The Instant Productivity Toolkit

Organization expert Len Merson's strategy for managing information flow and structuring workspace helps readers establish a healthy discipline and gain more control of their time-for the rest of their lives! Readers will learn how to set realistic goals that create more time for the things that really matter-family, recreation, hobbies and personal time.

The book teaches readers how to: € Maintain a clutter-free desktop-not a "wallpaper" of to-do lists € Go home every day with an empty email Inbox and all important calls answered € Measurably increase productivity, make fewer mistakes and employ more creativity on the job and in life € Enjoy reduced stress levels and the freedom to live an optimal life

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Are you D with GTD ?, 2008-10-29
The practical and actionable moves from this book helped me to increase my output by a factor of 4 or higher! Now i have much more time just to go think. Or go have fun, and a life! With this book, you can stop being a human version of a 7-Eleven for your company.

The photo on the cover is a person *without* the author's methods!

Mr Merson deserves $1,000,000,000, a Nobel, or both.

When alternative methods fail, disappoint, or complicate and overwhelm into chaos, switch over to following *this* book.

This book makes working *fun*, if you can believe that...

Try using this book for managing work matters and personal matters, both.

You will gain a clean and uncluttered workspace. Matters--whether they come at you via a person's visit, a call, a meeting, a voicemail, an e-mail, a text message, your own thoughts, or however else--now come under a unified and flexibly prioritized means for being handled well and resolved so you can move on to what is next.

This method is fantastic for every leader. And a leader can use this method well in coordination with their assistant if need be.

You and others will be wowed by how on the ball you are. Your choices regarding each matter will be wiser because the method asks you to review your work matters daily, and lets you delay your decision re: each item until some good deadline that you choose. You get matters done bang on time. Less relevant or wrong items "wash out," which alone is excellent because you are not burning time and energy in dumb ways: For example, no longer will you have the crackberry killing you, 24/7. Nothing that is truly important will "fall between the cracks." Merson's system gives you the "freedom to forget."

Trust me. Start using this book. You will be amazed at how many big items you are getting done every day, and without stress.

Among other applications, Merson's system will help you personally to have the highest possible credit rating. Do what i do: When you receive a bill in the mail, open it, toss the junk elements into the trash, put a post-it note on the bill, then staple both to the bill's envelope. On the post-it note write down the date the bill must be paid and mailed out for your creditor to receive their payment from you on time. For example, if you get a phone bill, and it is due Dec 17, jot down "Dec 10" on the bill's post-it note. Then leave the bill on your "turtle" [Book's central concept: Read the book.], and go do what you like. On the day the bill should be paid and mailed out, do same. Do this for all your bills. Assuming you are avoiding other financial nitwittery, you can sit and watch your credit rating become and stay top quality.

Bonus idea: To perform at your very best, use this book along with Miller, Surviving Information Overload.

I am not the author or a friend of the author's. These views are without ulterior motive.


0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Free at last, 2008-09-28
To say that Len Merson's book, "The Instant Productivity Toolkit" is a wonderful book, is an understatement. I am only one-third of the way through the book and already I have said "Goodbye" to the clutter on my desk, not to mention the huge levels of stress, and the chaos that had taken over my mind and my job.

I am so grateful for what Len Merson has done in writing this much needed, life changing book.

The Instant Productivity Toolkit should be mandatory reading, not just for the office worker or manager, but for everyone who wants to leave work at the end of the day to be free to pursue the rest of their lives.

If you've felt like you can't get a grip on the workload that's staring at you day-in, day-out, buy this book, use it, and you-will-reap-the-rewards.

Truly an indispensable guide.




0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Most helpful practical guide I've come across!, 2008-06-03
I'm so thankful to have stumbled upon this book. It's the first one that truly addresses my work situation. Many similar books focus on managerial skills and delegating. If I could delegate all my work away, I wouldn't need a book! This book shows you strategies and gives you tools to get on top of huge amounts of work/information coming at you every day. The author obviously has a passion for his subject matter and his eagerness to impart it to those in need is apparent as the book is fun and inspiring. There are actually 21 points you can ponder and/or implement - my favorite is what the author has dubbed The Turtle, a prioritized pile of active tasks. I actually keep a turtle keychain on top of my pile! There are strategies to work with it, as there are for all the points covered (others include focusing, e-mail, voicemail, sorting, filing). If you follow the author's advice, you can trust the process as your job runs like a well-oiled machine!


