Scott Cheatham’s Weblog

Leo Babauta's ZTD eBook

The growing ebook market has given rise to a host of new authors writing on the subject of productivity.  These authors are oftentimes bloggers who have been writing snippets on the topic for a while now and decided to compile their writings into an ebook.  For many, these writers are buried due to the stacks of published books waiting to be reviewed.  Viral marketing of their work (such as this writing) is the way most all of their readers have heard of them.  So today, I wanted to share with you three quality ebooks you can purchase and enjoy immediately without breaking your budget.  One note, I’m not paid by ANY of these authors and profit nothing by promoting their work other than to spread information I hope you find useful.

1. Zen To Done (Leo Babauta). ZTD is the first ebook I purchased.  Even before I purchased formatted books for my Sony Reader, I decided to take the plunge into the ebook market with Leo’s first work.  ZTD is the culmination of ideas gathered on Leo’s popular Zen Habits blog.  I’ve reviewed this elsewhere but will post a full review soon.  In short, Leo distills the popular points of David Allen’s GTD and Steve Covey’s 7 habits and add in some other ideas and innovations to create ZTD.  The book is a quck read, effective, and worth the $9.50 purchase price.  You can buy a copy here.

2. Todoodlist (Nick Cernis). Nick is a British author who writes for his Put Things Off blog.  Todoodlist is a collection of funny stories and some productivity ideas built around Cernis’ “Todoodlist” sytem.  You can read my review of his ebook here.  Todoodlist is available as a download for $14 at this site. I purchased this as well and my only advice would be for Cernis to drop the price to under $10.  With Amazon and Sony offering many formatted ebooks for this price and most ebooks on the market today being budget minded, I think dropping the price would trigger increased sales.  There’s something psychological about saying the ebook is “under ten dollars”.

3. The Little Book of Productivity (Scott H. Young). This is the only ebook of these three I do not own at present.  I’ve read the first chapter which Young allows you to download for free.  Young’s blog, much like Leo Babauta’s, is a collection of ideas on productivity and this book is the culmination of that work.  The book is a collection of 99 ideas divided into seven chapters.  Several independent reviewers give the total work high marks.  I might pick this up at some point when I’m caught up with my other reading but wanted to give you a tip for now so you could check it out if you wish.  The ebook is $9.95 and is available for download here. You can also download the sample chapter at that site as well.

As you seach the blogosphere for ebooks, you will find many good free ones as well.  That’s another blog post altogether.  The growth of this medium has spurred me into working on an ebook I hope to release in the next year or so (Lord willing) but I have to work on it as time allows.  For now, enjoy these and others you find that address topics you enjoy.  It’s only going to get better for this market in the years ahead.

The Cover to the GTD Audio Book

I’ve been a fan of business consultant and author David Allen for several years now.  In 2004, I purchased his world-wide best selling book “Getting Things Done” and read it over a few days.  In a few short weeks, I was busy getting my “mind like water” (a reference in the book for peace!) and putting my tasks into well organized lists/

Over the years, I’ve experimented with a number of ideas, tricks, and tips in an effort to tweak things but ultimately, Allen’s methods are the ones that work best for me because they begin with the end in mind.  Recently, I decided to re-read GTD via audio book (hence the audio book cover at right) and reviewed my old notes from five years ago and realized I needed to tighten up some areas of my overall planning.  The author recommends this because we tend to forget little things along the way.

The essence of Allen’s system (for those who’ve yet to read the book) consists of a workflow chart that forces you to take action on each and every item that is tugging for your attention.  To be brief, Allen insists you do the following.

• Collect
• Process
• Organize
• Execute

There’s obviously more to consider but for the most basic setup, this really is it.  You take the time to record items coming at you for action, process them into various lists depending on their context, and then organize your day around executing those tasks that need to be completed.  The result is a “mind like water” as you are proactive in your planning.  This takes away the stress of being reactive every time something comes your way.  Your system will allow you to move on tasks that otherwise might get lost if you only keep them in your head.

