worm) - i hope she gets more from it than i did. I will see if it was helpful, when i begin my final year in Sept.

Very helpful!, 11 Feb 2004
I have used this book constantly whilst thinking about my dissertation and when doing the write up. Very helpful, and very informative!

If only I had bought it sooner..., 04 Jun 2003
This book is ideal for when you are first thinking about your dissertation. Unfortunely I panic bought it when I was doing the writing up, so it was unable to provide me with information that I didnt already know at that point. I will definitely pass it on to someone going into their final year as it is a good starting point.

One of the best books I have read, 04 Oct 2008
This is one of the best books I have read, it makes you re-evaluate your life and see that it is for now - not later as later may never come. He does go a bit too much ionto what he thinks you should do with your free time but overall loads to gain from this this book. It is especially suited to those who have an online business like he does and most of the reference companies are American so that foe me was a downside as if there were UK reference companies for outside fullfillment etc that would make it more worthwhile however worth buying and defo gives a different perspective to life and what it can be.

There is one poem in there towards the end that I thought was so powerfull, I have typed up and put on me fridge !!

The 4-Hour Work Week, 16 Sep 2008
After reading the reviews and skimming the book in a local bookstore I bought this book.
To be honest it isn't a bad read and some tips (like leaving a message on your email, focusing on outcomes before you have a meeting and outsourcing where possible) were quite interesting but the main drawback seemed to me that it was really just a book for management and sale people not real producers and "wealth creators"
If you are a factory worker making cars, computers widgets etc you have to be there full time you can't outsource that work.
If you are a doctor you need to be there more than 4 hours a week
A teacher, nurse, shop worker, bus driver, airline pilot (the list goes on and on) can't expect to be paid a full salary for a 10% workload.
It just reinforces my prejudices that we really don't need managers at all!!
Remember the space ship in hitch hikers guide that was full of management gurus and telephone sanitizers-- Now they could do a 4 hour week!!

The Wealth Coach Loved The 4-Hour Work Week, 02 Sep 2008
I really liked several things about this book, not least that Tim Ferris didn't make it all sound easy, but rather, showed us why it is important to find a way to be financially free. Driven, successful people often find it hard to just lie on a beach, and how would you just take off on your own if you have always had people around you.....it sort of put me off a bit - which could have been sabotaging my long term success! I've always struggled with the idea of what to do when I no longer have to stay in the UK, when the kids are grown up, but can travel the world drawing a passive income from my business.....well, thanks to Tim, now I know what I'm going to do, I'm going to have "purposeful holidays". I'm going to go and live for 3-6 months at a time in an area I've always liked the sound of, rent apartements rather than live in hotels, and learn how to do things, speak languages, help people. How cool is that thought? I highly recommend this book which complements the other wealth creation biggies like "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and "Think & Grow Rich", "One Minute Millionaire" etc. My only tiny niggle with the book was that Tim didn't go into too much detail about his path and challenges creating his own internet business and passive income, that would have been really interesting, but could form the basis for his next book perhaps?

A different view of work and life, 29 Aug 2008
I found this book great, not purely because of the actual content as a process to go through to reinvent your life, but more because it offeres such a different perspective and way of looking at life and people's priorities.

The process described is deceptively simple and challenging and there are some good points in there even if you don't make the whole jump. Plus there are some marevellous quotes along the way (I'm a sucker for quotations).

Reading this made me reevaluate how I prioritise work and life in general. I haven't gone the whole hog and joined the new rich (yet) but its already helped me with a more rounded view of the world and my part in it.

Creating the Life You Want to Live, 26 Aug 2008
This is an amazing book where I rediscovered the fact that life is short and not doing what you love is a waste of precious time. That being said not all jobs are rewarding or satisfying, but the energy and your self expression you bring to that job makes all the difference in the world. The ideas presented in this book are definitely not your traditional ones around the work place. Here Tim Ferris presents a whole new reality of what the work place can and has become for many people. One of discovering ways to work less hours, make more money and spent more time in activities outside of your workplace you like to do, ie traveling. You could say it's all about how you spend your time...quality vs quantity.

In reading Tim's book I was reminded of 2 brilliant authors named Ariel and Shya Kane who also present a non traditional approach to achieving and maintaining enlightenment without the previously conceived approach or need for years of working on yourself. Where you live life with a centeredness and ease no matter what life circumstances arise. The Kane's book titles include "Working on Yourself Doesnt Work: A Book about Instantaneous Transformation," "Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment" and "How to Create a Magical Relationship." I highly recommend all these books. Life is way too short to not be living it as your heart desires.

Excellent book, 01 Oct 2008
I used this in conjunction with the Experts Guide Job Interview DVD Job Interview Skills - Extended DVD & CD, and found them both to be indispensable.

Excellent guide to PDP, 09 Oct 2007
For students at school and university this is an essential guide. Personal and Professional Development Planning is key to making the most out of your experience in any educational institution. Employers are looking for much more that the diploma/degree that you emerge form Uni' with. You are required to be able to demostrate your skills and attributes as they apply to the work that you would be doing. Cottrell shows you how to draw these out, collect evidence and demonstrate what you have gained and achieved through your educational experience.



Lot's of detail, too much, not inspiring, 09 Feb 2006
i was dissapointed when i bought my copy of this book. it is set out very much as an academic text and not very user friendly. i was surprised by the style of book the author chose to do. mostly forms and questionaires to fill in, followed by some short paragraphs. it is very much the typical type of offering from an hr department when they are encouraging time management, or reflective practice. not inspiring or motivational at all. the content is ok, but reminded me very much of the type of exercise they gave us for professinal development courses at university. i did not get a lot from them either. thorough but left me dissapointed.

MIxed feelings, 07 Oct 2008
The questions in this book are, as a rule, harder than the UKCAT itself. As a primer, therefore, it is invaluable, but there is a fine line between challenging students and demoralising them.

And, yes, it contains too many errors.

However, I would recommend using it to prepare for the exam; if nothing else, it familiarises you with the style of the questions.

Many mistakes but some helpful hints, 04 Oct 2008
The book contains some useful tactics for time management and how each section will be layed out, but not a great deal more than the UKCAT website. The questions also contain quite a few errors (book is obviously rushed) which was a pain.
Sadly it is probably the only real book choice to purchase for this test but I would advise doing the mock tests on the UKCAT website..only purchase this item if you are truely struggling with what is being asked of you for each section of the test.

