GoInstant whiteboard using whiteboard paintSteak and egg sandwichEarly bright moonUnder the covers with a mooseBudding photographerBuilding a snow wallHe upgraded to a bigger shirt stuffed with more stuff Serious smashing going on


The Secret To Being Productive

Um…how should I know?

Luckily, I don’t have to know all the answers. All I had to do was ask everyone else for their productivity tips and let the magic happen.

On Tuesday, April 24th I launched the Ultimate Guide to Productivity Group Writing Project. The idea is simple (and on-going, so feel free to participate):

  1. Write a blog post about your best productivity tips. Challenge yourself to pick one.
  2. Tell me about it, either by linking to my blog and/or emailing me.
  3. Link to other productivity posts that would be worthwhile to your audience. (Spread the link love!)
  4. Tag others by linking to them, and encourage them to participate as well.

The goal is to compile the ultimate list of blog posts on productivity, and give people a great resource for finding new blogs, new content and useful stuff.

So far 28 people have linked back to me. I’m sure others have written tips after being tagged and haven’t linked back — which is totally fine — so this group writing project / meme is spreading wonderfully. And I hope more and more people participate. Even if you haven’t been tagged, write a post anyway and let others know about it!

I’ll eventually create a permanent list of posts, but for now, here’s a list of the first 28 people who participated either through being tagged or out of their own initiative. What’s always the most fascinating with projects like this is to see where people take it. Some people write about big life issues, others tackle nitty gritty details. Some run off on tangents, others stick precisely to the task-at-hand. It’s incredibly interesting and enlightening to watch others take something like this and make it their own.

  1. Up Your Productivity and Profits too! by Andrew Wee
  2. Meme Tagged, Meme Slayer…I Give In by Wayne Porter
  3. Ultimate Guide to Productivity by Janet Barclay
  4. Ultimate Guide to Productivity by Lorraine Pirihi
  5. Ultimate Guide to Productivity by Kathie Thomas
  6. 14 Tips to Get More Done in Less Time by engtech
  7. Work-Life Balance and Productivity by David Bohl
  8. My Contribution to the Ultimate Guide to Productivity by Harrison
  9. The Ultimate Guide to Productivity by Wendy Piersall
  10. How Productivity Comes From Clarity by Adam Kayce
  11. How To Stay Focused For Greater Productivity by Dawud Miracle
  12. The Ultimate Guide to Productivity – Wanna Share One Big Secret? by Ponn Sabra
  13. My Productivity Secret – The Joy of Flow State by Chris Garrett
  14. The Ultimate Guide to Productivity – MomGadget Style by Gayla McCord
  15. If you don’t have passion and purpose, greater productivity won’t help you! by Alister Cameron
  16. Building a Home Business One Weekend At a Time by Tony Clark
  17. Ultimate Guide to Productivity Group Writing Project by Jennifer Louden
  18. Be Aware, Make Choices by Alex Fayle
  19. The Ultimate Guide to Productivity by Digging into the Blogpond
  20. The Ultimate Guide to Productivity meme by Doris
  21. Ultimate Guide to Productivity by KM
  22. Ultimate Guide to Productivity for Adult ADD Sufferers by Deborah Petersen
  23. How to become a Productivity Super Hero who Rights Wrongs, Saves the Environment, and Rescues Cats from Trees by Aaron Potts
  24. Zugunruhe Ultimate Guide to Productivity: Time Budgets by Tara Robinson
  25. What Are Your Secrets For Personal Productivity by Lisa Mills
  26. Blogging Productivity & Criticizing Goals by Andy Beard
  27. The Ultimate Guide to Productivity – what’s your secret? by The Kiss Business
  28. Secrets to Personal Productivity by The Practical Chick

What’s your secret to being productive?

In the spirit of keeping this going, I’m tagging a few more people: Dave Olson, Daniel, Tony Hung, Pamela Slim and Robyn Tippins.

If you enjoyed this post, please share it!

Check out these posts:

April 30, 2007 Posted in Productivity by

Newer Comments →
  • http://www.whoisandrewwee.com andrew wee

    Ben,
    the next step of the project is to compile all the posts, PDF it, include everyone’s blog URLs include a bio of instigator blog at the front, and redistribute to all participants and viralize it!

