Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Red Book of Selling has some fantastic advice for salespeople, but I believe that anyone can benefit from reading this book.

Here are some of his tips for being successful, with a twist toward improving your productivity:

• Believe that you can - If you do not believe that you can get your act together and be productive you will surely fail. Ask Yoda.
• Create the right environment - Build a place where you can get your work done by minimizing distractions and interruptions. Turn off your e-mail program if you need to. Turn off your Twitter alerts, whatever you may need to get in the zone and get some work done.
• Have the right associations - If you hang around with other people that don’t get their work done, how do you expect to get any of your own done? Leave the moaners at the watercooler and kick the complainers out of your cubicle. You do not need them, they are not helping you. They are sucking you down.
• Expose yourself to what is new - If your current system isn’t working ask for help. Look at the people around you that accomplish everything they need to do and go hame at 5:00. What are they doing tht you can learn from?
• Plan for the day - It is a cliche that “failure to plan means planning to fail”. Start your day by making a list of 3 things that you must accomplish today. Then do them.
• Have the answers that your customers and prospects need - Develop the habit of carrying a notebook with you for capturing information. Then process it into your reference system. When someone asks you a question, you should have the answer at your fingertips.
• Take advantage of opportunity - Being aware of the things that you need to work on in each appropriate context means that you can take advantage of down-time to work on other tasks. Carry the reading material that you need to catch up on with you all the time. This way when you find yourself waiting for something, you can do a little reading.
• Take action - Your tasks and projects will not get done by themselves. Do something, anything, to move yourself closer to completion every single day.
• Take a risk - Sometimes you have to take a chance. Look at your tasks and projects, are they still worth doing? Ask yourself what would be the worst outcome if you just deleted some of those things from your list…Can you live with that? Would you lose anything important? Maybe you can just let it go.
• Keep your eyes on the prize - All of the tasks and projects that you are working on have defined conditions of completion. Know what being done looks like so that your actions move you toward that goal.
• Balance yourself - All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. The goal of improving your productivity is not to get 18 hours of work done in 12. The goal is to get your work done so that you can enjoy life. Be done and be happy!
• Invest, don’t spend - Time, energy, motivation. These are some of the various currencies that you have to exchange for being productive. Make sure that you are investing them in your work, so that you get a return. If you are just spending them, they go away forever.
• Develop and maintain a positive attitude - We all face adversity, obstacles, and painful situations. They will not last. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and it is not an on-coming train (though it may feel like that sometimes). When you feel good about your work you will get it done faster, better, and more efficiently. It is the work that you do not enjoy that slows you down. Delegate it.

Which of these do you think is most important for you? Have you any other pithy pieces of advice youd like to share? Leave a Comment!

I just need to get this off my chest.

Whenever I see something like this, I am reminded of this. And THAT is something I do not want to ever see.

Read the full text here.

Chris Bailey is participating in a book reading meme. I have been doing a lot of reading myself, lately, and thought I would share with you.

Bailey WorkPlay :: The Alchemy of Soulful Work

The object of this meme’s game is to share what I’m currently reading and sentences 6-8 of page 123 of that book. I’m actually reading three books right now, two of them contributing to my professional learning: Peter Block’s Flawless Consulting and Pamela Skilling’s soon-to-be-released Escape from Corporate America. Here’s the page 123 snippet from Pamela’s work:

However, it is the immediate manager you work with every day who makes the biggest impact on your job satisfaction. Great companies cultivate great managers. They also give them the tools and the autonomy to lead their teams effectively.

For myself, I am currently reading Escape 101 by Dan Clements and A Whole New Mind, by Daniel Pink. Here is the requested portion from page 123:

It explains the basic structure of the cinematic story - from how characters drive narrative to the twenty-six types of story genres. At the very least, this book will change the way you watch movies.

I wasn’t expecting that (I’m only on page 48). Next in the stack:

• Go Put Your Strengths to Work - Marcus Buckingham
• Podcasting - Shel Holtz

(No affiliate links, you all don’t use them anyway)

This book has grabbed my attention. I am going to stop and pick it up while I am out today.

Used properly, a humble napkin is more powerful than Excel or Powerpoint. It can help you crystallize your ideas, think outside the box, and communicate more powerfully than any traditional business presentation.

Consultant and lecturer Dan Roam argues that everyone is born with a talent for visual thinking, even those who depend mainly on their left-brain analytical skills. The problem is that most of us — especially in the business world — are never encouraged to develop our intrinsic ability to create pictures. Roam teaches business leaders around the world how to look, see, imagine, and show — with immediate results.

Check out Dan Roam’s website The Back of the Napkin and watch the videos.

Amazing.

(No affiliate link, I will post one after I read and review it for you all)