Questions badly set and many errors, 26 Sep 2008
This format of the book is tiny and contains many blank or near-empty pages. The writers should have set the book better so we don't have to turn so many pages to see what the graphs say etc. This makes it difficult to use.

I was also shocked to see how many errors the book contains. In the abstract reasoning section you spend hours trying to find a relationship between shapes and when you see the answer you realise that the shapes are missing some lines or other feature.

Finally, some of the questions are badly set. Again the abstract reasoning section is testimony to that. At the exam there is always some kind of relationship between the two sets. In the book there isn't, which makes the questions too difficult and unrealistic. Verbal reasoning section is okay though.

Great Book Better than Passing the UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) and BMAT, 23 Sep 2008
This book is definately a great aid for the UKCAT and I found much better than Passing the UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) and BMAT.

The book is divided into the 5 sections of the exam which have practice questions with detailed answers and strategies.
Also at the end of the book there is a full practice test for timing purposes.

All in all the best book I have come across to prepare for the UKCAT

Best way to prepare for the UKCAT, 15 Jul 2008
Even though there's no actual way to revise for the UKCAT, the practical examples in this book give you a great idea about what to expect from the exam. Having full practice questions (which you don't get in most books like this) makes you feel a lot more confident about taking the exam and everything's well enough explained to let you understand the questions much better. I'm glad I bought it, now I've just got to get through the exam!

With first-chapter allusions to martial arts, "flow", "mind like water", and other concepts borrowed from the East (and usually mangled), you'd almost think this self-helper from David Allen should have been called Zen and the Art of Schedule Maintenance.

Not quite. Yes, Getting Things Done offers a complete system for downloading all those free-floating gotta-dos clogging your brain into a sophisticated framework of files and action lists--all purportedly to free your mind to focus on whatever you're working on. However, it still operates from the decidedly Western notion that if we could just get really, really organised, we could turn ourselves into 24/7 productivity machines. (To wit, Allen, whom the New Economy bible Fast Company has dubbed "the personal productivity guru", suggests that instead of meditating on crouching tigers and hidden dragons while you wait for a plane, you should unsheathe that high-tech sabre known as the mobile phone and attack that list of calls you need to return.)

As whole-life-organising systems go, Allen's is pretty good, even fun and therapeutic. It starts with the exhortation to take every unaccounted-for scrap of paper in your workstation that you can't junk. The next step is to write down every unaccounted-for gotta-do cramming your head onto its own scrap of paper. Finally, throw the whole stew into a giant "in-basket".

That's where the processing and prioritising begin; in Allen's system, it get a little convoluted at times, rife as it is with fancy terms, subterms, and sub-subterms for even the simplest concepts. Thank goodness the spine of his system is captured on a straightforward, one-page flowchart that you can pin over your desk and repeatedly consult without having to refer back to the book. That alone is worth the purchase price. Also of value is Allen's ingenious Two-Minute Rule: if there's anything you absolutely must do that you can do right now in two minutes or less, then do it now, thus freeing up your time and mind tenfold over the long term. It's common sense advice so obvious that most of us completely overlook it, much to our detriment. Allen excels at dispensing such wisdom in this useful, if somewhat belaboured, self-improver aimed at everyone from CEOs to football mums (who, we all know, are more organised than most CEOs to start with). --Timothy Murphy

Buy BEFORE you start your dissertation!, 14 Aug 2006
I started my dissertation very late - too late - and bought this book to help me through. It's a very simple, uncomplicated book which helps you set out your dissertation in the right way and guide you through the process of planning it, writing it, and checking it.

Also, as it is written by an ex lecturer the advice is coming from the right sort of person. There is a checklist at the back of the book which helps you mark your own piece of work and check that you've done the basics. It also has some useful tips yo help you avoid the most common errors.

I managed to get a First for my dissertation, thanks largely to this book. But save yourself rushing about like I did if you can, and buy this simple little book early, before you start!

very helpful and it's in plain english, 18 Apr 2005
I bought this book alongside with other books on writing dissertations. I found this the most useful and helpful of the lot as it was written in a clear logical way that i could understand, there were no fancy words, complicated issues etc.

Throughout my dissertation it has provided me with guidance on what to write in certain sections of my work, not only that it has provided me with the structure of what a dissertation should look like. Overall it has kept me sane and I would definately recommend it to people who are undertaking a dissertation, plus it is at a reasonable price too.

Lets wait and see., 01 Jun 2004
I bought this book some time ago, knowing that i would have to choose a dissertation for when i go back to university in Sept 2004. The task is much more difficult as i am currently on placement in Westminster and my university is in Sheffield so its impossible to recieve any help/ advice on what i am supposed to do. I haven't read a book in at least 8 years and then that was a shakespear book for my GCSE's i think? Anyway this was the first book i have read in all that time and found it easy to get into. It had some nice tips and advice on how to choose the right subject. It was very limited in parts and after reading two thirds of the way into the book i got bored and just flicked through the rest - it was unhelpful for my subject of Business information systems as i think it is more aimed at social degree's and masters thesis students. I did take a couple of tips from it and feel that it was a good first book to read in order to progress onto other more MEATY titles, which will go more into depth about dissertation writing. I have Since gave the book to my girlfriend and read three other titles (becoming the proverbial book worm) - i hope she gets more from it than i did. I will see if it was helpful, when i begin my final year in Sept.

Very helpful!, 11 Feb 2004
I have used this book constantly whilst thinking about my dissertation and when doing the write up. Very helpful, and very informative!

If only I had bought it sooner..., 04 Jun 2003
This book is ideal for when you are first thinking about your dissertation. Unfortunely I panic bought it when I was doing the writing up, so it was unable to provide me with information that I didnt already know at that point. I will definitely pass it on to someone going into their final year as it is a good starting point.

One of the best books I have read, 04 Oct 2008
This is one of the best books I have read, it makes you re-evaluate your life and see that it is for now - not later as later may never come. He does go a bit too much ionto what he thinks you should do with your free time but overall loads to gain from this this book. It is especially suited to those who have an online business like he does and most of the reference companies are American so that foe me was a downside as if there were UK reference companies for outside fullfillment etc that would make it more worthwhile however worth buying and defo gives a different perspective to life and what it can be.

There is one poem in there towards the end that I thought was so powerfull, I have typed up and put on me fridge !!

