Book Review: The Mind’s Toolbox

Bonnie Bawiec, author of The Mind’s Toolbox, got my attention right away. In her introduction, she says, “If I broke my leg and told you I was going to take a chainsaw and cut it off because I cannot walk, you would tell me that is too extreme, that my leg is fixable, that it might take time, but it will heal. Do not make a permanent decision because of a temporary problem, right?”

She gets right to the point — and keeps it that way for the rest of her sparse 50 page book! There is no lengthy introductory chapter, no case studies or excessive personal story threads. The Mind’s Toolbox is a clean-cut, seven-day workbook to help refocus your perspective and create an action plan for dealing with stressful situations. The contents are so concise that if I prattle on too long in this review I may exceed the amount of time you could spend actually reading the book!

There is no specific criteria for what kind of stressful situation Bawiec is referring to, but many of the questions and suggestions in the book are applicable across the board (death of a loved one, upcoming move, job hunting, divorce, etc.). Some of the highlights in each of the seven chapters include: monitoring your thoughts, appreciating negative memories and what they can teach you (but not ruminating on them), living the life you want, coping skills, positivity, and how to better use frustration as fuel.

When I previously mentioned “right to the point” I meant it. This isn’t a book filled with jargon or psychobabble. It’s got small flow charts, a handful of Q & A exercises, and each of the aforementioned is always preceded by a brief overview of what is to be reflected on that day. It’s more like reading a pamphlet than a novel, so you can follow the seven-day formula (reading a chapter a day) or, for eager beaver’s like me, you can read it in less than an hour and reflect on the larger scale in one sitting. Three pages into the book, I already found myself pressing the pause button and refocusing my thoughts in a more positive manner!

So if there are a ton of other self-help workbooks out there (a quick search on Amazon had 7,291 results), why bother with this one? In all honesty, the concise writing in this book is a welcomed change from workbooks that have page upon page of extra information. For those who want to get right down to business, this would be well worth a try. For others who have a short attention span, this workbook would fit the bill. If you want quick results, then just answer her short list of questions!

The best part is that you can come back to this over and over again. Busy workbooks can be demotivating. The questionnaires are long, you can’t find the exercise you want, they require longer explanations and they are time consuming. The Mind’s Toolbox is much more intuitive, like having a conversation with a good friend (only said friend happens to be you, and you happen to be listening to the advice you are giving yourself). It only takes seconds to find a Q & A section you want to review and a minute or two of reflection to help you reframe and refocus. Mindfulness is simplistic, so why can’t a mindfulness workbook be, too?

The Mind’s Toolbox
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, December 2015
Paperback, 50 pages
$10.00