It's difficult to ask anybody "how are you?" without hearing the word "busy" somewhere in their response. We feel overwhelmed by busyness because of the demands on our time: our inboxes and our to-do lists are bulging, a huge amount of people expect things from us and our organisations are trying to do more with fewer people. But it doesn't have to be that way.

In reality, busyness isn't essential. Yes, there is a lot to do, but believing you're always busy because you have so much to do is both false and unhelpful. Busyness is a normal response to a world of too much, but it isn't the only response.

In Busy Tony Crabbe draws on solid psychological research to address one of the great problems of modern life: we're too busy. But it isn't a time-management book. Rather than providing advice for increasing productivity and efficiency, it sets out four key strategies (corresponding to sections of the book) for thriving despite of the overload of too much:

1. Mastery - to move beyond busyness you need to regain a sense of mastery over your life. This section shows you how to build a sense of control back into your life, take responsibility for making choices and set boundaries to protect you from the flood of demands and information.

2. Focus - in a world of too much, success is not about doing more at work but about making an impact. This section outlines three ways to move to a career strategy that doesn't rely on productivity alone.

3. Engagement - busyness can cause you to disengage from the people, values and activities that are important to us. This section provides you with the three keys to reengaging with your work and life.

4. Momentum - part of the challenge to moving beyond busyness is that even if you agree you should make the change, you're too busy to find the time and energy to do anything about it. This section is dedicated to helping you make the change, creating the impetus, energy and clarity to move to a life less busy.