I’ve virtually stopped reading on my cellphone altogether. It’s rare I revert to the little screen – usually only if my Tablet is in power-down mode.
But on my Tablet….
Attack Your Day!: Before It Attacks You
Mark Woods, Trapper Woods
Remember DayTimers? And DayRunner? I used to be addicted to them. The anal combination of paper, forms, coloured tabs, and planning, all bound in a pretty, mini-sized binders was overwhelming. Until I lept with fierce cries of joy into the purchase of my first Palm Pilot (1997), DayRunner was my sanity saver.
Trapper Woods was a manager at DayTimer, until he died of cancer in 2010. Mark Woods is his son and they co-wrote this book just before Trapper Woods died.
I’ve read a lot of time management books, and get-things-done books. This one is the first that made sense of the way the real world works, especially for me. One of the strongest messages I took from it was the idea that in the twenty-first century, no one expects to finish their day with their daily list of tasks all completed, and nothing left to do. It’s just not possible. Life is too overwhelming with its multiple demands and challenges, and the information overload alone ensures you’ll never get it all done. So instead, the multi-faceted system they propose and the philosophy they suggest is one of managed priorities. Don’t expect to get it all done (perfectionists like me will find this a huge relief). Instead, aim to get the important stuff done.
It’s how you decide what is important, and not being distracted by easier time-wasters for which a modicum of discipline is needed.
YMMV. I’m working my way through the book for the third time, applying most of the methods to my day and feeling a lot more relaxed about the long, long list of things in my Tasks folder.
77 Ways to Find New Readers for Your Self Published Book!
Laura Pepper Wu
I’ve become increasingly frustrated lately by the fact that all the social networks are clogged with other authors promoting their books to me. I’m finding it harder and harder to reach out and contact actual readers. I’m quite sure they’re having just as hard a time hearing from me, too. There’s a lot of noise out there.
The blurb of this book seems to imply it will help me. I’m 10 pages in. I’ll see if it lives up to its promise.
Guerrilla Marketing for Writers: 100 No-Cost, Low-Cost Weapons for Selling Your Work
Jay Conrad Levinson, Michael Larsen and Rick Frishman
I own the original edition of this book — in paperback. It’s a well-thumbed, dog-earred, sticky-note-filled volume, too.
So I was thrilled to find a second edition available in ebook. I’m about fifty pages in, and so far, not too much is different (although it’s good to have an ecopy) — I expect the real changes will be when I hit the technology and Internet sections.
2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love
Rachel Aaron
I obsess about writing more and faster. I have a publishing schedule of books I want to write and release that, if I continue with my current rate of production, will take me six years to finish. And that’s if I never have another idea for another book or series in the meantime. ‘coz, yeah, that’s not gonna happen….
So squeezing more words and tighter production turnarounds into the time I have available for writing is a worthy goal.
I’ve mentioned Rachel Aaron’s book before, but not in one of these reading posts. This is, in fact, the second or third time I’ve loaded it up on my reader for another read through. This time, I’m following her recommendations to the letter to try and increase my wordage per hour.
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No fiction this week. I’m not reading a lot of anything (these few books I’m reading a page at a time every day or so…maybe). The Posey household is gearing up for our annual Birthaversary. More on that in another post.
Have a great President’s Day, if you get it off, or Family Day for some Albertans — and other provincial holidays across Canada.