  • http://www.vadirectory.net/blog/ Kathie Thomas

    Thanks Ben. Mine was Using Google Alerts. And Lorraine’s was about Using Your Diary – blocking out time for self.

  • http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

    Andrew – I was thinking about something along those lines, but I was wondering if I include everyone’s full posts or if I summarize their points?

    Full posts is easier – just copy and paste, but summarizing could make the content of such an ebook more interesting to casual readers.

    Thoughts?

    Do I need to get permission from each participant to create an ebook out of the content?

  • http://www.whoisandrewwee.com andrew wee

    Ben,
    the next step of the project is to compile all the posts, PDF it, include everyone's blog URLs include a bio of instigator blog at the front, and redistribute to all participants and viralize it!

  • http://www.vadirectory.net/blog/ Kathie Thomas

    Thanks Ben. Mine was Using Google Alerts. And Lorraine's was about Using Your Diary – blocking out time for self.

  • http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

    Andrew – I was thinking about something along those lines, but I was wondering if I include everyone's full posts or if I summarize their points?

    Full posts is easier – just copy and paste, but summarizing could make the content of such an ebook more interesting to casual readers.

    Thoughts?

    Do I need to get permission from each participant to create an ebook out of the content?

  • http://www.whoisandrewwee.com andrew wee

    Ben,
    I’d suggest running the full post in the ebook.

    You’re creating value in the process, by collating, and publishing the content.

    Since everyone had elected to take part in the project and linked back, they’ve given you some level of endorsement already.

    I think dropping everyone a courtesy email shows concern for their contributions.

    The other question is whether the content can be monetized.

    It’d depend on the profile of the participants. If everyone’s fairly revenue oriented, then if there’s unanimous approval, there is some potential to generate income from it.

    Else, we could distribute it under a creative commons license, on a free to distribute (with attribution basis) and everyone gets traffic out of it. [Maybe people could mail you a 2-3 sentence self/blog bio along with their blog address?]

    It all depends how you want to play the cards.

    If you want to blurb and evangelize it at SOBcon, by all means go ahead!

  • http://www.vadirectory.net/blog/ Kathie Thomas

    I think it’s a great idea and happy to be involved in helping to put it together if you need assistance – after all,that’s part of what I do!

  • http://www.wayneporter.com Wayne Porter

    Im going to start up my own meme- and it’s going to be a bitch.

  • http://www.whoisandrewwee.com andrew wee

    Hi Kathie,
    It’s interesting how you being in Australia, and me in Singapore end up in a discussion thread in the US. Interesting….

    Ben: You need to install the threaded conversations plugin soon!

  • http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

    Andrew,

    I don’t think I would commercialize the ebook – it’s all free content provided by people who had no expectation of using the content for making money, or for having me make money on it.

    I’m still torn on the issue of full posts or edited posts, because many people add pre-ambles or information about where they heard about the writing project, etc. that’s not relevant to the specifics of productivity tips. That content is still interesting to see the chain though, but maybe not appropriate for the actual Guide itself.

    I would be inclined to ask everyone else what they think too, and I appreciate your insights.

  • http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

    Andrew — I tried once and it didn’t work, messed everything up, so I gave up. I might again though…

  • http://www.whoisandrewwee.com andrew wee

    Wayne:
    I was kinda surprised that messr Harrelson didnt get his meme post listed here [ref: samharrelson.com], but it looks like he may have tumblr-ed himself off to oblivion.

    See? You play with too many widgets, you’ll go blind.

    —
    Meme away, my captain, oh my captain!

  • http://dmiracle.com/quality-of-life/how-to-stay-focused-for-greater-productivity/ Dawud Miracle

    I love Andrew’s idea of turning this into a PDF and taking it viral. And I’m all for doing so at SOBCon. So count me in.

  • http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

    Andrew – if I missed someone it’s because I didn’t see a link back or haven’t found the post searching through Technorati, Google Blog Search, etc.

