Archive for the ‘book’ tag

The Creative Habit – Arrived

Another book for me has arrived, this on is The Creative Habit:Learn It and Use It for Life. Given the recent arrival of some other books, I might have to hold off on reading this one a little bit. This way I can get through some of the others.

I ordered several at once, that way if they if one didn’t get here quickly, I’d get another one hopefully.  Well now I have several, and I have to decide the order to read the. I think I need to read the 10 Days to Faster Reading first, so I can get through some of these others.

Notes on The Effective Executive

I’ve been reading The Effective Executive and have already been able to pull some good information from it, despite only starting a couple of days ago.

The two biggest things I can pull from the book so far is:

1. Knowing how I use my time, and
2. Determining what I can contribute.

What to Learn

The use of time is the essence of the second chapter. Drucker recommends keeping a log to see how your time is actually being spent. I view my day, realized what I should be doing by time, vs. what I am doing by time, and I wasn’t so happy with the results.

Your contribution made a large part of the third chapter. Each person can contribute, and can contribute different things.  The key is to contribute the right things at the right time.  Items, thoughts, and processes which can lead to long term growth and sustainability.

The Take Away

So I’ve started working on cutting out unimportant things, or things which are not as time critical.  One thing is reducing the number of times I check on the news and my RSS feeds.  By blocking off times to focus on them, I can be be more efficient with my remaining time, focusing without the interruption. I’ve noticed this has actually helped shave 30 minutes off my morning routine time, allowing me to squeeze some extra work out time in.

Learning what and how to contribute is more difficult, especially for the so called “knowledge worker”.  Drucker mentions how someone on the assembly line knows exactly what they contribute.  But it isn’t always so clear for someone who produces or works with knowledge situations.  So we have to look at how we can expand beyond those areas, or as a minimum make the most effective use of the area we are in.

First Book – The Effective Executive

My copy of the The Effective Executive arrived today.

Now I’ll admit, I have a used copy, and I have to say, I am a bit surprised. It is yellow and old.  Not bad, just not what I was expecting. I was thinking, you know the “best business books” would be full of new insights…. But then I was thinking, if something is truly good, shouldn’t it be good for a long time?

So I originally was starting to get discouraged, but then I thought I shouldn’t.  I should be encouraged that the book has stood the test of time, and will be good not just for today, but for a while.

I’ll be adding my notes and reviews about the book soon.

My First Books

So I’ve requested my first books for my PMBA a couple of days ago.  (I actually ordered them a little before the new year.) They should be arriving soon.  I know some are coming before others.

I’ll let you know when they start coming in, and be giving my impression of them when they get here.