Book Review: The Productivity Book by Michael Brecht

Michael Brecht, CEO of Doodle, an online scheduling tool, has created The Productivity Book, where he compiled interviews with experts to provide you with the tips and tools to increase your productivity.

Ever wondered what the secret is to productivity? Here’s a hint: there isn’t just one. Introducing the Doodle Productivity Book! Containing in-depth interviews with 30 of the world’s top productivity & time management experts, this book lifts the lid on the industry’s best kept tips and tricks. The result? An engaging and practical guide that will help you find your natural pace, so you can work smarter—not harder.

Excerpt:

CONCLUSION

Since the questions we asked opened a window into a day in the life of a productivity expert, we wanted our final conclusion to reflect this. So, here’s our summary of what a productive day should look like.

The perfect day starts the night before. Outline your goals. Whether this is a simple to-do list or time blocking, make sure tomorrow’s objectives are clear. Then sleep on it.

Everyone needs a different amount of sleep. Know what works for you and structure your schedule around that. Nearly all of our experts cited adequate rest as essential to maintaining productivity.

Wake up bright and early. Leave enough time to spend at least an hour and a half preparing for the day. Whether it’s reading, yoga, Pilates, running or simply thinking. Follow this with a healthy breakfast and you’re good to go.

Get to work. Now that you’ve prepared mentally, it’s time to take on the day. This period is when you’re at your most productive, so use it wisely. Let the calls go to voicemail, put your cellphone on silent and don’t answer emails. Emails are rarely worth your most energized and motivated moments. Unless it’s a creative meeting, don’t take it.

If you need time constraints, use a timer! Or the Pomodoro Technique.

Once you’re into the afternoon, time block to focus on admin and less important tasks like responding to emails and taking meetings. This will stop you from getting distracted and help you to focus on one thing at a time.

Because your brain is slower, this is the best part of the day to incorporate technology. So, start up your favorite tried and tested apps and use them to help you take notes, see your reminders, book appointments and whatever else is important. And remember, saying “no” can be more productive than “yes”.

By this point, you should have had a highly productive day. So, use the evening to relax with friends or family. But remember: A little planning the night before can go a long way toward having a successful, fulfilling tomorrow.

Review:

The Productivity Book is a helpful resource for those who wish to become more productive by learning how to work smarter, not harder. After a brief introduction, numerous interviews appear with a variety of productivity and time management experts. The book is rounded out with an engaging Afterword and Conclusion.

It's definitely interesting to learn how experts plans their days, what Apps they use, and what their predictions are for the future. As someone who hasn't always used a ton of Apps, I am glad to have a list of new ones to consider to increase my productivity. My slight criticism is that the interviews coming one after the other makes for some monotonous--though easy--reading. I would have liked to have seen more of the author's thoughts interspersed between the interviews. He is CEO of an online scheduling tool and must have a wealth of his own information to share.

The Productivity Book is loaded with great information, so it's definitely worth reading. The low cost of the book makes purchasing it a no-brainer. Pick it up and see what a difference it can make for you.

Links:

http://productivity-book.com/   

https://twitter.com/michaelbrecht?lang=de   

http://michaelbrecht.com/

Buy links:

https://itunes.apple.com/book/the-productivity-book/id1050616645?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4  

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-productivity-book-michael-brecht/1122830470  

https://store.kobobooks.com/ebook/the-productivity-book   

http://www.amazon.com/Productivity-Book-Professionals-About-Management-ebook/dp/B016UQV92K/

Book links:

http://www.businesszone.co.uk/decide/productivity/the-four-productivity-hacks-every-entrepreneur-needs#.VnRXHbQzHNM.twitter

http://realbusiness.co.uk/article/32236-seven-time-saving-apps-your-fellow-entrepreneurs-use-to-boost-productivity

https://sliwinski.com/productivity-book/

I received a free digital copy of this book from the author through Goddess Fish Promotions. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

Michael Brecht will be awarding 5 Doodle Premium Accounts for Free to randomly drawn winners via Rafflecopter

 during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I read this book for the following challenge:

Robert Patterson and Five Steps to C.A.L.M.

Robert Patterson joins us today as our special guest blogger. Robert is the author of Five Steps to C.A.L.M.: Career and Life Management. Having spent many years in the corporate world and several at a management level, when I heard about Robert's book my mind instantly wandered to resumes. Now that I've been a stay-at-home mother for five years, I wondered what, if anything, had changed in creating resumes; so I asked Robert to discuss resumes and the top five mistakes job seekers make when drafting their resumes.



Readable Format Resumes

Have resumes changed in the last five years? No.

