The book I chose to read is Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen. David Allen is considered by Forbes Magazine to be in the top five executive coaches in the United States. He has over thirty years of experience in coaching some of the highest ranking executives in some of the biggest businesses in the United States. Time Magazine called this book, “the defining self-help business book of it’s time."
The book is broken down into three main parts and thirteen chapters and sub-sections. The first part is titled The Art of Getting Things Done. It contains information on societal shifts in the workplace and ways to manage work. Among his tips, he believes everyone should physically write down every task they must accomplish on a daily basis, whether they write it on paper or electronically. They must then make decisions based on length and importance and decide which tasks to accomplish and when to accomplish them. His main point of emphasis in this first chapter is that the mind becomes too cluttered and that short-term memory should be used to focus not store things. In chapter two, the author introduces his five keys or stages to controlling/managing workflow. They are (1) to collect, (2) process, (3) organize, (4) review and (5) do. He points to these five steps as a way to organizing work that needs to be accomplished and successfully completing it. The last chapter in the first section is about vertically focusing on the thought process to complete projects. Allen outlines five more steps to accomplish any task. They are (1) defining purpose and principles, (2) outcome visioning, (3) brainstorming, (4) organizing, and (5) Identifying next actions.
The second part of this book, which is well over ½ of the entire book, is somewhat of a repeat of the first part but a much more detailed perspective of the methodology of David Allen. He recommends taking two days at the start of his process just to get organized. Within these two days, one should set up private workspace not only at work but at home also. In chapter five and six, Allen refers back to his five keys to control workflow, he points out to accomplish the collecting phase completely before moving onto the processing and organizing stages. This will eliminate distractions. During the processing phase, a person is not really completing any items but rather identifying what needs to be done with each one.
That book, composed by Stephen R. Covey, is “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.“
Covey, S. (1989). The 7 habits of highly effective people. New York, NY. Free Press
Christine Rosen, editor of The New Atlantis and the author of “The Myth of Multitasking,” explains how technology in the modern world has allowed people the ability to constantly multitask, at the same time, exposing the human body to negative long-term effects of the body. Nowadays, people are constantly on the run trying to finish their daily tasks. In order for this to happen, they multitask in order to accomplish their activities. Not only do humans incorporate multitasking in their own lives, they also are found doing this at their jobs. Jobs require their workers to multitask especially through the use of technology. Aditionally, multitasking has been known to be dangerous in the work field as well as while driving. Workers are found to be worn down by intense multitasking. Because of this, people should minimize the use of multitasking in order to avoid health problems. Furthermore, research has been conducted on multitasking by fMRI scans to find out the effects multitasking has on the brain. The effects that were found is memory loss caused by stress through multitasking. In addition, research has also shown that people have a hard time learning while multitasking, therefore, they learn less. Due to this reason, children is greatly impacted because constant
I will use what I have learned from this book in the future by creating more urgency in myself when I know that something needs to be changed. Also, if I ever find myself in a position of leadership, I will be sure that every employee working for me understands why we need the change, supports it, and has a sense of urgency to get it done. Next, it will help me be more careful about my communication, and making sure that everything I do, verbally and nonverbally, should be showing that I am incredibly dedicated to the change that I am trying to introduce. Also, there was a time where we very briefly talked about the importance of change in a business; this book would help in those times wherein changing something proves to be difficult. If you make it appear to yourself and your employees that the change is absolutely needed, then they will all work to accomplish the
The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement is a very popular and bestseller book in management section. Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox wrote the book in 1984. It comes in 390 pages. It published by The North River Press. In 20 years, over than three million copies were sold, translated into 21 languages and taught in over 200 collages. The way the book is written was like telling a story although the contents are science. That is because the author thinks it is the best way for education.
This was not as easy a read for me. I suppose I am a victim of my generational upbringing, in that, I feel the need to be informed in an entertaining manner. This book has good information, but I had to continually check my focus. Those times when I was truly drawn in were the times when the writer was relating back to a story from his life or others and how it worked in to the particular habit he was teaching at that time. That being said, the following areas are where I believe I can use to make myself and my team better.
The other article that I chose to read was about managing yourself and how making your time at work more productive. Right now, I am working remotely for the Senior Bowl, so this article really hit home with me. But, what really stood out to me about this article is that its not just about managing your time, but understanding your strengths and weaknesses and using that knowledge to put yourself in the best situation to succeed. I thought that was really interesting, as your boss might ask you to complete a task that you do not feel you have the knowledge or experience to complete, but you can use your strengths to make sure you get the job done in a timely manner.
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is written by Stephen R. Covey is a book that was written for self-motivation. In this book Covey describes how to become a more effective and motivated individual throughout your life. He gives specific pointers and details that lead you to this effectiveness throughout the whole book. The basic goal in the book is to demonstrate how these specific seven habits can benefit your life greatly and make your life for meaningful and effective. Covey explains that if you are willing to make the changes that are necessary you will become a more effective individual. He describes that there are seven habits that make this all possible.
Anna Quindlen writes about how to foster creativity in children, and by extension adults by doing nothing and allowing their minds to foster creativity during this time, free time. She expresses her thoughts in “Doing nothing is something” a short essay. Quindlen proposes that kids are too busy and do not have enough free time. In this down time or free time they make their own adventures and form their own ideas. She presents the idea that to even start the creative process to create literature, music, and art one must have free time to let the mind wonder and create. On a moment’s reflection, the thesis that Quindlen presents looks sound but she does not allow for a person can think creatively without down time.
Bash, Kristie L., and David S. Kreiner. “Student Perceptions of Study Time.” Psi Chi Journal
Matthews, Debolt, and Percival. "10 Time Management Tips That Work." Entrepreneur. 2 May 2011. Web. 06 Dec. 2013.
Covey, S. R. (2003), The 7 habits of highly effective people personal workbook. New York, NY. Fireside.
5. Explain the “four categories” method of organizing your work. Give an example of your own (not from the text) for each category.
Bliss, Edwin C. Getting Things Done: The ABC's of Time Management. New York: Scribner, 1993. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
Procrastination is the art of either postponing or delaying a task. Procrastination is that little voice that appears in our heads which tell us to choose momentary pleasure versus completing important tasks at hand. Often times seen in a negative connotation, procrastination carries around a counterproductive reputation amongst individuals. Despite the inauspicious stigma regarding procrastination, recent studies have displayed procrastination to be beneficial to upcoming tasks at hand. Procrastination not only sparks creativity but also promotes focus and productivity.