Conlon - Productivity For Dummies

Productivity For Dummies

Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester,www.wiley.com

This edition first published 2016

2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Chichester, West Sussex

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2015956887

ISBN 978-1-119-09952-9 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-09954-3 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-09953-6 (ebk)

1. Table of Contents

Ten years ago, the word productivity had no meaning for me. Apart from the fact I am the most naturally disorganized person I know, I had no inclination to make it any other way. I tended toward chaos, hence the title of my first book Chaos to Control. But having reached my early 30s with three boys to look after and very little achievement to speak about, the time had come for change.

I wasnt clever enough to go out and seek ways to improve my cluttered and disorganized life; a chance meeting on a sunny day in South Africa was what changed the course of my life. I met productivity expert Gerrit Cloete of Productivity Pit Stop, who sparked my interest and guided me while I learned the things that were about to rock my world and my business for the next ten years.

This book is about all the techniques, tools and behaviours that you can adopt to change your life. Most of them have been tried and tested by yours truly. Note that some of the resources I speak about are apps and websites, and although I aim to be as accurate and up-to-date as possible, new applications and software changes happen all the time.

This book is a comprehensive guide to how and why you should become more productive, more organized and more in control of your life. Whether youre a stay-at-home parent who wants better ways to organize your day, a senior manager who is responsible for a large team or a student who wants time to fit it all in while acing your tests, this book has something for you.

Im regularly asked the question, Who is your ideal client? The answer is anyone who lives and breathes. Everyone needs help fitting it all in and planning days with the right things, the things that make a difference. Who doesnt need help with taking control of the digital world, the distractions, the interruptions and the information overload? Were all given the same 168 hours each week, which is plenty of time for work, rest and play. If you want to find out how to live your life to the fullest and maximize the precious time you have, this book will help get you there. But please remember that this book wont change your life unless youre willing to implement some of the suggestions in it. Even if you try one new thing, it will have a positive impact on your productivity and your life.

Throughout the book, youll find sidebars (grey boxes) with extra bits of information or other stuff you may want to know. If you decide to skip these sections, you wont miss any vital facts or information.

Within this book, you may note that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If youre reading this book in print and want to visit one of these web pages, simply key in the web address exactly as its noted in the text, pretending as though the line break doesnt exist. If youre reading this as an e-book, youve got it easy just click the web address to be taken directly to the web page.

As I wrote this book, I made a few assumptions about you, my readers:

• You are a human being who struggles finding time to fit it all in.
• You pine for a better work-life balance and need some practical strategies to make it work.
• You know an easier way to do things exists, but you just havent figured it out.
• You need to find time to be more creative, strategic or simply take on more work.

Youll find a number of icons in the margins of this book. These icons highlight special types of information.

This icon highlights points that are especially important and worth committing to memory.

Watch out for the target, where youll find tips and tricks to help you become more productive.

The warning icon highlights potential pitfalls and things that you should avoid in order to stay in control.

This icon advises you to stop reading and try out the tip right now. Knowledge is no good unless you act on it. This icon encourages you to act now to reap the benefits sooner rather than later.