The 4-Hour Work Week, 16 Sep 2008
After reading the reviews and skimming the book in a local bookstore I bought this book.
To be honest it isn't a bad read and some tips (like leaving a message on your email, focusing on outcomes before you have a meeting and outsourcing where possible) were quite interesting but the main drawback seemed to me that it was really just a book for management and sale people not real producers and "wealth creators"
If you are a factory worker making cars, computers widgets etc you have to be there full time you can't outsource that work.
If you are a doctor you need to be there more than 4 hours a week
A teacher, nurse, shop worker, bus driver, airline pilot (the list goes on and on) can't expect to be paid a full salary for a 10% workload.
It just reinforces my prejudices that we really don't need managers at all!!
Remember the space ship in hitch hikers guide that was full of management gurus and telephone sanitizers-- Now they could do a 4 hour week!!

The Wealth Coach Loved The 4-Hour Work Week, 02 Sep 2008
I really liked several things about this book, not least that Tim Ferris didn't make it all sound easy, but rather, showed us why it is important to find a way to be financially free. Driven, successful people often find it hard to just lie on a beach, and how would you just take off on your own if you have always had people around you.....it sort of put me off a bit - which could have been sabotaging my long term success! I've always struggled with the idea of what to do when I no longer have to stay in the UK, when the kids are grown up, but can travel the world drawing a passive income from my business.....well, thanks to Tim, now I know what I'm going to do, I'm going to have "purposeful holidays". I'm going to go and live for 3-6 months at a time in an area I've always liked the sound of, rent apartements rather than live in hotels, and learn how to do things, speak languages, help people. How cool is that thought? I highly recommend this book which complements the other wealth creation biggies like "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and "Think & Grow Rich", "One Minute Millionaire" etc. My only tiny niggle with the book was that Tim didn't go into too much detail about his path and challenges creating his own internet business and passive income, that would have been really interesting, but could form the basis for his next book perhaps?

A different view of work and life, 29 Aug 2008
I found this book great, not purely because of the actual content as a process to go through to reinvent your life, but more because it offeres such a different perspective and way of looking at life and people's priorities.

The process described is deceptively simple and challenging and there are some good points in there even if you don't make the whole jump. Plus there are some marevellous quotes along the way (I'm a sucker for quotations).

Reading this made me reevaluate how I prioritise work and life in general. I haven't gone the whole hog and joined the new rich (yet) but its already helped me with a more rounded view of the world and my part in it.

Creating the Life You Want to Live, 26 Aug 2008
This is an amazing book where I rediscovered the fact that life is short and not doing what you love is a waste of precious time. That being said not all jobs are rewarding or satisfying, but the energy and your self expression you bring to that job makes all the difference in the world. The ideas presented in this book are definitely not your traditional ones around the work place. Here Tim Ferris presents a whole new reality of what the work place can and has become for many people. One of discovering ways to work less hours, make more money and spent more time in activities outside of your workplace you like to do, ie traveling. You could say it's all about how you spend your time...quality vs quantity.

In reading Tim's book I was reminded of 2 brilliant authors named Ariel and Shya Kane who also present a non traditional approach to achieving and maintaining enlightenment without the previously conceived approach or need for years of working on yourself. Where you live life with a centeredness and ease no matter what life circumstances arise. The Kane's book titles include "Working on Yourself Doesnt Work: A Book about Instantaneous Transformation," "Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment" and "How to Create a Magical Relationship." I highly recommend all these books. Life is way too short to not be living it as your heart desires.

Excellent book, 01 Oct 2008
I used this in conjunction with the Experts Guide Job Interview DVD Job Interview Skills - Extended DVD & CD, and found them both to be indispensable.

Excellent guide to PDP, 09 Oct 2007
For students at school and university this is an essential guide. Personal and Professional Development Planning is key to making the most out of your experience in any educational institution. Employers are looking for much more that the diploma/degree that you emerge form Uni' with. You are required to be able to demostrate your skills and attributes as they apply to the work that you would be doing. Cottrell shows you how to draw these out, collect evidence and demonstrate what you have gained and achieved through your educational experience.



Lot's of detail, too much, not inspiring, 09 Feb 2006
i was dissapointed when i bought my copy of this book. it is set out very much as an academic text and not very user friendly. i was surprised by the style of book the author chose to do. mostly forms and questionaires to fill in, followed by some short paragraphs. it is very much the typical type of offering from an hr department when they are encouraging time management, or reflective practice. not inspiring or motivational at all. the content is ok, but reminded me very much of the type of exercise they gave us for professinal development courses at university. i did not get a lot from them either. thorough but left me dissapointed.

MIxed feelings, 07 Oct 2008
The questions in this book are, as a rule, harder than the UKCAT itself. As a primer, therefore, it is invaluable, but there is a fine line between challenging students and demoralising them.

And, yes, it contains too many errors.

However, I would recommend using it to prepare for the exam; if nothing else, it familiarises you with the style of the questions.

Many mistakes but some helpful hints, 04 Oct 2008
The book contains some useful tactics for time management and how each section will be layed out, but not a great deal more than the UKCAT website. The questions also contain quite a few errors (book is obviously rushed) which was a pain.
Sadly it is probably the only real book choice to purchase for this test but I would advise doing the mock tests on the UKCAT website..only purchase this item if you are truely struggling with what is being asked of you for each section of the test.

Questions badly set and many errors, 26 Sep 2008
This format of the book is tiny and contains many blank or near-empty pages. The writers should have set the book better so we don't have to turn so many pages to see what the graphs say etc. This makes it difficult to use.

I was also shocked to see how many errors the book contains. In the abstract reasoning section you spend hours trying to find a relationship between shapes and when you see the answer you realise that the shapes are missing some lines or other feature.

Finally, some of the questions are badly set. Again the abstract reasoning section is testimony to that. At the exam there is always some kind of relationship between the two sets. In the book there isn't, which makes the questions too difficult and unrealistic. Verbal reasoning section is okay though.

Great Book Better than Passing the UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) and BMAT, 23 Sep 2008
This book is definately a great aid for the UKCAT and I found much better than Passing the UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) and BMAT.

The book is divided into the 5 sections of the exam which have practice questions with detailed answers and strategies.
Also at the end of the book there is a full practice test for timing purposes.

All in all the best book I have come across to prepare for the UKCAT

Best way to prepare for the UKCAT, 15 Jul 2008
Even though there's no actual way to revise for the UKCAT, the practical examples in this book give you a great idea about what to expect from the exam. Having full practice questions (which you don't get in most books like this) makes you feel a lot more confident about taking the exam and everything's well enough explained to let you understand the questions much better. I'm glad I bought it, now I've just got to get through the exam!