There’s so much to discuss here but it’s best for your to read it yourself.  Allen really breaks down not only the day-to-day stuff that needs done but also gives you the opportunity to spend some time on long range goals which sometimes get put on the back burner of our lives.  Planning long range is what brought me back to college for a graduate degree and also to look 3-5 years out for our church building that we now occupy.  The process DOES work.  But it only works if you put in the effort.  If you read the book and do nothing other than simple to-do lists, you will not benefit much.  That’s why when people ask me about the book, I recommend you read the book first either as an ebook or paperback but the text has many diagrams and charts in it designed to ease you into the process.  The audio book is valuable but for me, it made sense listening to it with a knowledge of the system as it reminded me of some areas I was lacking in.  If you simply cannot read the actual text of the book, then do allow yourself the audio book.  It’s an abridged version and runs about 2:48 long  (3 cd’s).

On Monday, I’ll share with you a Web 2.0 app I’ve been experimenting with over the past few weeks to manage my lists and various areas of focus.  Have a great weekend!

In the plethora of books on productivity and time management is a slim little volume titled “Forget The 7 Habits & Break All The Rules” by Trapper and Mark Woods.  I read this book when it was first released in late 2007 and just recently finished it again after sitting in on a “webinar” with Trapper Woods last month that dealt with managing time.  Much of what was shared in that webinar was written down here so I decided to pick up the book again and look over my highlights from the first reading.

I really enjoyed this book because it broke down the idea of time managment into a simple format that anyone could deal with.  Those that know me know that I am a big fan of David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” or GTD method or handling tasks.  Woods’ ideas stand alone but also can be integrated into GTD to make it a little less intimidating to the newbie.  For instance, Woods bases his system on the “bucket” method of tracking items.  Each “bucket” is a collection tool you use to track tasks, dates, and other important data.  These are a simpler version of the “context” lists that Allen speaks of in his book.  Many people don’t want to track @call, @errand, @home, @school, etc…so they revert to something else or give up and continue getting less done and feeling overwhelmed.  Woods argues that to make ANY system work, you have to pick tools you will use regularly to jog your memory.  For some it’s paper, others electronic, and still other use a mixture (like I do).

For me, the greatest tool I learned about in this book was Woods’ design on a new day planner.  The 24/7 Work-Life Planner (at left) was designed by the Woods team and sells through the Day-Planner web site.  If you are a linear type of person, then this planner likely isn’t for you.  For abstract planners like myself, this design is awesome.  As a pastor, my hours aren’t fixed like a typical 9-5 job.  This planner allows you to look at every hour of every day and has space in the center for your results list (to do’s) and a notes area (inbox) for you to write down imporant data that comes at you through the day.  I have been using this planner in concert with my electronic tools to manage my days since the beginning of last year.

In the end, the book breaks down the idea of task management into a few simple steps.  After sharing his system, Woods concludes the book with a section of time management ideas that you can incorporate over the course of a year.  52 tips are shared and many were quite helpful for me (how to plan short, productive phone calls for instance).

The book sells for less than $12 and that’s a bargain.  It’s not as well known as some of the larger books because it was self-published and therefore, not as hyped.  The book blends well with any system you choose be it Covey, Allen, or even Leo Babauta’s ZTD (Zen to Done) system.   I would recommend it to you as a great add-in to your time management books!

David Allen’s latest book completes his well known “Getting Things Done” or GTD system.  For several years, people have raved and become almost cult-like in their following of his principles for organization and life skills.  In “Making It All Work”, Allen puts together the pieces that many felt needed a bit more explaining in his best seller.

In short, the book spends considerable time explaining the methodology behind the GTD principles.  As it nears the middle and ending, the book then shifts gears to focus areas and context.  One of the areas in the original GTD book that was mentioned was that of the different levels of focus.  Allen uses a metaphor of airplane flight to describe it.  From the ground up, you begin with your “runway” actions which are the current moment actions you need to be doing.  From there the plane climbs to 10,000, 20,000, 30,000, 40,000, and then finally 50,000 feet.  At each level, specific life tasks are brought to review such as your values and principles, long range planning, short range planning, and project organization.  These are the “dreaming” type areas that many folks don’t spend too much time with but in my experience, if you do not plan in these areas, you will most certainly remain basically where you are in life maintaining but never achieving any long-range goals you’d like to.

