What my new book "Secrets of Productive People" will be about

The main focus of the book will be the idea that productivity is the product of creativity and efficiency.

It’s the creativity part that tends to get neglected, as if productivity were just a matter of churning out as much work as possible.

I want to help the ordinary person - that’s you or me - to be able to approach the sort of results that the really productive people of history such as Newton, van Gogh or Henry Ford have achieved, albeit on a smaller scale. The message is that this sort of ability can be learned. It’s a matter of practice applied to correct methods of practice. The book will show you how.

Comments

[Maureen]

This sounds great, Mark.

[michael]

I like your reminder that creativity is important. I was inspired by the design/problem solving approach of http://www.amazon.co.uk/Universal-Traveler-Soft-Systems-Creativity-Problem-Solving/dp/1560526793

[Margaret1]

That's great Mark! You said you'd be using the methods discussed in the book to do the actual writing of the book. Will you describe the process as you go along? If my memory serves me, you did that in "How to make your dreams come true", and it was brilliant, a great example of 'walking the talk'.

[Mark Forster]

Margaret1:

No I won't sadly. The book has a fixed layout which applies to all books in the series and which makes it impossible to employ that sort of narrative.

[Margaret1]

Oh well, maybe it'll be a case of strict limits increassing creativity - which I think is another idea from one of your previous books! Best wishes.

[Mark Forster]

Margaret1:

Thanks for reminding me about that. I must include it in the book!

[Alan]

When is this being released?
Will it be available as an ebook and hardcopy?

[Mark Forster]

Alan:

Summer next year.

Yes, it will be available as an ebook and hardcopy.

[Alan Baljeu]

How do you multiply two abstract concepts together?

[Mark Forster]

Alan Baljeu:

<< How do you multiply two abstract concepts together? >>

Easy. You give yourself a mark out of 10 for each of creativity and efficiency and then multiply them together. The product is your mark for productivity out of 100.

So if you consider yourself to have an 8 for creativity and a 4 for efficiency your score for productivity is 32.

[Ben H]

Great news - I still like a good old fashioned book. As someone once said about cash, "If you can't scratch a window with it I don't take it"!

[Mark Forster]

Ben H:

Doesn't your Kindle/Smartphone scratch windows?

[Ben H]

Mark Forster: No, it runs IoS ;-) Hope the book writing goes well.

[michael]

Mark: As in Synectics or Creative Problem Solving (CPS)?

[Mark Forster]

michael:

<< Mark: As in Synectics or Creative Problem Solving (CPS)? >>

I don't know. I'm not acquainted with either of them.

[michael]

http://www.slideshare.net/fguely/creativity-theory-and-practice is an interesting review and summary of approaches to creativity

[Mark Forster]

I like the way that, having told us that people are only creative in their own area of expertise, a few slides later he quotes Picasso (a man who died in 1973) on the subject of computers.

[michael]

Does any of it overlap with your new book?

[Mark Forster]

michael:

Inevitably there is some overlap, but I'd say on the whole that I'm on a different tack.

[Jupiter]

I have dreamt about this. Getting a summary of genius methods sounds great ! Hope you will find these methods :-) and sure I will read it at a glance !

[michael]

Balance productivity with presence

"Ours is a culture that measures our worth as human beings by our efficiency, our earnings, our ability to perform this or that. The cult of productivity has its place, but worshipping at its altar daily robs us of the very capacity for joy and wonder that makes life worth living — for, as Annie Dillard memorably put it, "how we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives."

- http://lifehacker.com/presence-is-a-far-more-intricate-and-rewarding-art-tha-1598576573

[Mark Forster]

michael:

<< The cult of productivity...[etc] >>

"Productivity has the rather negative image of rows of people churning out large quantities of work without much imaginative input into the nature of that work."

From page 1 of my new book (current draft).

[Chris Cooper]

The King of Brobdingnag was in favour of productivity:

... "And, he gave it for his Opinion, that whoever could make two Ears of Corn, or two blades of Grass to grow upon a Spot of Ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of Mankind, and do more essential Service to his Country than the whole Race of Politicians put together."

But according to Gulliver, the King's opinions tended to be provincial prejudices that no Englishman would be tempted by.

[michael]

Mark: An amusing version of your ideas?

http://oliveremberton.com/2014/if-you-want-to-follow-your-dreams-you-have-to-say-no-to-all-the-alternatives/

[Mark Forster]

Not just my ideas, as you can see.

[Jonathan]

Hi Mark,

I'm really looking forward to hearing more from you about the contents of your work and when it will be available.

'Hope you are enjoying life :)

Best regards
Jonathan

[Mark Forster]

Jonathan:

I'm finishing the book at the moment (it has to be in by the end of the month). At the moment it's scheduled to be published "in Summer 2015".

[michael]

One for the book?

"To battle bad behaviors then, one answer is to disrupt the environment in some way. Even small changes can help — like eating the ice cream with your nondominant hand. What this does is disrupt the learned body sequence that's driving the behavior, which allows your conscious mind to come back online and reassert control."

- http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/01/05/371894919/what-heroin-addiction-tells-us-about-changing-bad-habits

[Fintan]

Hi Mark,

Just curious - did you indeed get to finish the book and submit it to your publisher last month?

Fintan.

[Mark Forster]

Fintan:

Yes, I did. It's been with the publisher's now since the beginning of this month. No further news to report.

[Mike A]

Many thanks for the Secrets of Productive People book. I got it on pre-order in 2015 and skimmed it on release, looking for new insights into organisational methods - such as those found on this website.

Picking it up again in late 2024 I see it is a deep and thoughtful book about the mindset, focus and creativity necessary to achieve extraordinary things.

Sadly, I missed most of that at the time and have to wonder what else I might have done with the last nine years if I hadn't been in such a rush to dig into new task management ideas.

A powerful book and certainly amongst the best of Mark's work

If you don't have it, it's certainly worth a look.

If you do have it, it's worth a second look...

Thanks again Mark