    Which is an important point – if there’s a Productivity post from this group writing project meme out there that you don’t see me link to let me know about it so I can include it!

  • http://www.vadirectory.net/blog/ Kathie Thomas

    “andrew wee | April 30th, 2007 at 1:29 pm

    Hi Kathie,
    It’s interesting how you being in Australia, and me in Singapore end up in a discussion thread in the US. Interesting….”

    Yeah, cool, isn’t it? I participate in weekly web meetings these days and the majority of participants are in the US with some in Canada and the UK and one in France with 3 here in Australia – it’s become a ‘normal’ event now.

  • http://www.monkatwork.com Adam Kayce : Monk At Work

    A pdf would be a natural offshoot of a project like this… and I’m liking the idea of a CC license, to keep the sharing going.

    I’d probably also include the full posts, although it might be nice to have a “one-line teaser” under the title of each one in the table of contents — it would satisfy the skimmers, and give them more to go on than just the title of the post (esp. since many people stuck with the generic ‘Ultimate Guide’ title).

    What about putting an edit in the original post, letting people know that the project is headed that way, and if they post into the project, it’ll become a part of it (CC license and all)? Just a thought.

  • http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

    Adam – I’ve just updated the original post linking to this discussion, mentioning that we may produce an e-book (for free), with sharable/attributed content. Great idea!

  • http://www.whoisandrewwee.com andrew wee

    Ben,
    I'd suggest running the full post in the ebook.

    You're creating value in the process, by collating, and publishing the content.

    Since everyone had elected to take part in the project and linked back, they've given you some level of endorsement already.

    I think dropping everyone a courtesy email shows concern for their contributions.

    The other question is whether the content can be monetized.

    It'd depend on the profile of the participants. If everyone's fairly revenue oriented, then if there's unanimous approval, there is some potential to generate income from it.

    Else, we could distribute it under a creative commons license, on a free to distribute (with attribution basis) and everyone gets traffic out of it. [Maybe people could mail you a 2-3 sentence self/blog bio along with their blog address?]

    It all depends how you want to play the cards.

    If you want to blurb and evangelize it at SOBcon, by all means go ahead!

  • http://www.vadirectory.net/blog/ Kathie Thomas

    I think it's a great idea and happy to be involved in helping to put it together if you need assistance – after all,that's part of what I do!

  • http://www.wayneporter.com Wayne Porter

    Im going to start up my own meme- and it's going to be a bitch.

  • Pingback: Yeah, I’m In The Technorati Favorites Top 100 - So What? - Dawud Miracle @ dmiracle.com - (formerly Healthy WebDesign)

  • http://www.whoisandrewwee.com andrew wee

    Hi Kathie,
    It's interesting how you being in Australia, and me in Singapore end up in a discussion thread in the US. Interesting….

    Ben: You need to install the threaded conversations plugin soon!

  • http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

    Andrew,

    I don't think I would commercialize the ebook – it's all free content provided by people who had no expectation of using the content for making money, or for having me make money on it.

    I'm still torn on the issue of full posts or edited posts, because many people add pre-ambles or information about where they heard about the writing project, etc. that's not relevant to the specifics of productivity tips. That content is still interesting to see the chain though, but maybe not appropriate for the actual Guide itself.

    I would be inclined to ask everyone else what they think too, and I appreciate your insights.

  • http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

    Andrew — I tried once and it didn't work, messed everything up, so I gave up. I might again though…

  • http://www.whoisandrewwee.com andrew wee

    Wayne:
    I was kinda surprised that messr Harrelson didnt get his meme post listed here [ref: samharrelson.com], but it looks like he may have tumblr-ed himself off to oblivion.

    See? You play with too many widgets, you'll go blind.

    —
    Meme away, my captain, oh my captain!

  • http://www.whoisandrewwee.com andrew wee

    Ben said: I’m still torn on the issue of full posts or edited posts, because many people add pre-ambles or information about where they heard about the writing project, etc. that’s not relevant to the specifics of productivity tips.

    –
    I’d suggest editing the entries so it’s more on-topic. The key is that the person who reads the PDF will get something contextual and useful out of it.

    I say go for it, with the option of adding a 2-3 sentence author/blog bio.