5th generation time management, 09 Sep 2008
This is a seminal book, which has in some ways been superseded by its own children. If you survey the Mac and PC software applications that offer help with time management, by far the most popular system implemented is Getting Things Done, or GTD for short.

GTD has been criticised for being no more than common sense. In a lot of ways this is both untrue, and unfair. More accurately, it's two simple ideas put together, and supported by a collection of useful ideas borrowed (with appropriate acknowledgement) from elsewhere. The two ideas are the idea of 'stuff', and what you do with it (collect, process, organise, review, do), and the idea of using (and relying on) a reliable filing system. It's backed up with other good ideas like brainstoming, mind-mapping, the 50,000 feet perspective, and other notions that you may have encountered in their original contexts, or in programmes like TQM.

GTD is less revolutionary than the 4th generation time-management that Stephen Covey introduced in 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. However, it's more powerful for most of us in the sense that you can implement it easily on a computer or a PDA. David Allen makes the most of the power of easy storage of information. If you're a computer user (and if you're reading this on Amazon, then chances are that you are), then this is by the far the most practical system, whether you use a specialist piece of software like Omnifocus, or just make the most of the built-in functions of Outlook or iCal.

This is the strength, and the weakness of this book: get one of the many software packages, read the help-file, and you may not need to read the book at all.

Just one more thing about Getting Things Done. As the author points out, this is really a book for people on the fast-track to improve their personal organisation. It's not going to make a great gift for someone else who you _think_ should get organised.

may be good for you but definitely bad for me, 07 Aug 2008
I've read this book three or four times around of May-June 2004, and then tried to implement into my work - without any significant success. Most probably this is book for inbox slaves and formal process worshippers, otherwise it might be not for your job-without-formal-description. In worst case trying to follow it took me actually spending _more_ time on things I used to do quicker. Most probably it might be valuable for you, but not for me, and I don't want to take inbox slavery job.

Good For All, 31 Jul 2008
Any information on being more organised and reducing stress in our lives is worth reading. Even people who are generally organised will gain benefits fom this book. We all have areas of our lives that could be more productive, less cluttered and more stress-free. Definitely worth a read.

How To Keep Your Man: And Keep Him For Good

Real Life Dramas - Volume One: 1

Darren G. Burton

Great - if you think this way, 04 Jul 2008
This book would appeal to people who like to keep their lives organised and are looking for ways to maximize efficiencies. For this demographic, this is a great book. It's a pretty short read and offers very practical solutions.

If you're not one of those people who needs to know where everything is, this book won't convert you.

Commonsense, 30 Jun 2008
It's amazing how much of this book is commonsense yet we still don't do the things that the author purports or follow through with what we know. Somehow, seeing things in print, they way he's written them down, helps a great deal.

This book is for everyone from the Chairman of the Board, to the common housewife, and all those in between. David Allen gives you some great metaphors for life and its problems, and great ways to organize your tasks at hand. The information is actually presented in a fun manner and you'll find those daunting lists of things to do a lot more easy to swallow in time.

The only hesitation I had with the book was the suggest that, instead of sitting around waiting (in an office, for a plane, etc) that we whip out our cell phones and make the calls we need to. While productive, I personally don't opt for this route. There's a little too much of that going on anyway. Other than that, a great book to help you get organized.

Buy BEFORE you start your dissertation!, 14 Aug 2006
I started my dissertation very late - too late - and bought this book to help me through. It's a very simple, uncomplicated book which helps you set out your dissertation in the right way and guide you through the process of planning it, writing it, and checking it.

Also, as it is written by an ex lecturer the advice is coming from the right sort of person. There is a checklist at the back of the book which helps you mark your own piece of work and check that you've done the basics. It also has some useful tips yo help you avoid the most common errors.

I managed to get a First for my dissertation, thanks largely to this book. But save yourself rushing about like I did if you can, and buy this simple little book early, before you start!

very helpful and it's in plain english, 18 Apr 2005
I bought this book alongside with other books on writing dissertations. I found this the most useful and helpful of the lot as it was written in a clear logical way that i could understand, there were no fancy words, complicated issues etc.

Throughout my dissertation it has provided me with guidance on what to write in certain sections of my work, not only that it has provided me with the structure of what a dissertation should look like. Overall it has kept me sane and I would definately recommend it to people who are undertaking a dissertation, plus it is at a reasonable price too.

Lets wait and see., 01 Jun 2004
I bought this book some time ago, knowing that i would have to choose a dissertation for when i go back to university in Sept 2004. The task is much more difficult as i am currently on placement in Westminster and my university is in Sheffield so its impossible to recieve any help/ advice on what i am supposed to do. I haven't read a book in at least 8 years and then that was a shakespear book for my GCSE's i think? Anyway this was the first book i have read in all that time and found it easy to get into. It had some nice tips and advice on how to choose the right subject. It was very limited in parts and after reading two thirds of the way into the book i got bored and just flicked through the rest - it was unhelpful for my subject of Business information systems as i think it is more aimed at social degree's and masters thesis students. I did take a couple of tips from it and feel that it was a good first book to read in order to progress onto other more MEATY titles, which will go more into depth about dissertation writing. I have Since gave the book to my girlfriend and read three other titles (becoming the proverbial book worm) - i hope she gets more from it than i did. I will see if it was helpful, when i begin my final year in Sept.

Very helpful!, 11 Feb 2004
I have used this book constantly whilst thinking about my dissertation and when doing the write up. Very helpful, and very informative!

If only I had bought it sooner..., 04 Jun 2003
This book is ideal for when you are first thinking about your dissertation. Unfortunely I panic bought it when I was doing the writing up, so it was unable to provide me with information that I didnt already know at that point. I will definitely pass it on to someone going into their final year as it is a good starting point.

One of the best books I have read, 04 Oct 2008
This is one of the best books I have read, it makes you re-evaluate your life and see that it is for now - not later as later may never come. He does go a bit too much ionto what he thinks you should do with your free time but overall loads to gain from this this book. It is especially suited to those who have an online business like he does and most of the reference companies are American so that foe me was a downside as if there were UK reference companies for outside fullfillment etc that would make it more worthwhile however worth buying and defo gives a different perspective to life and what it can be.

There is one poem in there towards the end that I thought was so powerfull, I have typed up and put on me fridge !!