1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Len Merson - True Teacher of Organization., 2008-01-29
If you want to become organized, read Len Merson's Instant Productivity Toolkit. As a student, I had taken organizational classes; as a Mayor and a business person, I spent countless hours asking others about their organizational systems, adopted some, discarded others, but all failed in the end. I needed a system for the vast number of e-mail, voicemail, letters, faxes, texts, meetings and other demands placed on me from multiple directions. I needed ways to communicate multi stepped processes to others without confusion. I always felt there was a system that met these demands, and became convinced there were elements of success that were eluding me.

I feel I am a smart person, but organization just seemed to escape me. Perhaps it was not possible to juggle so many things at once. Though I had the desire to learn and could imagine what it might be like to be more organized, I could not seem to achieve it.

One day, on a whim, I went to Borders to look at books on organization. I looked at the Idiots and Dummies books, and many others. I bought Len's book in the end because he promised a system that would make sense. It struck a chord and once I bought it I dug in. I have dog-eared it, book marked it, read it backwards and forwards, taken notes, and feel that it is an easy program to understand. It is simple. It centers on minimizing distractions and maximizing efficiency.

How many times do you move a paper, note or pile? Do you even know? When I first bought the book, I had no idea and tried counting one day to see how many times I moved different items on my desk before I actually dealt with them. Some items got moved 13 times prior to completion!

If you want to learn simple techniques - not tricks, not illusions, not gimmicks - read the Instant Productivity Toolkit. Len teaches you how to be organized. He shows you what to do with different pieces of information such as how to identify them and properly place them into a workflow system. The system in turn helps you identify next steps in advance of deadlines so that you look good at work, feel good about your work, and feel great leaving work.

If you want to reclaim your life, invest a few dollars in your technique and buy the Instant Productivity Toolkit. It is the best book on organization and fulfillment you will ever purchase.



2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Book Of Freedom, 2007-11-18
I can't speak highly enough of this book, it is the answer to many of my problems around getting things done timely: lack of clarity, procrastination, endless mind chatter around tasks. Within one week, following the book's instruction and using its process flow, I finished several big personal tasks/projects that have been laying around for months in some of my many trays at home. I was so happy and proud looking at my clean/empty office room and the tasks I was able to accomplish efficiently with undivided attention.

I always had the motivation to get things done, read widely about the subject, tried different systems... with quite limited success at home. I constantly felt the deep pain of not being able to effectively get personal projects done, it wasn't until this weekend did I realize that how much energy those mental chatters have cost me: it literally deflates the spirit. I didn't have a good system; luckily I found this book -- it offers an excellent and simple system.

One key benefit I reap from reading this book is that, I was able to finish 4 evening/weekend sessions of self-study on my chosen subjects outside home this past week, guilt free and highly concentrated: because the other tasks had been/was being taken care of effectively so no worries. 20% of our activities produce 80% of the accomplishments according to the 80-20 principle, for me studying these subjects and applying them is one of my core value-producing activities; however before I was so bogged down by my unfinished tasks, therefore most if not all my time was spent on those 80% low-value producing activities. Now this is the start of freedom...

I know for a fact that the inability to create clarity and order in their lives has cost some people so much: inner peace, relationships, money (in terms of lost opportunities), time could be better spent in nature and/or with family. It's literally life losing touch with its unlimited nature. Worse, I think some people live in mild depression simply because the sight and feel of not processing their tasks timely hunts them day and night... this book could change life. I think productivity & being organized is one of the very few core skills that is mandated if we yearn for personal/inner freedom, and this book offers such a wonderful , brilliant solution.

It's time to create clarity within and externally, I wrote this to encourage myself and fellow travelers. Many thanks to the author!

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