One review I read put it best when he stated that GTD is the “action” or left brained area of execution while “Making It All Work” is the right brained or dreaming mode that you ultimately will formulate projects and then action plans from.  Well stated.  It is one reason why I liked the book.  I will admit at times I started to feel a bit disinterested because several pages of the GTD explanation were old-hat for someone who’s used the system for several years now.  But in fairness, Allen writes from a standpoint that not everyone will have read GTD so he is obligated to at least give surface level explanations for his method.

If I was recommending this book to a friend, I would suggest they first read “Getting Things Done” before trying to tackle “Making It All Work”.  For certain, you could benefit from this book not having read the other but to maximize the impact of what Allen is getting at here, you really should divest yourself of the initial information.  Besides, it’s one of the easiest and most effective systems of task execution I’ve ever used.

There are many reviews on this work that highlight individual chapters and their meanings.  I think that’s overkill but you can certainly search those reviews if you wish.  What I’m interested in here is the overall impact of the work.  In this Allen succeeds by lining out what it means to think at a higher “altitude” to plan your life and work goals in a way that gives you a clear target to work towards.  Too many times, especially in ministry circles, I see people with lofty goals but no action plan to reach them.  To write this stuff down and then organize it in ways that bring about real action seems “geek” like to them.  So be it.  I’ve committed myself to spending more time at the “altitude” levels that Allen talks of here and have set up a notebook to record my thoughts, visions, and dreams for each level.  I’ve roughly done this in the past but can see the benefit of developing project lists that ultimately bring about actions that will bring much of these dreams to fruition.

When this is accomplished and your plans are out of your head and onto paper to be organized, then the clarity of mind you will experience is something that brings a peace that you cannot imagine.  Allen calls it “Mind Like Water” but I call it “Stress Busting!”  If you are looking to organize the various aspects of your life and bring clarity and planning to your life and work goals, this book is well worth your investment of time.  Pick it up, read it, but most importantly, USE IT.

Glaspey's Latest Book

One of my favorite authors has written a handy little guide to get people to start reading their bibles again (or maybe for the very first time!).  Terry Glaspey and Harvest House Publishers have hit a home run with their “One Minute Bible Guide”.  While this might be a little too light for pastors and very serious students of scripture, the “One Minute Bible Guide” is a great resource for the laymen just getting started in the habit of learning to use their bible.  In a few short pages, Glaspey lays out good reasons for beginning the daily habit of scripture reading, provides a great overview to the bible, and also presents a nice 90-day reading plan to cover all the major themes of the bible.  

Other features of this guide include short introductions to each book of the bible; quite handy once you start reading God’s Word book-by-book, famous quotations about scripture, and a reference of other works to help you in your spiritual growth.  The “One Minute Bible Guide” is a well written, to the point, reference book that can go with you as you take your bible to church, the coffee shop, work, or the park.  It’s small size makes it easy to transport and keep with you.  There isn’t a lot of fluff here due to the size so that makes the book that much better.

Glaspey’s works on C.S. Lewis, Prayer, and Great Books of the Christian Tradtion (still available used!) are some of my favorites.  When I worked in radio, I featured him several times on my talk show and he always impressed me with his solid scholarship and good humor.  He has definitely seen the need of a usable guide to the bible that’s not so deep as to scare off the average reader yet gives enough depth for this book to be profitable for a church that wants the bible to be front and center with it’s people.  I am currently looking into ways we can feature this work as part of our overall discipleship program at the church I now lead.