The 4-Hour Work Week, 16 Sep 2008
After reading the reviews and skimming the book in a local bookstore I bought this book.
To be honest it isn't a bad read and some tips (like leaving a message on your email, focusing on outcomes before you have a meeting and outsourcing where possible) were quite interesting but the main drawback seemed to me that it was really just a book for management and sale people not real producers and "wealth creators"
If you are a factory worker making cars, computers widgets etc you have to be there full time you can't outsource that work.
If you are a doctor you need to be there more than 4 hours a week
A teacher, nurse, shop worker, bus driver, airline pilot (the list goes on and on) can't expect to be paid a full salary for a 10% workload.
It just reinforces my prejudices that we really don't need managers at all!!
Remember the space ship in hitch hikers guide that was full of management gurus and telephone sanitizers-- Now they could do a 4 hour week!!

The Wealth Coach Loved The 4-Hour Work Week, 02 Sep 2008
I really liked several things about this book, not least that Tim Ferris didn't make it all sound easy, but rather, showed us why it is important to find a way to be financially free. Driven, successful people often find it hard to just lie on a beach, and how would you just take off on your own if you have always had people around you.....it sort of put me off a bit - which could have been sabotaging my long term success! I've always struggled with the idea of what to do when I no longer have to stay in the UK, when the kids are grown up, but can travel the world drawing a passive income from my business.....well, thanks to Tim, now I know what I'm going to do, I'm going to have "purposeful holidays". I'm going to go and live for 3-6 months at a time in an area I've always liked the sound of, rent apartements rather than live in hotels, and learn how to do things, speak languages, help people. How cool is that thought? I highly recommend this book which complements the other wealth creation biggies like "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and "Think & Grow Rich", "One Minute Millionaire" etc. My only tiny niggle with the book was that Tim didn't go into too much detail about his path and challenges creating his own internet business and passive income, that would have been really interesting, but could form the basis for his next book perhaps?

A different view of work and life, 29 Aug 2008
I found this book great, not purely because of the actual content as a process to go through to reinvent your life, but more because it offeres such a different perspective and way of looking at life and people's priorities.

The process described is deceptively simple and challenging and there are some good points in there even if you don't make the whole jump. Plus there are some marevellous quotes along the way (I'm a sucker for quotations).

Reading this made me reevaluate how I prioritise work and life in general. I haven't gone the whole hog and joined the new rich (yet) but its already helped me with a more rounded view of the world and my part in it.

Creating the Life You Want to Live, 26 Aug 2008
This is an amazing book where I rediscovered the fact that life is short and not doing what you love is a waste of precious time. That being said not all jobs are rewarding or satisfying, but the energy and your self expression you bring to that job makes all the difference in the world. The ideas presented in this book are definitely not your traditional ones around the work place. Here Tim Ferris presents a whole new reality of what the work place can and has become for many people. One of discovering ways to work less hours, make more money and spent more time in activities outside of your workplace you like to do, ie traveling. You could say it's all about how you spend your time...quality vs quantity.

In reading Tim's book I was reminded of 2 brilliant authors named Ariel and Shya Kane who also present a non traditional approach to achieving and maintaining enlightenment without the previously conceived approach or need for years of working on yourself. Where you live life with a centeredness and ease no matter what life circumstances arise. The Kane's book titles include "Working on Yourself Doesnt Work: A Book about Instantaneous Transformation," "Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment" and "How to Create a Magical Relationship." I highly recommend all these books. Life is way too short to not be living it as your heart desires.

Excellent book, 01 Oct 2008
I used this in conjunction with the Experts Guide Job Interview DVD Job Interview Skills - Extended DVD & CD, and found them both to be indispensable.

Excellent guide to PDP, 09 Oct 2007
For students at school and university this is an essential guide. Personal and Professional Development Planning is key to making the most out of your experience in any educational institution. Employers are looking for much more that the diploma/degree that you emerge form Uni' with. You are required to be able to demostrate your skills and attributes as they apply to the work that you would be doing. Cottrell shows you how to draw these out, collect evidence and demonstrate what you have gained and achieved through your educational experience.



Lot's of detail, too much, not inspiring, 09 Feb 2006
i was dissapointed when i bought my copy of this book. it is set out very much as an academic text and not very user friendly. i was surprised by the style of book the author chose to do. mostly forms and questionaires to fill in, followed by some short paragraphs. it is very much the typical type of offering from an hr department when they are encouraging time management, or reflective practice. not inspiring or motivational at all. the content is ok, but reminded me very much of the type of exercise they gave us for professinal development courses at university. i did not get a lot from them either. thorough but left me dissapointed.

MIxed feelings, 07 Oct 2008
The questions in this book are, as a rule, harder than the UKCAT itself. As a primer, therefore, it is invaluable, but there is a fine line between challenging students and demoralising them.

And, yes, it contains too many errors.

However, I would recommend using it to prepare for the exam; if nothing else, it familiarises you with the style of the questions.

Many mistakes but some helpful hints, 04 Oct 2008
The book contains some useful tactics for time management and how each section will be layed out, but not a great deal more than the UKCAT website. The questions also contain quite a few errors (book is obviously rushed) which was a pain.
Sadly it is probably the only real book choice to purchase for this test but I would advise doing the mock tests on the UKCAT website..only purchase this item if you are truely struggling with what is being asked of you for each section of the test.

Questions badly set and many errors, 26 Sep 2008
This format of the book is tiny and contains many blank or near-empty pages. The writers should have set the book better so we don't have to turn so many pages to see what the graphs say etc. This makes it difficult to use.

I was also shocked to see how many errors the book contains. In the abstract reasoning section you spend hours trying to find a relationship between shapes and when you see the answer you realise that the shapes are missing some lines or other feature.

Finally, some of the questions are badly set. Again the abstract reasoning section is testimony to that. At the exam there is always some kind of relationship between the two sets. In the book there isn't, which makes the questions too difficult and unrealistic. Verbal reasoning section is okay though.

Great Book Better than Passing the UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) and BMAT, 23 Sep 2008
This book is definately a great aid for the UKCAT and I found much better than Passing the UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) and BMAT.

The book is divided into the 5 sections of the exam which have practice questions with detailed answers and strategies.
Also at the end of the book there is a full practice test for timing purposes.

All in all the best book I have come across to prepare for the UKCAT

Best way to prepare for the UKCAT, 15 Jul 2008
Even though there's no actual way to revise for the UKCAT, the practical examples in this book give you a great idea about what to expect from the exam. Having full practice questions (which you don't get in most books like this) makes you feel a lot more confident about taking the exam and everything's well enough explained to let you understand the questions much better. I'm glad I bought it, now I've just got to get through the exam!

