My grateful thanks to Rupert Burley at Dynamic Agency for sending me a copy of Reframe the Day by Adam M. Lowenstein in return for an honest review.

Published by Silver Wood on 20th April 2020, Reframe the Day is available for purchase in all the usual places including directly from the publisher here.

Reframe the Day

Requests and to-dos bombard your phone and inbox, day and night. Information and distractions claw at your time and attention. You’re always busy, always searching for the finish line … or at least the pause button. Life feels like an endless series of “what’s nexts”—what’s the next meeting, task, obligation, goal, achievement?

Adam M. Lowenstein emerged from the nonstop, striving-obsessed world of American politics convinced that everyone, no matter who you are or what you do, has the power to build more fulfilling days. You don’t have to undertake a radical transformation. You don’t have to quit your job or move halfway around the world.

You can simply tweak how you approach each day. Find meaning in your daily burdens and commitments. Resist the allure of busyness. Make more time for what matters to you (and feel less guilty when you do).

In Reframe the Day, Lowenstein offers ten tips, tactics, and techniques for nudging your days in a more fulfilling direction. Combining concrete advice with tools for self-reflection, ‘Reframe the Day’ shows you how to reframe the way you see and spend your days and, over time, reshape your life.

My Review of Reframe the Day

One man’s insight into the manic world in which we live!

There’s an irony to my review of Reframe the Day. The book has been sitting staring at me with incredible accusation, waiting for me to read it and adding to the stress in my life that I can’t get everything done in the time I have. Ironically, had I picked up Adam M. Lowenstein’s book sooner, I might just have found a set of tools to assist me with that very stress! Reframe the Day is a readable, accessible and entertaining read that might just give readers permission to stop the world for a while and focus in the here and now.

Reframe the Day has a very fresh and innovative feel. Adam M. Lowenstein doesn’t profess to be an expert and this isn’t a contrived self-help book of the ‘do as I say, not as I do’ variety. Instead, the author offers a very personal and honest insight into some of the elements that have helped him deal with a frenetic lifestyle in a book that reads partly like a personal diary and partly like a university thesis and is interesting and engaging. As a British reader I do think some of the more North American references might have been better appreciated by other readers, but that didn’t adversely impact my absorption in Adam M. Lowenstein’s writing. Indeed, the text is backed by extremely well referenced end notes so that readers can investigate further.

There’s a super conversational style that I very much enjoyed. It does feel as if the author is speaking directly to the reader as he might a friend or colleague, and I loved the diffidence with which he explains that he hasn’t mastered every technique such as balancing FOMO, replying to emails and some notifications, or meditating effectively. I found myself agreeing or nodding on several occasions such as when Lowenstein comments, for example, that he is ‘more cognizant of my tendency to make plans to do things whilst resisting actually them’.

I finished Reframe the Day feeling as if I’d been reading about a kindred spirit and knowing that I have learnt some techniques to help me reframe my days. In particular, I’ve realised that I will ‘come up short’ against my own and other people’s standards and that is perfectly acceptable. That knowledge is quite a relief!

About Adam M. Lowenstein

Adam M. Lowenstein spent eight years working in American government and politics in the United States, most recently as speechwriter and strategic communications advisor in the United States Senate. Today, Adam lives in London with his partner, Erin, and writes frequently about politics, work, and life. For more information, follow Adam on Twitter @amlowenstein, or visit his website.