If you buy the book at your local bookstore, it’s only $5.99 so why not pick one up and check it out.  When you’re done with it, share it with a friend!  Bible reading today has reached epidemic lows, even among church going Christians.  If we are going to stem the tide of biblical illiteracy, we need to find ways to get the bible back in the hands of our people and actually help them READ IT!  Glaspey’s book will go a long way to helping in this endeavor.  I recommend it highly to you.

I recently finished the audio book “Leaders at all Levels” by Ram Charan.  This was an excellent book on the changing landscape of leadership development.  Whether you are in business, or work for a church or non-profit, finding and training new leaders is a challenge many organizations face.  In this book, Charan first discusses the long existing model of development that has for years put people on a ladder of growth that sometimes takes years to climb.  In fact, Charan references this in saying that executives who hit their 40’s (where I’m at now!) generally are bypassed for higher positions simply because their age prohibits the training ladder they need to climb to succeed.

The book then outlines a new course of development that encourages identifying leaders early in their employment regardless of age (though getting started earlier is better) and taking them on a development journey that will place them in a variety of challgenging growth positions, sometimes even lateral moves, that will round off their education and development of the entire company and not just one area.  The author asserts that this will make a better leader who is able to handle every aspect of the company even if that is not his or her primary responsiblity.  Bringing this to all levels of an organization then conceivably ensures that leaders are being developed in all areas of a company, thus increasing the leadership pool when one is needed when an opening exists.

Of course, there’s more information than just that in this book but the crux of the text is to change our thinking in how we develop future leaders and what that development looks like.  From a business perspective, this model changes the way many human resource departments operate in bringing new leaders to positions within a company.  One thing I think it vital here that Charan hits on is the time factor for training a new person.  With today’s work environments changing rapidly and employees no longer feeling the need to stay with one company their entire lives, the leadership landscape is changing.  Employees move to other companies for new challenges and Charan’s thought here is that a new “abstract” way of thinking in leadership development might just keep quality people around longer.

From a church perspective, I think the concepts here are quite biblical.  Though Charan makes no religious inferences here, his model includes a role of mentoring the developing leader that is not unlike the scriptural advice Jethro gave to Moses when he was leading the nation of Israel out of captivity:

Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.  (Exodus 18:21 ESV)

…and also in the New Testament when Paul was instructing the future leader Timothy:

and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.  (2 Timothy 2:2 ESV)

In churches, we must be careful to look at these two verses and find men and women who fit the description but then, we must let them lead and make their mistakes along the way.  Charan asserts that his model is more open to mistakes because it’s allowing the person to lead in many areas that will strengthen them.  In the same way, church leaders do not need to feel that they are the only gatekeepers to getting things done and allow others to lead also.  Perhaps the increases we see in pastoral burnout and ministers quitting altogether would be lessened if we were wise enough to follow this advice.

Overall, Charan’s book is recommended reading (or listening) to anyone who wants to be a better leader and especially in the area of developing new leaders.  Check it out for yourself today.

Last week, the Sony corporation took a major bite into the ebook wars with their annoucement that they are teaming up with internet search giant Google to offer well over a half-million books for free through their eReader online store.

As the owner of a Sony Reader, I couldn’t be happier.  One of the main reasons I elected to purchase a Sony Reader was it’s ease of use, price, and the fact it was more open to “open source” material than the Amazon Kindle.  I was turned off by the Kindle’s high price, it’s closed end market (You have to buy everything from them), and it’s initial design.  The Kindle II has alleviated some of those flaws but the price is still quite high compared with that of a Sony Reader.  Sony also partners with Borders’ books to sell their readers in stores and Target now has accessories for the reader in their electronics department.  Sony has countered the Kindle II with their own updated reader (which I do not own) that has touch screen technology for page turning and other common uses for the device.  Even the PRS-505 in the picture (the one I own) is superior to the Kindle in many ways, including ease of use, memory expansion in many formats, high battery life, and a very easy to use interface.

I plan to post a short series on the ebook revolution that is coming soon but for now, I wanted to be current with the news and share this with you.  I love my reader and have been purchasing some of my favorite books in reader format along with several new purchases.  Many of my paper books are being sold to provide money to update the library without breaking my bank.