5th generation time management, 09 Sep 2008
This is a seminal book, which has in some ways been superseded by its own children. If you survey the Mac and PC software applications that offer help with time management, by far the most popular system implemented is Getting Things Done, or GTD for short.

GTD has been criticised for being no more than common sense. In a lot of ways this is both untrue, and unfair. More accurately, it's two simple ideas put together, and supported by a collection of useful ideas borrowed (with appropriate acknowledgement) from elsewhere. The two ideas are the idea of 'stuff', and what you do with it (collect, process, organise, review, do), and the idea of using (and relying on) a reliable filing system. It's backed up with other good ideas like brainstoming, mind-mapping, the 50,000 feet perspective, and other notions that you may have encountered in their original contexts, or in programmes like TQM.

GTD is less revolutionary than the 4th generation time-management that Stephen Covey introduced in 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. However, it's more powerful for most of us in the sense that you can implement it easily on a computer or a PDA. David Allen makes the most of the power of easy storage of information. If you're a computer user (and if you're reading this on Amazon, then chances are that you are), then this is by the far the most practical system, whether you use a specialist piece of software like Omnifocus, or just make the most of the built-in functions of Outlook or iCal.

This is the strength, and the weakness of this book: get one of the many software packages, read the help-file, and you may not need to read the book at all.

Just one more thing about Getting Things Done. As the author points out, this is really a book for people on the fast-track to improve their personal organisation. It's not going to make a great gift for someone else who you _think_ should get organised.

may be good for you but definitely bad for me, 07 Aug 2008
I've read this book three or four times around of May-June 2004, and then tried to implement into my work - without any significant success. Most probably this is book for inbox slaves and formal process worshippers, otherwise it might be not for your job-without-formal-description. In worst case trying to follow it took me actually spending _more_ time on things I used to do quicker. Most probably it might be valuable for you, but not for me, and I don't want to take inbox slavery job.

Good For All, 31 Jul 2008
Any information on being more organised and reducing stress in our lives is worth reading. Even people who are generally organised will gain benefits fom this book. We all have areas of our lives that could be more productive, less cluttered and more stress-free. Definitely worth a read.

How To Keep Your Man: And Keep Him For Good

Real Life Dramas - Volume One: 1

Darren G. Burton

Great - if you think this way, 04 Jul 2008
This book would appeal to people who like to keep their lives organised and are looking for ways to maximize efficiencies. For this demographic, this is a great book. It's a pretty short read and offers very practical solutions.

If you're not one of those people who needs to know where everything is, this book won't convert you.

Commonsense, 30 Jun 2008
It's amazing how much of this book is commonsense yet we still don't do the things that the author purports or follow through with what we know. Somehow, seeing things in print, they way he's written them down, helps a great deal.

This book is for everyone from the Chairman of the Board, to the common housewife, and all those in between. David Allen gives you some great metaphors for life and its problems, and great ways to organize your tasks at hand. The information is actually presented in a fun manner and you'll find those daunting lists of things to do a lot more easy to swallow in time.

The only hesitation I had with the book was the suggest that, instead of sitting around waiting (in an office, for a plane, etc) that we whip out our cell phones and make the calls we need to. While productive, I personally don't opt for this route. There's a little too much of that going on anyway. Other than that, a great book to help you get organized.

Really not worth it., 27 Sep 2008
The guide kicks off with a lot of irrelevant information about general application to medical school, UCAS, personal statement writing etc - not useless by any means, but definitely not brilliant.

The real meat of the book is the practice questions, and I'm afraid to say that this is where it really falls over. The verbal reasoning questions are terrible, there are multiple typos, huge logical inconsistencies, many ambiguous questions and some of the answers are simply entirely wrong.

The other sections seem to be of a better quality, but on the basis of the second chapter, I really wouldn't bother with this book - no academic text (especially one with an emphasis on comprehension and critical thinking) should contain such elementary mistakes.

So far, so bad, 20 Sep 2008
I'm a magazine sub-editor and my flatmate is a patent attorney - we're both professional wordsmiths in our thirties. Following considerable analysis and debate (with diagrams!), we agree that there are flaws in the reasoning and the explanations of some of the verbal reasoning tests in this book. The logic applied also seems to be inconsistent across different questions. As a result, some of the questions seem ridiculously difficult.

The text also contains grammatical and typographic errors, which contribute to the sense of a badly produced guide.

The rest of the book may be more useful, but I am not impressed so far. It gets two stars because it could be worse!

Helpful for some sections, 26 Aug 2008
The book will help you mainly for the abstract reasoning and decision analysis. However the verbal reasoning section is terrible. A lot of the answers are wrong and provide invalid explanations.
Helpful? Some parts
Worth the money? No
Better alternatives? Buy the succeeding the UKCAT book.


OK-ish, 17 Aug 2008
I found the first section helpful, applying for Graduate Entry by myself means I haven't been told some of the things that I'm sure those applying straight from college will have about personal statements etc.

The questions were however too few and disproportionately difficult; though I guess being overprepared is better than under. There were also 3 errors (that I picked up on; there may in fact be more) but they were quie obvious ones so don't really impede on your learning.

Worth the £10 I paid just to feel a bit more prepared but not great.

Disappointing, 30 Jul 2008
Like most people, I bought this book for the practice questions in order to supplement those already available on the UKCAT website, as well as some useful tips on tackling the questions, managing time etc.

However, I was dissapointed to see that the majority of the book was taken up with material irrelevant to the UKCAT (e.g. all the stuff about med school application in general, and the BMAT). I also found the practice questions VERY hard, which is odd as the test itself was comparitively easy and I scored well over 700 on each section.

If you're sitting the UKCAT and can borrow a copy of the book, then go for it, you might get something out of it, but not worth buying.

Buy BEFORE you start your dissertation!, 14 Aug 2006
I started my dissertation very late - too late - and bought this book to help me through. It's a very simple, uncomplicated book which helps you set out your dissertation in the right way and guide you through the process of planning it, writing it, and checking it.

Also, as it is written by an ex lecturer the advice is coming from the right sort of person. There is a checklist at the back of the book which helps you mark your own piece of work and check that you've done the basics. It also has some useful tips yo help you avoid the most common errors.

