For all the benefits that come with the 21st century, the modern world has resulted in a society riddled with time wasting, procrastination and ennui. People - from enthusiastic school children to aged business managers live their lives, do their work, pursue hobbies and aspire to greater goals and dreams based around age-old ideas on how to manage their work, their time and themselves. The only problem is those ideas date back to the Industrial age and, to put it bluntly, they don't work any more in the fast paced, hectic 21st century. The result? Those hobbies, dreams and goals remain frustratingly unfulfilled. For a modern society that says you can do and aspire to be whatever you want, it sure doesn't back it up with modern ideas on how to achieve any of it.

Over the last century society has changed rapidly. The old advice doesn't work, conventional wisdom is lacking, the status quo is flawed and an increasing number of people are waking up to this fact. They are beginning to question how they approach life, with it no longer being enough to just work hard and play hard, blindly taking on more and more, with stress levels increasing in turn. A more sophisticated, intelligent approach is required for getting things done without all the added burdens of stress, lack of time and lack of focus. I call this philosophy Work Smart, Play Smart, and in this book I've collated five key principles for achieving stress-free living while surviving and thriving in the modern world.