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I have delayed wrapping up a series of posts on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and I apologize for that. I have been working on some rather pressing matters that required some serious attention.

In any case, I am planning on scheduling some time to work on that summary and edit the series into a single workbook for you all. First, I’d like to request some feedback from you:

• What do you like best about the 7 Habits series?
• What did you like least about it?
• What are your unanswered questions?
• Is there one specific issue you’d like some help with?

For the new readers, here are all of the posts in the series:

7 Weeks, 7 Habits, A Better You

• Habit One - Be Proactive
• Habit Two - Begin with the End in Mind
• Habit Three - Put First Things First, part I
• Habit Three - Put First Things First, part II
• Habit Four - Think Win/Win
• Habit Five - Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood
• Habit Six - Synergize
• Habit Seven - Sharpen the Saw

Leave a comment, or send an e-mail to - stephen [at] hdbizblog.com

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/5qzslq. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen

Drew and Gavin have completed the gargantuan task of pulling together all of the submissions for the sequel to The Age of Conversation. I am very excited to be part of this project, and I believe that it will be a great success.

The following is a link-rich list of all of the 237 contributors, please do take the time to visit their sites and leave a thoughtful comment.

Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

I am looking forward to working on something with each of the authors on this list in the future.

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/67f99s. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen

David Allen calls the calendar your “hard landscape”. There is a reason for that, primarily because your calendar is the foundation of your productivity practice. The raw data you put into your calendar determines the information that comes out. This is the “landscape” that you are going to traverse on any given day.

What goes in your Calendar

Three types of raw data go into your calendar:

1. Time-specific actions - This is jargon-speak for meetings and appointments, some will be with other people and some will be for yourself. Make a habit of scheduling your Most Important Tasks for the day.
2. Day-specific actions - Less-structured than a meeting or appointment, this type of entry is for an action that needs to get done on a particular day, but any time is fine. I suggest that you use this category carefully, as your calendar should not become a to-do list. Your 3-5 Most Important Tasks will often fall in this category.
3. Day-specific information - This category of entry is for data like telephone numbers, directions, or specific information about a person you are meeting or the agenda for that meeting. If this category gets too bulky/takes up too much space, consider just writing a note in the calendar as to exactly where you can find that information.

Your Calendar is a Tool,

…not your taskmaster. Work toward the habit of limiting your calendar entries. To paraphrase Albert Einstein, keep the entry as simple as possible, (but not too simple) for you to be able to make the most of the information. A cluttered or messy calendar leads to a day of frustration!

Remember: the appointments that you make with yourself for your most important tasks are just as binding as appointments that you make with other people.

If you aren’t able to trust yourself to show up, how can you trust your system?

Where is your to-do list

I’d love to know what kind of information you are getting from your calendar, or what kind of assistance you are not getting.

(Click the links below to learn more about the specific questions)

• Does your to-do list migrate into your calendar?
• Do you use a pencil for your entries, so you do not have to cross things out when there are changes?
• Is your calendar format the right one to maximize your way of working?

Leave a comment, perhaps we can work together on a solution.

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/6lk4cb. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen

Book Review: Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling by John Taylor Gatto| The Foundation for Economic Education: The Freeman, Ideas on Liberty

The publishers of Dumbing Us Down call Gatto’s ideas about education “not easily pigeon-holed,” which is an accurate observation. Who else would stand up and tell us that schooling as we know it is not education, but a “twelve-year jail sentence where bad habits are the only curriculum truly learned” ?

According to Gatto’s observations, the seven lessons taught in public schools from Harlem to Hollywood Hills, are these:

1. Confusion (The natural order of real life is violated by heaping disconnected facts on students.)

2. Class position (Children are locked together into categories where the lesson is that “everyone has a proper place in the pyramid.”)

3. Indifference (Inflexible school regimens deprive children of complete experiences.)

4. Emotional dependency (Kids are taught to surrender their individuality to a “predestined chain of command.”)

5. Intellectual dependency (One of the biggest lessons schools teach is conformity rather than curiosity.)

6. Provisional self-esteem (“The lesson of report cards, grades, and tests, is that children should not trust themselves or theft parents, but should instead rely on the evaluation of certified officials.”)

7. One can’t hide (Schooling and homework assignments deny children privacy and free time in which to learn from parents, from exploration, or from community.)

Read it and weep.

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/57u8ny. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen