The Web's Best on Effectiveness: Online Publications

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The Web’s Best on Effectiveness: Online Publications

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Published: 25 July 2008 Author: Adrian Koh

This is part I of III of our research on available online publications, blogs and online discussions.

Our research covers a variety of sources including online publications and active web communities. We dive deep into the articles and discussions to extract the most pertinent pieces of information. The result is a succinct report on the most salient topics renewed on a regular basis. Here are the sources on our watch list:

Large Newspapers and News Sites

Newspapers and news sites regularly feature articles on personal productivity and effectiveness, which can be found in the career, business, management, and finance sections (in ascending order of valuable material: USA Today, CNN.Com, The Economist, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and Harvard Business Publishing). These are written by well-known professionals who are established in their respective fields. The more interesting materials cover new discoveries in psychology, neurology, and cognitive science, shedding light on the mind and its inner learning mechanisms. These articles offer an interesting insight on the study of efficiency and effectiveness. However, to appeal to a broader reader base, research resources in these articles are omitted, making many claims difficult to verify. These publications have a readership that ranges from 600,000 to 1.6 million.

[Author's Note: The Economist and CNN feature advice for conducting business in various countries (traveller's section), which gives a good angle on certain productivity practices and their universality. For example, delegating tasks via email instead of calling personally is seen as rude in some cultures.]

Popular Management Websites

FastCompany and BNET publish news and articles on many facets of management and try to stay abreast with current management trends. On the personal productivity front, they feature regular articles on useful work-related lifehacks. Many of these are “how-to” guides, with a particular focus on sales and managerial efficiency. BNET’s readers contribute actively to articles, some of which have up to 130 reader comments and 70 recommendations (or “votes”). BNET also maintains a business library of white papers sourced from external websites (see below). Both BNET and FastCompany have good visitor traffic, ranking 18,908 and 8,751 on traffic ranking (source: Alexa.com, May 2008).

Popular Success Websites

The list of contributors to Success Magazine and Brian Tracy’s websites reads like a “Who’s Who” in the success and motivation circles. Both websites publish material on attaining achievement and maintaining good financial habits. While most of the materials on entrepreneurship and goal-setting are time-tested and true, some of the content increasingly includes elements of neuro-linguistic programming, a success methodology that is controversial. The material also tends to descend into hard-sell rhetoric for peddling books and other “get-rich” systems, thereby decreasing the credibility of the content.

Self-Improvement Websites: IKnowNow, The Productivity Pro, and The David Allen Company

IKnowNow functions as a repository of knowledge, with an extensive library of articles from self-proclaimed experienced professions and consultants. Similarly, the self-improvement section covers a lot of ground in various areas of life management. However, some articles appear to be nothing more than publicity material for the writer. Also, the solutions’ claims of effectiveness are often dubious, if not down-right outrageous. There are some gems in the archives, but these are generally already featured on popular sites like BNET. Readership appears scarce, with few comments on each article.

Laura Stack, best-selling author of the book Leave the Office Earlier and well-known productivity expert, issues a monthly newsletter with personal productivity tips and keeps a small archive of productivity clippings. The articles have solid insights into the most effective practices and life management concepts. She has recently added a section in her monthly newsletter called “Ask the Productivity Pro,” where she answers readers’ pertinent questions. This is a good resource when researching particular areas of interest in personal productivity. Stack is a popular author and is regularly featured in newspapers and television news programs.

David Allen, acclaimed productivity guru and author of the revolutionary book Getting Things Done, publishes essays related to his productivity system of the same name. There appears to be no clear schedule for the articles, which are mostly elaborations on real-world practical applications of the Getting Things Done (GTD) method. Allen’s articles are the authoritative guide for implementing the GTD system and hence serve as important references when comparing and contrasting other workflow and personal productivity systems. The articles mostly focus on executive/office-based productivity.

Your Views and Contributions

While this list was compiled to cover a wide spectrum of success and productivity literature, it is by no means exhaustive. This is where you, our readers, can contribute to improving this list. Tell us what you think of our sources – let us know how these websites have benefited you, if they have at all. Also, feel free to share with us any good material you have found on other websites. We will review and feature them here as well.