The Kindle seems to be getting all of the press, especially with their new updated reader, but last week’s announcement has to have the folks at Amazon concerned.  Google’s strength in marketing will push Sony Reader products high in their search engines that will promote their public domain book library.  The library for the Sony Reader now numbers well over 600-thousand titles dwarfing Amazon’s offering of under 300-thousand.  In addition, I can download and format PDF magazines like our denominational magazine and take it with me on the go.  It all adds up to a great reading experience.

Open source material is the way this format should go and Sony has taken a big jump in this area.  Amazon may be ahead now but last week’s announcement will change the game dramatically in the years ahead.  Proprietary content will ultimately alienate consumers.  Consumers can only benefit from this type of competition.  I can’t wait to see what happens next.

I recently wrote a column discussing my fondness for the “New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge” bible study book.  My original copy of the “Treasury of Scripture Knowledge” had bit the dust and I searched high and low for this book before finally locating a copy online at a used bookstore.  Since receiving it, I’ve been quite happy with my purchase.

In my search for the NTSK as it’s called in shorthand, I discovered the reason for my problems locating a copy.  A new guide had been published by Jerome Smith that replaced the NTSK.  This new book is called “Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible” and it features many of the same ideas that Smith incorporated into the updated NTSK a few years back.

After thinking a while, I decided to order a copy of the new book and compare it to the NTSK.  Of course, I had to order this book because no Christian bookstore I know of had it in stock because of it’s depth.  This certainly would be no best-seller in today’s Christian book climate.

The first thing I noticed about Nelson’s new guide was that it was not as cumbersome as the NTSK.  In fact, it’s about a third smaller in thinkness and considerably lighter with it’s very thin pages.  It fits easily in my messenger bag and is designed to make the cross reference system in the NTSK a bit easier to manage.  In the introduction, Smith gives a full explanation of the symbols used in the book and how the train of thought chain references can be used to follow a specific subject through scripture ala the Thompson chain reference system.  Personally, after using both Thompson and Smith’s systems, I prefer Smith’s.

The symbols are less in the new volume than in the NTSK.  It appears in putting this new volume together, Smith has shaved some references and some symbols to make the book easier to manage.  This was not a problem for me with the NTSK given it’s depth of knowledge.  For the average layman though, I can see this as a benefit.  The NTSK can be intimidating for the new bible student and I believe Smith tried to put together the best of both worlds in this revision.

Another factor most likely is that books of this nature just don’t sell as much as they used to.  With the price of many bible software programs dropping, the NTSK is a resource that has been computerized and included on many software packages so many don’t have a need for such a large book.  As I stated before, I use technology often but in this case, I enjoy relaxing at a coffee  shop and skimming the pages while reading my bible.  It helps me to organize my thoughts.

The new guide also keeps the NTSK layout of putting the bible books together just as they appear in scripture.  It’s easy to follow the thoughts by doing this since you can simply look up a passage just as you would in a bible and then follow the cross reference chain outlined in the pages.  The symbols used in the new version also give you the option to follow a subject rather than just the though in the scripture passage.  All in all, the best parts of the NTSK have been kept in Nelson’s new guide.

So what do I think?  I will continue to use the NTSK for more in depth studies since the symbol system in so complex and complete.  The new guide, with it’s lighter weight and portability, will travel with me more than the old guide will.  For now, I can see myself using both but if I was recommending one to a layman in my church, I would recommend they purchase the new guide and master it first before trying to find a used copy of the NTSK.  I would also recommend that anyone still using the old TSK from the 19th century update to one of these two works.  Having used all three, I can see the progression of improvement as the newer volumes were developed.

“What’s the title of the book again?”  I know that’s what many of you are asking.  “Todoodlist” is an ebook written by blogger Nick Cernis.  As the title somewhat suggests, “Todoodlist” is a productivity book with ideas to simplify your task management.  I’m always on the lookout for new ideas and had considered purchasing the book for some time so Saturday morning, I went to the book site, purchased the download, and began reading.  I had to stop and start a few times for errands but combined, the book took me about an hour to read. (97 pages).