Are they better now? No.

Are they more creative? A little.

Is that good? No.

If you want to know how to create and use a resume that will do the job for you, you've already bought the right book. It's not the most expensive, but the information is the right stuff, and you'll not find it anywhere else--as far
as we know.

Here's where they go wrong:

Mistake #1. They use the wrong typeface-usually a sans serif one--so the resume becomes 75 percent less readable.

Mistake #2. They use the wrong layout; they write across the page,
instead of in a narrower column, so that the resume becomes less readable.

Mistake #3. They use even or straight margins on both the right and left sides (instead of a ragged or uneven; margin on the right side, which is much better). The result is that the computer gains control of your all-important spacing, and the resume becomes less readable.

Mistake #4. They crowd everything into, one or two pages because
someone told you that "no one will read it if it's; longer than one or two pages."

NONSENSE!

The corrected statement is this: "No one will read it-if it is
not readable."

A crowded resume is much less readable.

Mistake #5. They spend hundreds of dollars on hiring a professional to write the resume for them, instead of taking the time and the care to prepare 90 percent of their resumes themselves. If you prefer, when you have completed 90 percent of the work, you can go to the professional, for much less money, to have either her or him put a finishing touch on it, to make suggestion, or to print it.

You can visit Robert Patterson online at www.rpatters.com.


The FIVE STEPS TO C.A.L.M. VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR '08 will officially begin on December 1 and end on December 23. You can visit Steven's blog stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com in December to find out where he is appearing!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors' blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available. The winner will be announced by Pump Up Your Book Promotion at the end of the month!

Ed Green and and Voice Over Training Class

Today's guest blogger is Ed Green, the industry's leading voice-over talent. Here Ed will share with us some tricks of the trade that he has included in his eBook Voice Over Training Class.

I worked at the craft until I became a powerful talent in the voice over industry. For many years, I have been the voice of major sporting event projects, motion picture trailers, and television narrations, as well as the voice for the most familiar commercial and product advertisers in America. My commercials have currently passed the 30,000 mark, and are still climbing. This includes my best-known work as an audio personality for Fortune 500 Corporations - working on their national campaigns while creating a unique image for internal corporate projects and shareholder meetings.

Hosting the advertising industry's annual ANDY and CLIO awards ceremonies is usually a once-in-a-career honor for voice-over talent. I have been fortunate to have presented both - several times. Now, I've decided to pass on the insights, secrets, and methods that I've learned throughout my thirty years of success to a whole new generation of VO talent. So if you want to be a real VO pro...an in-demand voice over performer in all kinds of commercials and productions in today's growing broadcast, cable, and digital communications industry...It takes a little talent, a lot of drive...and the insider's know-how that I can teach.

It's a solid, easy-to-follow program. Working at your own pace you'll learn how to use a microphone, reading and pacing skills, how to audition and market yourself, my EMOTE method, and much, much more that you'll never learn anywhere else.

Some tips I've learned through the years:

1. Voice quality is only one aspect of success in becoming a voice-over professional. You also need to be able to take someone else's words (the script) and make them sound like your own credible, persuasive and motivating personal statement.

2. It can take years of perfecting your talent and skills, marketing yourself with or without an agent before you reach a higher level of success. Some will tell you luck is important. In my experience, trying harder and smarter yields more results. I have found the key to my success to be a "contagious enthusiasm" for the work.

3.Once you’re in the game you should practice every day to improve and master your craft. By listening to radio and TV spots for styles, nuances and sounds—things that get your attention and impress you—you’ll find things you can incorporate into your repertoire to broaden your capability and underscore your distinctiveness. So you can become one of those voices that producers and casting directors think of first.

Birthing the Elephant by Karin Abarbanel and Bruce Freeman--Book Review

Are you considering leaving the corporate world behind to strike out on you own? Are you a woman who wants to create her own destiny? Do you wonder what to expect before, during, and after launching your business? Then Birthing the Elephant: The woman's go-for-it! guide to overcoming the big challenges of launching a business is a must have.

As the back cover of this amazing resource for potential and new entrepreneurs states, "Surviving the ups and downs of entrepreneurship takes more than a great business idea." And while most business books focus on how to get your business up and running, Birthing the Elephant is a step-by-step handbook on how to deal with the psychological and emotional aspects of launching a start-up. Filled with expert advice from successful entrepreneurs like cosmetics guru Bobbi Brown, designer Liz Lange, independent bookseller Roxanne Coday, and a host of other female entrepreneurs, you'll learn how to:

* Think and act like an entrepreneur
* Anticipate problems and overcome barriers to success
* Manage the four key stages of your launch
* Avoid the ten costly mistakes that new business owner often make

A true inspiration for aspiring and new entrepreneurs, Birthing the Elephant will put you on the right path and keep you there.