    Perhaps you could open a fresh “submit your profile” post and contributors have 48 hours to add their bio in the comments.

    It’d create 2-way linklove.

  • http://www.whoisandrewwee.com andrew wee

    Ben said: Andrew – if I missed someone it’s because I didn’t see a link back or haven’t found the post searching through Technorati, Google Blog Search, etc.

    Sam is being Sam, I guess…

    Confucius say: Man who play with widgets, gets blog in tangles.

  • http://dmiracle.com/quality-of-life/how-to-stay-focused-for-greater-productivity/ Dawud Miracle

    I love Andrew's idea of turning this into a PDF and taking it viral. And I'm all for doing so at SOBCon. So count me in.

  • http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

    Andrew – if I missed someone it's because I didn't see a link back or haven't found the post searching through Technorati, Google Blog Search, etc.

    Which is an important point – if there's a Productivity post from this group writing project meme out there that you don't see me link to let me know about it so I can include it!

  • http://www.vadirectory.net/blog/ Kathie Thomas

    “andrew wee | April 30th, 2007 at 1:29 pm

    Hi Kathie,
    It’s interesting how you being in Australia, and me in Singapore end up in a discussion thread in the US. Interesting….”

    Yeah, cool, isn't it? I participate in weekly web meetings these days and the majority of participants are in the US with some in Canada and the UK and one in France with 3 here in Australia – it's become a 'normal' event now.

  • http://www.thekissbusiness.co.uk/2007/04/the_ultimate_gu.html Karin H.

    Hi all (U.K. calling)

    Great idea the PDF-file, so we can all enjoy all tips and get to known the ‘tippers’ a bit better, all in one go.
    I am all for it. All you / we have to decide now is the ‘cut-off’ point, cause I think this meme hasn’t seen its end yet.

  • http://www.monkatwork.com Adam Kayce : Monk At Work

    A pdf would be a natural offshoot of a project like this… and I'm liking the idea of a CC license, to keep the sharing going.

    I'd probably also include the full posts, although it might be nice to have a “one-line teaser” under the title of each one in the table of contents — it would satisfy the skimmers, and give them more to go on than just the title of the post (esp. since many people stuck with the generic 'Ultimate Guide' title).

    What about putting an edit in the original post, letting people know that the project is headed that way, and if they post into the project, it'll become a part of it (CC license and all)? Just a thought.

  • http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

    Adam – I've just updated the original post linking to this discussion, mentioning that we may produce an e-book (for free), with sharable/attributed content. Great idea!

  • http://www.whoisandrewwee.com andrew wee

    Ben said: I’m still torn on the issue of full posts or edited posts, because many people add pre-ambles or information about where they heard about the writing project, etc. that’s not relevant to the specifics of productivity tips.

    –
    I'd suggest editing the entries so it's more on-topic. The key is that the person who reads the PDF will get something contextual and useful out of it.

    I say go for it, with the option of adding a 2-3 sentence author/blog bio.

    Perhaps you could open a fresh “submit your profile” post and contributors have 48 hours to add their bio in the comments.

    It'd create 2-way linklove.

  • http://www.whoisandrewwee.com andrew wee

    Ben said: Andrew – if I missed someone it’s because I didn’t see a link back or haven’t found the post searching through Technorati, Google Blog Search, etc.

    Sam is being Sam, I guess…

    Confucius say: Man who play with widgets, gets blog in tangles.

  • http://www.thekissbusiness.co.uk/2007/04/the_ultimate_gu.html Karin H.

    Hi all (U.K. calling)

    Great idea the PDF-file, so we can all enjoy all tips and get to known the 'tippers' a bit better, all in one go.
    I am all for it. All you / we have to decide now is the 'cut-off' point, cause I think this meme hasn't seen its end yet.

  • http://www.businessnetworkingadvice.com Josh Hinds

    Ben, you asked for thoughts on a potential ebook for it. It may have been mentioned before, but why not include the full posts — then after each post include a “Ben’s thoughts” and summarize it as well in your words… Just a thought… Josh :-)

  • http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

    Josh – the reason I might not include full posts is not so I can summarize per se, but so that I can quote the precise productivity tips of the bloggers.

