![]()
Greetings!
It’s time once again for another fantastic book review by Mrs. Shae Bynes from GoodFaithInvesting.com!
Sorry I’m a little late getting it to you this month, but better late than never, eh?
This month, Shae will be reviewing No BS Time Management for Entrepreneurs, by Dan Kennedy. (Side note: Could entrepreneur be any harder to spell? Geeze.)
For those who read the book- I hope you liked it! I thought it was an excellent read, and considering the fact that my time management skills are in need of a major overhaul (thanks Facebook!), this was also a timely book choice for me.
Anywho, here’s what Shae had to say about it…..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
This month’s Flip This Book Club selection, No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs, was the first book I’ve read from successful entrepreneur and author Dan Kennedy. It’s clear why he brands his books “No B.S.” — the dude pulls no punches! There is quite a bit of no-nonsense practical advice in this book (along with the occasional rant), but I have to admit that I’m still scratching my head at how Kennedy has practically eliminated the use of cell phones and emails from his business life as methods of communication (he opts for faxes because he says people put more thought into the content of them).
Nevertheless, I want to first point out that there were several great nuggets of wisdom about time management and success in this book….words worth typing up and posting on your wall or somewhere else where you can see them and remind yourself regularly. Here are some of my favorites:
- Self-discipline is the magic power that makes you virtually unstoppable.
– Delegate or stagnate.
– No one who is good at making excuses is also good at making money. The skills are mutually exclusive.
– The more decisions you make and the faster you make them, the more productive you are.
– Good enough is good enough.
Kennedy talked about a technique he uses to focus and avoid majoring in minor matters: Identify and write down the three most important, most significant, most productive, most valuable things you can do to foster success in your particular enterprise. Then translate them into three actions you can take each and every day. He noted that even though some people may find writing down lists to be confining, he’s never known or met a successful entrepreneur who wasn’t a list maker.
To illustrate the importance and benefits of taking massive action, he shared a story about how a dentist with a struggling practice made a list of 300 things he needed to implement to turn things around. He simply did 10 items from the list each and every week for 30 weeks and without increasing marketing or advertising expenses he managed to QUADRUPLE his business! Pretty powerful.
We all know that sometimes we fail to hit our goals. When we do fail, some people will reset the same goal with a new deadline and others may create less aggressive goals, but Kennedy handles these situations a bit differently by creating a similar but bigger and more exciting goal with a new deadline. This way he’s able to stay motivated and focused rather than lower the bar or waste time with disappointment.
For the benefit of those who didn’t read the book, I thought I’d end with Kennedy’s excellent definition of productivity and 4 of the many time management techniques discussed in the book. I suspect you’ve heard some or all of these before but never hurts to remind yourself because we can all do better with our time management!
Definition of productivity: Productivity is the deliberate, strategic investment of your time, talent, intelligence, energy, resources, and opportunities in a manner calculated to move you measurably closer to meaningful goals.
4 Time Management Techniques Really Worth Using
- 1. Tame the phone: Take few if any incoming calls. Return calls at your convenience. This is the #1 source of interruption and distraction for most people.
- 2. Block your time: Make inviolate appointments with yourself. Block out time to handle specific reoccurring aspects of your business. If you block time for important, high-value functions you perform, you prevent demands of others from moving these activities from number one to number ten on your list over and over again. This one technique has enabled Kennedy to write at least one book per year publish two monthly newsletters for 8 consecutive years.
- 3. Practice absolute punctuality: Being punctual gives you the right — the positioning — to expect and demand that others treat your time with respect. Kennedy feels so strongly about this one that as a general rule of thumb, he will use a person’s punctuality (or lack thereof) to determine whether he wants to do business with them.
- 4. Profit from “Odd-Lot” time: Turn driving time and waiting time into educational times to learn a foreign language, improve your memory, or essentially learn about any and every topic from experts. Take advantage of audiobooks and podcasts.
For those who read No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs, what were some of your favorite tips or techniques? Have you mastered any time management techniques that have substantially increased your productivity?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Thanks, Shae, for another outstanding review!
Looking forward to hearing what the rest of you guys thought about the book….
10-4, over and out.
P.S.
Next month’s book club choice is the legendary, Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill. I’ve read this one several times before, but it’s such a fantastic read that I’m looking forward to going through it yet again.
P.P.S.
If you’re short on cash- you can get this book for free all over the internet- here’s a Google search with a bunch of different places to get it. So now you have no excuse to not read it, and I expect to see you all here on August 16th @ 8pm to discuss!
P.P.P.S.
If you weren’t able to get in on the call I did last night with Joe McCall about wholesaling lease options, you can catch the replay here- it’ll be up until Sunday at midnight, so mosey on over ASAP to get your learn on!










