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The Productivity Book: 30 Professionals Talk About Time Management

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At Doodle, we understand that productivity isn’t how much you’re doing, it’s how much you get done. So, we spoke to 30 productivity and time management experts to figure out just how they do it. The The Doodle Productivity Book! It can’t make more hours in the day. But, it will show you how to get the most out of the time you do have, so you can work smarter, and not harder. Filled with personal stories, insightful anecdotes and sound advice, this book is a fresh examination of the habits that shape us—and how others have managed to break free of them.

Inside the Productivity Book you'll

• Productivity tools & trends
• Time management tips
• Health & lifestyle advice
• How to structure the perfect productivity day

219 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 21, 2015

158 people are currently reading
99 people want to read

About the author

Michael Brecht

2 books1 follower
I am a serial entrepreneur, have more than twenty years of experience in IT and Digital Media and have held several international leadership positions in Europe and AustralAsia.

Since the beginning of 2014 I am CEO of Doodle – the world’s favourite online scheduling tool. Together with my fantastic team we have integrated Doodle into the Digital Portfolio of Tamedia AG, Switzerland’s largest media company. Our focus is to grow the business into a global application while strengthening its product offerings and continuing its successful monetisation. Doodle AG is a highly profitable business with offices in Zurich and Berlin.

My experience ranges from founding a start-up to various exits to multi-national corporates and subsequent integration. I enjoy topics of digital transformation and the leadership of highly innovative teams with a particular focus on growing a business internationally.

Now that digitalisation is increasingly becoming a topic for all businesses from start-up to large corporate, I have decided to start my own blog. Here you’ll find information on productivity topics, quotes about personal and professional efficiency, my reviews of awesome apps I use myself and I am trying to present a few stories that aren’t meant to be too serious too.

In my private life I am married and our home comprises of four children and our dog (an Australian Labradoodle). We are currently living in five different countries and I myself carry a German and an Australian passport. I enjoy sports, in particular football, swimming, tennis and all kinds of outdoor activities and I am passionate about the discovery of great wines.

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
Profile Image for Lynda Dickson.
581 reviews64 followers
March 14, 2016
In The Productivity Book, thirty professionals from the US, UK, Australia, India, Canada, and Europe talk about time management in interview format. The interviewees are asked (among other things) about how they start their day, how they stay productive throughout the day, and how they organize themselves for the next day. They are also asked to share their favorite productivity tips and apps. The interviews are followed by an Afterword by the author summarizing the findings of the 30 interviews.

This book will give you lots of handy tips for managing your time, straight from the mouths of recognized experts in the fields of productivity and time management. The highlighted quotes within each interview are a nice touch. The interviews don't appear to be in any particular order, and l would have preferred the contributors to be arranged in alphabetical order. I found out about some great apps to help me manage my day and increase my productivity. Some I had never heard of: Doodle, Focus@Will, Todoist, TurboScan. And some are old favorites: my calendar, Evernote, Pomodoro Technique. At some points, the book reads like a testimonial for the Doodle productivity app, developed by the company for which the author is the CEO. If you're in a hurry, you will get some great tips just by reading the Afterword at the end of the book.

Very informative and full of practical advice.

I received this book in return for an honest review.

Full blog post: https://booksdirectonline.blogspot.co...
Profile Image for Srikantadatta Tagadur.
56 reviews4 followers
March 6, 2018
Provides a sneak peek into the life of Time management experts

A must read for anyone who is planning to revamp their day to day lifestyle in order to become more productive in life.
Profile Image for Dharma Arung-Laby.
53 reviews1 follower
May 7, 2019
This book is really good, very suitable for the ones who want to learn practical things about productivity & time management. This book consists of many tips and stories (based on the writer's interview) from productivity experts, and also some principals that we can put into daily activity. In the Last part of the book, the writer gives summary from his interview and it helps the readers to pick which tips we can practice. One thing which I really like from this book is that the interviewees (the experts) cited their readings (books and scientific papers). So indirectly, they take me to their source of inspirations which changed their perspective about productivity and time management. That's impressive for me.
Profile Image for Jule.
220 reviews2 followers
June 20, 2021
It was on Amazon for free, so I haven´t expected a lot. But after reading 10 interviews I decided to quit further reading because 90-95% of the answers were identical by meaning and just phrased differently
Profile Image for Prakash Raut.
50 reviews2 followers
August 20, 2018
Excellent book especially for IT engineers, just to get an idea about management of personal life to enhance productivity of any company.
5 reviews
February 17, 2020
Perfect consolidation