I managed to get a First for my dissertation, thanks largely to this book. But save yourself rushing about like I did if you can, and buy this simple little book early, before you start!

very helpful and it's in plain english, 18 Apr 2005
I bought this book alongside with other books on writing dissertations. I found this the most useful and helpful of the lot as it was written in a clear logical way that i could understand, there were no fancy words, complicated issues etc.

Throughout my dissertation it has provided me with guidance on what to write in certain sections of my work, not only that it has provided me with the structure of what a dissertation should look like. Overall it has kept me sane and I would definately recommend it to people who are undertaking a dissertation, plus it is at a reasonable price too.

Lets wait and see., 01 Jun 2004
I bought this book some time ago, knowing that i would have to choose a dissertation for when i go back to university in Sept 2004. The task is much more difficult as i am currently on placement in Westminster and my university is in Sheffield so its impossible to recieve any help/ advice on what i am supposed to do. I haven't read a book in at least 8 years and then that was a shakespear book for my GCSE's i think? Anyway this was the first book i have read in all that time and found it easy to get into. It had some nice tips and advice on how to choose the right subject. It was very limited in parts and after reading two thirds of the way into the book i got bored and just flicked through the rest - it was unhelpful for my subject of Business information systems as i think it is more aimed at social degree's and masters thesis students. I did take a couple of tips from it and feel that it was a good first book to read in order to progress onto other more MEATY titles, which will go more into depth about dissertation writing. I have Since gave the book to my girlfriend and read three other titles (becoming the proverbial book worm) - i hope she gets more from it than i did. I will see if it was helpful, when i begin my final year in Sept.

Very helpful!, 11 Feb 2004
I have used this book constantly whilst thinking about my dissertation and when doing the write up. Very helpful, and very informative!

If only I had bought it sooner..., 04 Jun 2003
This book is ideal for when you are first thinking about your dissertation. Unfortunely I panic bought it when I was doing the writing up, so it was unable to provide me with information that I didnt already know at that point. I will definitely pass it on to someone going into their final year as it is a good starting point.

One of the best books I have read, 04 Oct 2008
This is one of the best books I have read, it makes you re-evaluate your life and see that it is for now - not later as later may never come. He does go a bit too much ionto what he thinks you should do with your free time but overall loads to gain from this this book. It is especially suited to those who have an online business like he does and most of the reference companies are American so that foe me was a downside as if there were UK reference companies for outside fullfillment etc that would make it more worthwhile however worth buying and defo gives a different perspective to life and what it can be.

There is one poem in there towards the end that I thought was so powerfull, I have typed up and put on me fridge !!

The 4-Hour Work Week, 16 Sep 2008
After reading the reviews and skimming the book in a local bookstore I bought this book.
To be honest it isn't a bad read and some tips (like leaving a message on your email, focusing on outcomes before you have a meeting and outsourcing where possible) were quite interesting but the main drawback seemed to me that it was really just a book for management and sale people not real producers and "wealth creators"
If you are a factory worker making cars, computers widgets etc you have to be there full time you can't outsource that work.
If you are a doctor you need to be there more than 4 hours a week
A teacher, nurse, shop worker, bus driver, airline pilot (the list goes on and on) can't expect to be paid a full salary for a 10% workload.
It just reinforces my prejudices that we really don't need managers at all!!
Remember the space ship in hitch hikers guide that was full of management gurus and telephone sanitizers-- Now they could do a 4 hour week!!

The Wealth Coach Loved The 4-Hour Work Week, 02 Sep 2008
I really liked several things about this book, not least that Tim Ferris didn't make it all sound easy, but rather, showed us why it is important to find a way to be financially free. Driven, successful people often find it hard to just lie on a beach, and how would you just take off on your own if you have always had people around you.....it sort of put me off a bit - which could have been sabotaging my long term success! I've always struggled with the idea of what to do when I no longer have to stay in the UK, when the kids are grown up, but can travel the world drawing a passive income from my business.....well, thanks to Tim, now I know what I'm going to do, I'm going to have "purposeful holidays". I'm going to go and live for 3-6 months at a time in an area I've always liked the sound of, rent apartements rather than live in hotels, and learn how to do things, speak languages, help people. How cool is that thought? I highly recommend this book which complements the other wealth creation biggies like "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and "Think & Grow Rich", "One Minute Millionaire" etc. My only tiny niggle with the book was that Tim didn't go into too much detail about his path and challenges creating his own internet business and passive income, that would have been really interesting, but could form the basis for his next book perhaps?

A different view of work and life, 29 Aug 2008
I found this book great, not purely because of the actual content as a process to go through to reinvent your life, but more because it offeres such a different perspective and way of looking at life and people's priorities.

The process described is deceptively simple and challenging and there are some good points in there even if you don't make the whole jump. Plus there are some marevellous quotes along the way (I'm a sucker for quotations).

Reading this made me reevaluate how I prioritise work and life in general. I haven't gone the whole hog and joined the new rich (yet) but its already helped me with a more rounded view of the world and my part in it.

Creating the Life You Want to Live, 26 Aug 2008
This is an amazing book where I rediscovered the fact that life is short and not doing what you love is a waste of precious time. That being said not all jobs are rewarding or satisfying, but the energy and your self expression you bring to that job makes all the difference in the world. The ideas presented in this book are definitely not your traditional ones around the work place. Here Tim Ferris presents a whole new reality of what the work place can and has become for many people. One of discovering ways to work less hours, make more money and spent more time in activities outside of your workplace you like to do, ie traveling. You could say it's all about how you spend your time...quality vs quantity.

In reading Tim's book I was reminded of 2 brilliant authors named Ariel and Shya Kane who also present a non traditional approach to achieving and maintaining enlightenment without the previously conceived approach or need for years of working on yourself. Where you live life with a centeredness and ease no matter what life circumstances arise. The Kane's book titles include "Working on Yourself Doesnt Work: A Book about Instantaneous Transformation," "Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment" and "How to Create a Magical Relationship." I highly recommend all these books. Life is way too short to not be living it as your heart desires.

Excellent book, 01 Oct 2008
I used this in conjunction with the Experts Guide Job Interview DVD Job Interview Skills - Extended DVD & CD, and found them both to be indispensable.

Excellent guide to PDP, 09 Oct 2007
For students at school and university this is an essential guide. Personal and Professional Development Planning is key to making the most out of your experience in any educational institution. Employers are looking for much more that the diploma/degree that you emerge form Uni' with. You are required to be able to demostrate your skills and attributes as they apply to the work that you would be doing. Cottrell shows you how to draw these out, collect evidence and demonstrate what you have gained and achieved through your educational experience.