On July 15, 2010 at 8:36pm, Dan Ochara said...
Well I didn’t get to read Kennedy’s book, but after Shae’s review I think I may pick it up this weekend.
Great choice on next month’s pick. TAGR is one of my all-time favorites!
I’ll definitely be back next month to throw in my 2 cents.
On July 15, 2010 at 8:57pm, Shae said...
It’s definitely worth a read, Dan! I’m looking forward to discussing Think and Grow Rich as well!
Shae´s last blog ..Back at it!
On July 16, 2010 at 5:33am, Esi said...
Great review Shae. My husband just got me the audiobook and I’ll be sure to listen to it this weekend. God knows I need to learn how to manage my time. By the way Steph, good pick. Think and grow rich was the book that set me on fire and helped me take action, so I’m pretty excited about next month’s choice.
Esi´s last blog ..750 EMD say what
On July 16, 2010 at 5:55am, Scott Costello said...
Esi,
Where did you get the audio book for this? I’d like to listen to it on my way to work in the mornings.
Thanks!
P.S. Another great book review Shae and Steph. You need to skip a month so I can catch up
Scott Costello´s last blog ..6 Steps to Building a Quick Buyers List Through the MLS
On July 16, 2010 at 3:40pm, Stephani said...
You just need to read faster, Scott.
On July 16, 2010 at 7:23am, Shae said...
Thanks Esi! Yes, I’m getting better with time management but I have a lot of improvement to go. I’m going to start blocking my time better…going to talk about that on my blog probably next week. Can you believe I haven’t read Think and Grow Rich yet? I’ve read 40+ books in the last 18 months and haven’t read it…but it was on my list. So now its time

Shae´s last blog ..Back at it!
On July 16, 2010 at 7:10am, Karen said...
I just printed out Think and Grow Rich. Can’t wait to read it over the weekend. Thanks for the recommendation, Steph!!
On July 16, 2010 at 3:36pm, Stephani said...
No prob- it’s a great book. I read it for the first time probably 6 or 7 years ago, and it was a real eye opener for me. I think you will like it.
On July 16, 2010 at 7:39am, mobilehomegurl said...
Great review, Shae! I haven’t read the book yet (I’ve been really behind here on book club!), this definitely sounds like a must read as time management is so important.
I used to make lists of all these things I needed to do. But, it really didn’t work out for me as the list was too long. So long, that it made it really overwhelming (not to mention almost impossible) to complete all these tasks in such a short period of time. So, I started just writing the most important things down that I had to do for that day and learned to re-prioritize the less important things. It really helped.
I’ll have to check out this book when I get a chance. I feel I may need to re-visit this topic of time management, thanks for the review!
p.s. With all your great book reviews, I’m thinking you may be the “Cliff Notes” of the Internet for some of us who haven’t had a chance to read all of them, thanks again for sharing!
On July 16, 2010 at 1:28pm, Shae said...
Hey Rachel, I totally can relate on the list thing…my lists can be ridiculously long, so I’ve really started to shorten them. I can have a brain dump with a huge list on it, but it when it comes to the actual things that need to be done in a given week I really scale it back to focus on the larger picture. I still have sooo much room for improvement though which is why I’ll likely read this book a third and fourth time (this was my second)! Have a great weekend!
On July 16, 2010 at 3:40pm, Stephani said...
I love making lists!
I start out every morning by going online and writing out all the things I need to accomplish that day. Then, I x them off as I get things done. Something about putting that x beside tasks as I accomplish them makes me feel good about myself.
Not that I don’t have days where I end up with a whole bunch off stuff that’s not checked off, but at least that way I have everything written down in one place and I can see where I need to improve.
On July 16, 2010 at 5:07pm, AnotherSteph said...
Excellent review, Shae. I’ll have to get that book.
Regarding Think and Grow Rich, that was one of my very first motivational/business books. I haven’t read it in ages…so I’ll definitely plan to pick it up again for next month.
Steph
AnotherSteph´s last blog ..Weekly Update
On July 18, 2010 at 10:16am, The Blogs Rocket said...
Very nice article, thanks! I’ve subscribed to your RSS feed. Please keep up posting.
On July 21, 2010 at 8:11pm, Carey_PA said...
Awesome as review as usual Shae. Thanks! I didn’t get to this book yet…trying to work my way towards “The Power of Focus” that you recommended. This one is next.
I’m also reading “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.” We have to read that for work. We have a chapter to read a week…it’s actually pretty good.
Carey_PA´s last blog ..Possible wholesale deal Atm meeting
On July 21, 2010 at 8:14pm, Shae said...
Thanks! “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership” is one of many brilliant John Maxwell books. I’m going to be reviewing one of his books that I just finished later on this week on my blog.
Shae´s last blog ..Doing the things you despise