Nice summary book. Easy to read. I really found beneficial. I recommend this book for every levels of productivity chasers.
Profile Image for Jery Schober.
189 reviews26 followers
June 9, 2020
Excellent summary in the afterword is enough, should've read just that instead of the whole book which is, due to the same interview questions, really repetitive.
Profile Image for Patricia.
183 reviews27 followers
April 11, 2016
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of The Productivity Book by Michael Brecht for the purpose of an honest review.

What a great book to read for someone like me who has difficulties with time management. I am a wife, church member, best friend, active “gramma”, reviewer, tour host, and would-be author. I am involved in two weekly Bible studies, training a service dog for my current and future needs, multiple doctors’ appointments, walking several times a week and those are just the highlights. I used to have a full-time job and I have no idea how I manage to get anything accomplished!

Reading through the interviews with different perspectives on how to manage productivity gives me so many, almost too many, things to think about, but the interview that most speaks to my life is by Andrea Feinberg. This piece of the interview fits so well with my life’s priority.

“Do you measure your productivity? If so, what’s your metric?

This is easy—I like to end each day recounting everything I accomplished to my husband. This helps me recall all the victories and advances.

Michael Brecht (2015-10-12T22:00:00+00:00). The Productivity Book (Kindle Locations 784-785). Doodle AG, Zurich. Kindle Edition.”

My biggest challenge now is weeding through the productivity tools and finding the ones that best suit me and my desired work load! What a wonderful job Mr. Brecht has done in compiling the ultimate learn “how to” book in The Productivity Book.

If you, or someone you know, needs real life examples of how others manage their priorities and the tools that help, this is definitely a book you’ll want to pick up.

I give The Productivity Book by Michael Brecht four steaming hot cups of Room With Books coffee.

©March 13, 2016
Patricia, Room With Books
Profile Image for Naturalbri (Bri Wignall).
1,382 reviews120 followers
April 6, 2016
This was a very interesting book. Owning my own business and dealing with a few issues myself, I am always looking for ways to improve my productivity. I always feel that efficiency is an area where I can improve.

If you are looking for an easy, go to self help guide, this is not that book. This book is based round the tips and tricks of 30 professionals who have succeeded in increasing their own productivity. In each interview section, they discuss the ways in which they got to where they are, how you can do what they did and even give you lots of apps you can use to aid you.

It does mean that you have many different views on how to achieve you goal, rather than just one, but you don't have a step by step method. I actually prefer this, as it left me to pick and choose the sections and bit I liked and wanted to try myself, as well as leaving the option open as to how I could go about the process.

I have always enjoyed research and furthering my knowledge, and I feel as though this book allows for both and really helped me put a few great methods and ricks into place.

If you are looking for ideas on improvement, but aren't a fan of straight throughout how to guides, like myself, then this is perfect for you. It is chock full of valuable information and make for and interesting read.


**I received this book for free in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.
Profile Image for Majanka.
Author 70 books405 followers
April 11, 2016
Book Review originally published here: http://www.iheartreading.net/book-tou...

In The Productivity Book, 30 professionals give tips for time management. Put together by the CEO of Doodle, one of the experts on time management, this is definitely an intriguing read. As an entrepreuneur, author, blogger, editor and publicist, I’ve often struggled with managing time – and finding some time for spare time activities! I even have to book in time for spare time activities nowadays.

The interviews definitely give a lot of materials to think about. Some tools sounded like they could help me, others didn’t apply so much to my situation but I’m sure will help others. The author did a great job compiling all the information in this book and making it easily accessible. I won’t implement all the tips, but I’ll certainly try some of them.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews

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