Lot's of detail, too much, not inspiring, 09 Feb 2006
i was dissapointed when i bought my copy of this book. it is set out very much as an academic text and not very user friendly. i was surprised by the style of book the author chose to do. mostly forms and questionaires to fill in, followed by some short paragraphs. it is very much the typical type of offering from an hr department when they are encouraging time management, or reflective practice. not inspiring or motivational at all. the content is ok, but reminded me very much of the type of exercise they gave us for professinal development courses at university. i did not get a lot from them either. thorough but left me dissapointed.

MIxed feelings, 07 Oct 2008
The questions in this book are, as a rule, harder than the UKCAT itself. As a primer, therefore, it is invaluable, but there is a fine line between challenging students and demoralising them.

And, yes, it contains too many errors.

However, I would recommend using it to prepare for the exam; if nothing else, it familiarises you with the style of the questions.

Many mistakes but some helpful hints, 04 Oct 2008
The book contains some useful tactics for time management and how each section will be layed out, but not a great deal more than the UKCAT website. The questions also contain quite a few errors (book is obviously rushed) which was a pain.
Sadly it is probably the only real book choice to purchase for this test but I would advise doing the mock tests on the UKCAT website..only purchase this item if you are truely struggling with what is being asked of you for each section of the test.

Questions badly set and many errors, 26 Sep 2008
This format of the book is tiny and contains many blank or near-empty pages. The writers should have set the book better so we don't have to turn so many pages to see what the graphs say etc. This makes it difficult to use.

I was also shocked to see how many errors the book contains. In the abstract reasoning section you spend hours trying to find a relationship between shapes and when you see the answer you realise that the shapes are missing some lines or other feature.

Finally, some of the questions are badly set. Again the abstract reasoning section is testimony to that. At the exam there is always some kind of relationship between the two sets. In the book there isn't, which makes the questions too difficult and unrealistic. Verbal reasoning section is okay though.

Great Book Better than Passing the UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) and BMAT, 23 Sep 2008
This book is definately a great aid for the UKCAT and I found much better than Passing the UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) and BMAT.

The book is divided into the 5 sections of the exam which have practice questions with detailed answers and strategies.
Also at the end of the book there is a full practice test for timing purposes.

All in all the best book I have come across to prepare for the UKCAT

Best way to prepare for the UKCAT, 15 Jul 2008
Even though there's no actual way to revise for the UKCAT, the practical examples in this book give you a great idea about what to expect from the exam. Having full practice questions (which you don't get in most books like this) makes you feel a lot more confident about taking the exam and everything's well enough explained to let you understand the questions much better. I'm glad I bought it, now I've just got to get through the exam!

5th generation time management, 09 Sep 2008
This is a seminal book, which has in some ways been superseded by its own children. If you survey the Mac and PC software applications that offer help with time management, by far the most popular system implemented is Getting Things Done, or GTD for short.

GTD has been criticised for being no more than common sense. In a lot of ways this is both untrue, and unfair. More accurately, it's two simple ideas put together, and supported by a collection of useful ideas borrowed (with appropriate acknowledgement) from elsewhere. The two ideas are the idea of 'stuff', and what you do with it (collect, process, organise, review, do), and the idea of using (and relying on) a reliable filing system. It's backed up with other good ideas like brainstoming, mind-mapping, the 50,000 feet perspective, and other notions that you may have encountered in their original contexts, or in programmes like TQM.

GTD is less revolutionary than the 4th generation time-management that Stephen Covey introduced in 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. However, it's more powerful for most of us in the sense that you can implement it easily on a computer or a PDA. David Allen makes the most of the power of easy storage of information. If you're a computer user (and if you're reading this on Amazon, then chances are that you are), then this is by the far the most practical system, whether you use a specialist piece of software like Omnifocus, or just make the most of the built-in functions of Outlook or iCal.

This is the strength, and the weakness of this book: get one of the many software packages, read the help-file, and you may not need to read the book at all.

Just one more thing about Getting Things Done. As the author points out, this is really a book for people on the fast-track to improve their personal organisation. It's not going to make a great gift for someone else who you _think_ should get organised.

may be good for you but definitely bad for me, 07 Aug 2008
I've read this book three or four times around of May-June 2004, and then tried to implement into my work - without any significant success. Most probably this is book for inbox slaves and formal process worshippers, otherwise it might be not for your job-without-formal-description. In worst case trying to follow it took me actually spending _more_ time on things I used to do quicker. Most probably it might be valuable for you, but not for me, and I don't want to take inbox slavery job.

Good For All, 31 Jul 2008
Any information on being more organised and reducing stress in our lives is worth reading. Even people who are generally organised will gain benefits fom this book. We all have areas of our lives that could be more productive, less cluttered and more stress-free. Definitely worth a read.

How To Keep Your Man: And Keep Him For Good

Real Life Dramas - Volume One: 1

Darren G. Burton

Great - if you think this way, 04 Jul 2008
This book would appeal to people who like to keep their lives organised and are looking for ways to maximize efficiencies. For this demographic, this is a great book. It's a pretty short read and offers very practical solutions.

If you're not one of those people who needs to know where everything is, this book won't convert you.

Commonsense, 30 Jun 2008
It's amazing how much of this book is commonsense yet we still don't do the things that the author purports or follow through with what we know. Somehow, seeing things in print, they way he's written them down, helps a great deal.

This book is for everyone from the Chairman of the Board, to the common housewife, and all those in between. David Allen gives you some great metaphors for life and its problems, and great ways to organize your tasks at hand. The information is actually presented in a fun manner and you'll find those daunting lists of things to do a lot more easy to swallow in time.

The only hesitation I had with the book was the suggest that, instead of sitting around waiting (in an office, for a plane, etc) that we whip out our cell phones and make the calls we need to. While productive, I personally don't opt for this route. There's a little too much of that going on anyway. Other than that, a great book to help you get organized.

Really not worth it., 27 Sep 2008
The guide kicks off with a lot of irrelevant information about general application to medical school, UCAS, personal statement writing etc - not useless by any means, but definitely not brilliant.

The real meat of the book is the practice questions, and I'm afraid to say that this is where it really falls over. The verbal reasoning questions are terrible, there are multiple typos, huge logical inconsistencies, many ambiguous questions and some of the answers are simply entirely wrong.