My initial thoughts?  The book is a quick read.  Cernis doesn’t waste of a lot of time getting to his points.  Cernis first explains his reasons for writing the book, highlights his own technology issues with task keeping, and how he mistakenly fell in love with paper and pencil again.  This I know all too well.  After my last PDA conked out on me (battery drain), I elected to sell it and switch back to paper and pencil.  Cernis then shares a series of seven brief essays highlighting our culture’s love of complexity and need for simplicity.  After the essays, Cernis gets to the meat of the book, sharing some productivity ideas including his task management system that inspired the title of the book.

One thing I like about the “Todoodlist” concept is that it’s based on mind mapping.  My blogging friend Ron Hunter wrote a nice piece on this topic about a year ago and Tony Buzan has published many books on it’s use.  The mind map is basically an abstract way of organzing notes, thoughts, and lists.  The lists in “Todoodlist” are organized on this principle and another thing I like is that they work on a “fortnightly” (bi-weekly) basis.  Nick is British so the term may catch you off guard!  The “fortnight” principle makes sense to me since my lists tend to linger for longer than a day and the mind-map feeds that concept.  I’ve never tried it before but I am going to give it a try to see if I like it like I think I will.

Without giving away too much more of the book’s ideas, Cernis discusses calendars, time management, and other simple list ideas to make your life a bit easier.  You may not like all of the ideas shared or you may choose to integrate each one.  The nice thing is they can complement what you already do and one idea is not needed by any of the others.

Again, this is an ebook and is delivered via a PDF after your purchase.  I love the ebook market because it’s allowing more and more folks who produce very useful things to make them available on a large scale basis without overhead and without the editing of a publisher that many times would try to take a book like this and fill it with “fluff” to make it 120-150 pages.

Overall, I liked “Todoodlist”.  If you are looking for some fresh ideas on becoming productive, give it a shot.

I found Henry Cloud’s latest effort to be a solid informational book but one I had a hard time staying with.  I chose to listen to the audio book for “The One Life Solution” which is 5 CD’s long.  Not bad for a book with this much information.

Fans of Cloud’s earlier works will find many of his principles brought back in a system like format in “One Life”.  First, Cloud identifies many of the problems we face in corporate America.  He rightly identifies our technology advances as a huge liability if not managed properly.  Having 24 hour access to information through computers and cellphones makes us more likely to stress ourselves if we don’t bring some “boundaries” to our life (Sound familiar?)

In the succeeding chapters, Cloud sets out a system of problem, potential solutions, and desired outcome.  Learning to manage our outcomes and tweak the system for maximum achievement gives the system its life.

In one sense, this book will bring Cloud’s work to a new audience.  He is well known in the Christian market but has not been as mainstream as I felt he could be.  His book “Safe People” is a book that all pastors and business leaders should read.  I also purchased the unabridged audio book of “Making Small Groups Work” as a resource for our small group leaders to use to learn the psychological aspects of being a small group leader.  “The One Life Solution” is published by Harper Collins which is a secular publisher that owns the Zondervan label that Cloud’s work normally is published under.  For this reason, “One Life” is seeing shelf space in the business section at Barnes and Noble, Borders, and similar bookstores.  Usually, you find his stuff in the Christian section.  This alone will give Cloud greater pull in the secular market as well and that is a good thing!

I guess from having read his earlier works, my problem with staying with the audio book was that I had adapted many of his principles in similar ways to what he suggests here.  Still, if you’re a fan, you will like this.  For me, as a fan, it was just hard for me to listen when I had an idea of where he was going.

If you’ve never read any of his work, “The One Life Solution” will be a great book to read or listen to.  Harper Collins did the release right by making it available in book, ebook, and audio book format all within days of its release.  

If you’re looking to bring order amidst the chaos of everyday life, this book might be what you’re looking for.  I’d recommend checking it out at the library first to see if it’s for you before purchasing it.