Book Review: Frazzled to Fabulous in 5 Minutes a Day by Tamara Donn

This month’s book was sent to me, very kindly, by author Tamara Donn, when they saw my request for books on Twitter. I try as much as possible to mix up the books that I share as part of my personal development reviews, and always welcome any that wouldn’t usually be part of my to-read list. I had heard of tapping before but hadn’t investigated it any further, so was interested to learn more about it via Donn’s book, “Frazzled to Fabulous in 5 minutes a day”. The fact that I was ready to read it in the latter part of 2022, as I entered the busy festive period, wasn’t lost on me!

So first, what is the book about? Let’s see what the blurb says:

Based around the EFT (emotional freedom techniques) or “tapping” this book can help you find out how to manage the juggle without feeling overwhelmed with a powerful 30-day system to lay the foundations for:

 a great relationship with your children
 being productive with your time
 abundant energy
 creating time out for yourself – without feeling guilty or undeserving.

All you need is at least 5 minutes a day to create a calmer, happier, easier life for you and your children.
What are you waiting for?”

I must confess, if I hadn’t been sent the book for free in exchange for an honest review, it’s unlikely I would have chosen it. That is not to say that it isn’t worth a read, but the cartoon design and its sole focus on mums would have put off picking it up. Having read it though, I can see that author and EFT Master Trainer Tamara is very clear about who she helps and why; in marketing terms, she has identified her client base!  The book is very accessible with a friendly and empathetic writing style, and the illustrations continue to lighten what are very serious topics.

This book is focused on the HOW. It’s very much a portable 30-day guide (with access to support and extra resources) to help you practise EFT including the scripts that you use when tapping specific parts of your body.  It seems to be an interesting combination of several techniques: acupuncture pressure points, movement, affirmations and reframing beliefs. All that I have at some point in my life used.

However, there is something about this that didn’t quite connect with me. I think my issue is that this book doesn’t tell me enough about the why from the beginning, I had no hypothesis to test. There are resources on the back of the book to find out more about EFT; personally, I would have liked to see these from the start, and in more detail. Through my own research since reading the book, I have uncovered the research on anxiety and PTSD using this technique with marked results.

Tamara is prepared for someone like me and includes aspects to challenge or overcome issues that come up during the 30 days; in fact, there is a troubleshooting section on the back to deal with people just like me (namely a tapping script “for people who don’t believe in EFT”.!  I feel “Frazzled to Fabulous” is better for someone who has already got a more solid grounding in the concept and is ready to move into regular practice.

If that is you, then I recommend you take the time (at least 30 days) that is recommended for this book. There is no doubt there is great value in sitting down each day and focusing on YOU. Understanding the impact of internal chatter, and how breath work can help with your physical symptoms of anxiety and overwhelm. The scripts within the book cover things including “Are you being pulled in too many directions?”, “Mother’s guilt” and “I am enough”  show that Tamara and I share the mission to make parents feel in control and calm and I don’t think there is anything harmful about the EFT approach, Whilst I’m still on the fence about this approach, and I am planning to keep the book close for those days that I need a reminder to be grounded and have a “word” with myself.

Have you read it, or had experience with EFT? I’d love to know your thoughts. Come over to Creating Careers to Enjoy to share them.