    So instead of having a full post where someone will be talking about the meme itself, who else s/he tagged, etc. — I would quote out the part that’s specifically about productivity. Not summarize or re-write myself…

  • http://www.businessnetworkingadvice.com Josh Hinds

    Ben, you asked for thoughts on a potential ebook for it. It may have been mentioned before, but why not include the full posts — then after each post include a “Ben's thoughts” and summarize it as well in your words… Just a thought… Josh :-)

  • http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

    Josh – the reason I might not include full posts is not so I can summarize per se, but so that I can quote the precise productivity tips of the bloggers.

    So instead of having a full post where someone will be talking about the meme itself, who else s/he tagged, etc. — I would quote out the part that's specifically about productivity. Not summarize or re-write myself…

  • http://andybeard.eu/ Andy Beard

    My content is GPL licensed, so people can do what they want with it, providing if it is modified that that is clearly stated.

    To be honest, I don’t think a lot of what I wrote could be looked on as “timeless” content. I felt it was appropriate for the moment, and there were timeless elements, but it isn’t material that in whole should be put in an ebook.

    If the material was originally meant to be included in an ebook, I would have written something totally different.

  • http://andybeard.eu/ Andy Beard

    My content is GPL licensed, so people can do what they want with it, providing if it is modified that that is clearly stated.

    To be honest, I don't think a lot of what I wrote could be looked on as “timeless” content. I felt it was appropriate for the moment, and there were timeless elements, but it isn't material that in whole should be put in an ebook.

    If the material was originally meant to be included in an ebook, I would have written something totally different.

  • http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

    Andy – I completely understand what you’re saying, which is even more reason perhaps to do some editing. If someone posted something that doesn’t really fit into the core of the theme or isn’t “timeless” (in their minds) then we can not include it or edit it as per the authors’ wish.

    As well, people can update their posts or write new posts on productivity tips to be included in the e-book now that they know we might try and pull it off.

  • http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

    Andy – I completely understand what you're saying, which is even more reason perhaps to do some editing. If someone posted something that doesn't really fit into the core of the theme or isn't “timeless” (in their minds) then we can not include it or edit it as per the authors' wish.

    As well, people can update their posts or write new posts on productivity tips to be included in the e-book now that they know we might try and pull it off.

  • http://lead2020.blogspot.com/ Mitch

    Thanks for the neat exercise.. here is my comment:
    http://lead2020.blogspot.com/2007/04/ben-over-at-instigator-blog-has.html

  • http://lead2020.blogspot.com/ Mitch

    Thanks for the neat exercise.. here is my comment:
    http://lead2020.blogspot.com/2007/04/ben-over-a…

  • http://nurtur.co.uk/naked Naked Jonny

    You can have my advice for whats its worth for teh ebook no probs…

    “A stupidly simple way to have a productive day”

    http://www.nurtur.co.uk/naked/?p=31

  • http://nurtur.co.uk/naked Naked Jonny

    You can have my advice for whats its worth for teh ebook no probs…

    “A stupidly simple way to have a productive day”

    http://www.nurtur.co.uk/naked/?p=31

  • http://workathomemomrevolution.blogspot.com/ Lisa

    I would love to see some sort of compilation of all this information also. A free e-book would be great.

Newer Comments →
About Ben Yoskovitz
I recently joined GoInstant as VP Product. GoInstant changes how we use the web, making it shareable like never before.

I'm also a Founding Partner at Year One Labs, an early stage accelerator in Montreal. Previously I founded Standout Jobs (and sold it). I'm a hands-on startup guy, helping companies grow successfully from the idea forward. You can reach me at byosko at gmail dot com.

Follow Ben on TwitterFollow this blog via email
Startup Tools
Recent Posts
Find Stuff
Startup Resources
Please Check Out:
NextMontreal.com I Spy Montreal
Key Categories
Topics
Disclaimer
The opinions and commentary on this site are mine and mine alone. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of my employer, GoInstant.

Instigator Blog runs WordPress and uses the Minimal theme by Curt Ziegler.