Time to be productive

Description

In this digital age of speed, technology offers challenges as well as benefits. While we scramble to get things done among interruptions, distractions and incessant communications, our working day expands while our personal productivity shrinks. We need new strategies to remain effective in this digital age of speed.

Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right things. Excellence is doing the right things right. All three are threatened by this digital age of speed where the emphasis seems to be placed on doing things faster rather than on the significance of the things we do.

In Time to be productive, Harold Taylor identifies the strategies that are losing their impact, those that should be emphasized even more, and newer strategies based on the belief that the battle for personal productivity is shifting from the office to our minds.

By taking control of technology, managing email, reserving time for helicopter planning, scheduling “work breaks,” applying the sigmoid curve and the 90-minute rule, and following your body clock, you will be able to build a consistent habit of working productively each day.

Content

1. Man’s quest for increased productivity
   1. Time management beginnings
2. The changing environment in which we live and work
   1. A new environment requires newer strategies
   2. Speed is the new currency
   3. The hazards of speed
3. Understanding time management
   1. The difference between managing time and getting organized.
   2. Time management continuum
   3. Efficiency vs. effectiveness
   4. Don’t confuse busy work with real work
   5. Holistic time management
4. Planning – the key to a successful future
   1. Helicopter planning
   2. The Sigmoid Curve
   3. Vision
   4. Mission statement
   5. Personal policies
5. Shaping your future with goals
   1. Do you really need goals?
   2. What makes for effective goals?
6. Converting plans into achievements
   1. A planner is your most important time management tool
   2. Choosing a planner
   3. Time for a “work break.”
   4. Ten ways “To Do” lists can work against you.
   5. PDAs vs. paper planners
7. Managing technology
   1. Control technology without it controlling you
   2. Why isn’t productivity increasing?
   3. Technology is a double-edged sword
   4. Don’t get lost in the electronic jungle
   5. Is the Internet making us stupid?
8. Email: use it without it using you
   1. Email has become a 24/7 phenomenon
   2. Managing your email.
   3. What is your Reactive Ratio?
   4. Write email messages with your purpose in mind.
9. Keep your life in balance
   1. What is life balance?
   2. Signs your life is getting out of balance
   3. Ways to maintain balance in your life
   4. Juggling a career, home and family
   5. Simplifying your life
   6. Ways to simplify your life
   7. Don’t put off living
10. Books referenced
11. About the author