The Productivity Book by Michael Brecht

As a mother, and a homeschooling mother at that, productivity can be a daily struggle. So when I was asked to review The Productivity Book by Michael Brecht as part of the current book tour, I was actually pretty excited to do so. I found the book to be not only helpful, but quite enjoyable to read. My kids are my main priority, especially since I have decided to invest in home schooling them: this is quite literally a 24 hour a day job, seven days a week, with no vacation time. And I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else, because it is wonderful and rewarding. That all being said, there are certainly times when there seems to be a million things to do and so little time to do it all in. That’s called life with kids. I know that even those parents out there who don’t home school – some of the interviewees in this book for example – you are all in the same boat. You know how much your time can get constrained and how difficult it can be to fit everything into the 24 hours we are all allotted each day. As well-oiled as your routine may be, I don’t think there is a parent out there who doesn’t continue to look for tips and tricks to make everything just a little easier and more productive. So naturally, I wanted to see what wisdom existed within these pages.

Here is the basic run down. The Productivity Book is a book of interviews with 30 working professionals from various different industries discussing their tips and tricks for good time and task management. For a non-fiction, advice book, I found it to be actually quite light and easy to read, and actually quite entertaining, since some of the interviewees have a pretty good sense of humor. You can read more about the book here.

Giveaway
Michael Brecht will be awarding 5 Doodle Premium Accounts for Free to randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during the tour.

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

My Impression

The advice in the book covers everything from building a daily routine and good habits, to health, sleep, structuring projects, working within time constraints, even some of the apps or technology that they use to keep things organized and keep them on track. One thing I really appreciated reading that was unanimous throughout the book was that each interviewee made personal time a priority, especially time with their families. I was a little apprehensive at first, thinking the book would be focused on 60+ hours a week working professionals who make their entire lives revolve around work and work alone. But that was not the case with this book. It was refreshing to read how they all felt their life quality was an important factor to help their professional life, and that making time for themselves and especially their families was a big part of that. Since my family is my life, I really appreciated this approach.

A Little About the Author

Also a dedicated father and hard-working professional, Michael Brecht is the CEO of Doodle, which not so coincidentally is an organizational tool. Doodle is used personally and professionally to help people better schedule meetings, events, and projects. I have only browsed through it, but from what I can see it seems to be a pretty simple but clever idea. In his role with Doodle, Michael has spent a lot of time thinking about how things could be made easier, more efficient, and more productive so that at the end of the day you can manage to get everything (if not more) done. It is through his professional role that he came into contact with so many industry professionals, and the ones specifically featured in this book. After so many conversations about project and time management and what works for some and what works for others, he determined to put it all down in one comprehensible book that could help everyone (and not just high-powered business professionals).