The Productivity Handbook: New ways of leveraging your time, information, and communications (Hardcover)

by Donald Wetmore (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
From renowned time management consultant Donald Wetmore comes The Productivity Handbook, a guide for the overworked and overwhelmed.

The Productivity Handbook reveals how true productivity doesn’t mean doing more things faster. It means being more effective–and this requires better ways of prioritizing your time, communicating with others, and absorbing information. In this concise and entertaining book, Wetmore offers powerful tips and techniques in these three areas:

Time–includes making short- and long-term plans, managing multiple priorities, and overcoming procrastination

Information–includes shrinking your inbox, writing effective notes, and improving your memory

Communication–includes networking, public speaking, and having efficient meetings


Dr. Donald J. Wetmore is the founder of the Personal Productivity Institute, an organization that teaches productivity tools and techniques to participants at major corporations including J.P. Morgan Chase, General Electric, and Duracell. A member of the National Speakers Association, Wetmore is frequently featured in the New York Times, the Boston Globe and on PBS. He is also an attorney and an adjunct professor in the MBA program at Mercy College, New York.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Random House Reference (August 9, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375721142
• ISBN-13: 978-0375721144
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #898,618 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fresh Perspectives on Basic Principles, September 21, 2005

By	Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Up front, three key points. First, this is a handbook. Wetmore wrote it to be taken in hand and, once its contents have been absorbed and digested, put to practical use. Second, he brings some fresh perspectives to core concepts (about time, information, and communication) which have been been around for thousands of years. Third and finally, this book and any of the other excellent books which cover much of the same material are essentially worthless if those who read them do not make [begin italics] and then sustain [end italics] a long-term commitment to continuous improvement while using the tips, tools, and techniques recommended.

Wetmore immediately and correctly stresses the importance of having a balanced life built on a sturdy foundation. What does that mean? That for most people, attention, time, and effort are like a currency which should be spent, over time, almost equally within seven areas: physical health, family, financial, intellectual, social, professional, and spiritual. Appropriate balance depends upon appropriate proportionality. Hence the importance of establishing priorities prior to the allocation of resources. To some people, having a "rich" spiritual life is far more important than material wealth. To others, many of them academics and artists, the intellectual area is most important. Of course there are always trade-offs and compromises. Wetmore is right: "A deficit in one area [e.g. physical health] can and does affect every aspect of your life." He seems to agree with Jack Canfield and others that the first "rule for success" in life is to know what you want. Only then can you select the appropriate tips, tools, and techniques. Only then will the inevitable sacrifices required to obtain what you really want seem well worth it. Of course, attitude also plays a decisive role. I am again reminded of Henry Ford's observation: "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right."

Wetmore organizes his material within four Parts: Time, Information, Communication, and The Big Picture. Throughout his book, Wetmore maintains a personal, conversational relationship with his reader as he does everything he can to share what he has learned about productivity; more accurately, about more effective and more efficient production. (Note: Dropping a 2,000-pound block of granite on a fire ant would be effective but not be efficient.) I commend him on his clever use of chapter titles which are both appropriate and thought-provoking. For example: Putting Off Procrastination (Chapter 5), Delegate the Shirt Off Your Back (7), Whatshisname (13), Blah Rather Than Blah, Blah, Blah (18), and A Big Small Talker (22). Think of the tips, tools, and techniques introduced earlier as pieces of a puzzle (in the shape of a pyramid) which Wetmore helps his reader to assemble in the final chapter. He then provides a Resources section which contains additional aids related to productivity. They include a Time Log which captures "snapshots" of specific moments during a normal day. (Please see the example on pages 284-285.) Wetmore offers several practical suggestions as to how to derive the greatest benefit from use of a Time Log. He also discusses a Crisis Management Log and a Life Improvement Chart. (Please see pages 294-297.) He concludes with an exercise to be completed by his reader. This exercise is best revealed within Wetmore's narrative.

Obviously, I highly admire what Wetmore accomplishes in this book but feel obliged to conclude this brief commentary on it by asserting once again: this book and any of the other excellent books which cover much of the same material are essentially worthless if those who read them do not make [begin italics] and then sustain [end italics] a long-term commitment to continuous improvement of the tips, tools, and techniques they recommend.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great motivational tool!, August 19, 2005

By	S. Iron Cloud (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews

I purchased this book because of its small size, knowing nothing of the author--just needed a time management tool or a refresher of the basics. It was just what I needed this week. In fact I was so busy putting most of the suggestions to work that I haven't finished it yet. I highly recommend this book!