Each chapter ends with a series of Quick Tips that summarize the information from the chapter. Also included are numerous checklists of Action Steps to help the reader apply the concepts learned. Chapter 9 focuses on avoiding the ten biggsest pitfalls you might encounter with your start-up like "Pitfall#2: Not Getting the Right Help Early" and "Pitfall #9: Not Trusting Your Gut". This chapter is especially helpful when combined with all the reader has learned in previous chapters. The book also includes a list of resources for launching your business and a notes section.

A unique look at launching a business, Birthing the Elephant by Karin Abarbanel and Bruce Freeman is a must have for any woman who dreams of striking out on her own!


Title: Birthing the Elephant: The woman's go-for-it! guide to overcoming the big challenges of launching a business
Authors: Karin Abarbanel and Bruce Freeman
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
ISBN-10: 1-58008-887-2
ISBN-13: 978-1-58008-887-9
U.S. Price: $15.95

Read Karin's article from when she was a guest blogger at The Book Connection here.

The Art of the Business Lunch by Robin Jay

When I was asked to host Robin Jay and her book The Art of the Business Lunch: Building Relationships between 12 and 2 I wanted to do something different than what I usually do. So, this time around I asked Robin to come up with a hypothetical business lunch conversation and how it might play out.



A client lunch affords you the opportunity to build relationships, but also to provide greater service to your client in a social setting – which is somewhat more relaxed than a traditional office meeting.

You’ve just met your client at a restaurant. You are selling advertising for a radio station….they work for an advertising agency that buys advertising from you. Pleasantries are over and you’re both looking at the menu.

You: What looks good to you today?

Client: I'm leaning toward the steak salad….

You: Sounds great. I think I might go that way, too.

More chit chat…

Server takes your orders; brings soft drinks, water, bread.

You: So….What’s going on? What have you been working on lately?

Client: We recently got a new client.

You: REALLY? Who is it?

Client: The Fabulous ‘50’s Hotel & Casino.

You: What a great account! How’d you get it!?

Client: We pitched them along with three other agencies and they loved our concept!

You: What was it?

Client: We did a parody of “Happy Days” – the bartenders were in white T-shirts, the girls were in poodle skirts and ponytails…it really captured the era they wanted. We did tons of research on it and nailed every detail.

You: Awesome! What kind of advertising program do you think they’ll do….how can I help?

Client: We’re not really there yet. Why – what did you have in mind?

You: Well, having just heard about it, I need to brainstorm with our program director…but the concept is so much fun…I’m sure we can create some excitement. How about a remote broadcast at the resort…we could try to get the local Drive-In to participate. We could have roller-skating waitresses…we could get a big-name band from the ‘50’s…and we could have a contest to win a pink Cadillac! I am sure we could get several sponsors to come on board.

Client: That sounds awesome! We need to see what their budget is going to be. We have a big budget meeting on Friday.

You: Let me know how it goes. I’m sure that with some sponsors, we can make a huge splash in town! Hey – could we “cater” the budget meeting with ‘50’s food – chili dogs, burgers, shakes and fries? I could get them from the Sonic Drive in and drop them off. I think it would help you to make a big splash at what could otherwise be a stuffy budget meeting.

Server brings entrees.

You: This looks delicious! Have you ever had the steak salad here before?

Client: No, but you’re right – it looks great.

As the meal progresses, you continue to brainstorm “Fabulous ‘50’s” ideas not just for the grand opening, but also for an extended period of six months, to establish the new hotel & casino in the local market.

Throughout the meal, you maintain enthusiasm for the client, their projects and their client’s interests. You work hard to make your client look good to THEIR client by being there, offering suggestions and then follow-through and deliver support on your earlier suggestions.

When you are comfortable and confident and put your client’s interests first, a business lunch should flow smoothly. You’re not there to complain (or boast) about your personal life, your work life, or anything else going on in your life other than to say, “Everything’s great!” or a similar expression. You are there to help them do better business.

For more advice, read “The Art of the Business Lunch.” You’ll discover conversational topics to avoid, whether or not it’s okay to drink alcohol at a client lunch, how to ace a job interview business lunch and much more.

You can purchase your copy of The Art of the Business Lunch at Amazon.com To follow Robin's tour all month long, you can visit http://virtualbooktours.wordpress.com/. One lucky person who comments on any of her blog stops during the month of April is eligible to win a free copy of The Art of the Business Lunch.

This virtual book tour has been brought to you by: