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39th out of 46 books
—
15 voters
Getting Organized in the Google Era: How to Get Stuff out of Your Head, Find It When You Need It, and Get It Done Right
Whether it's a faulty memory, a tendency to multitask, or difficulty managing our time, every one of us has limitations conspiring to keep us from being organized. But, as organizational guru and former Google CIO Douglas C. Merrill points out, it isn't our fault. Our brains simply aren't designed to deal with the pressures and competing demands on our attention in today's...more
Hardcover, 272 pages
Published
March 16th 2010
by Crown Business
(first published January 1st 2010)
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I really liked this book because it is a right-brain look at a left-brain subject. It is a light, simple, postmodern-like explanation of organization, especially as it relates to technology. Many reviews I have read were disappointed in this book for the same reason I liked it.
While Merrill largely focuses on technology - and Google - this is also a book about organization in general. I enjoyed the opportunity to look at organization from a postmodern perspective while learning many advantages t...more
While Merrill largely focuses on technology - and Google - this is also a book about organization in general. I enjoyed the opportunity to look at organization from a postmodern perspective while learning many advantages t...more
The gist: Only remember what you have to. Put things that you can't remember where you'll be able to find them again. Rely heavily on search, repetition and (gasp) email.
(Yes, network administrator, this book suggests you keep all emails ever sent or received that may be of any use to you in the future whatsoever. Ha!)
Didn't love the formatting for this book. Thought it would be easier to skim, but in the end, I was glad I read it so thoroughly.
Got all excited about Things, the task management...more
(Yes, network administrator, this book suggests you keep all emails ever sent or received that may be of any use to you in the future whatsoever. Ha!)
Didn't love the formatting for this book. Thought it would be easier to skim, but in the end, I was glad I read it so thoroughly.
Got all excited about Things, the task management...more
Man-machine. The paperless office. Information overload. Yes, the time has arrived. The future is now. Yet with all the world’s information at the tip of our fingers, how does one keep this plethora of info from overtaking our daily existence? What if you could hire someone to consult you on organizing all this data into a manageable state?
Enter Douglas C. Merrill. As the top information officer for Google, Merrill knows a thing or two about what he’s talking about, including many key concepts d...more
This is a good book for people who live under a rock and know very little about Google technology products. The author addresses some fairly heavy issues with a light touch--he doesn't get into them very deeply when I think he could have done so. The fact is, his organization tips and opinions will fall on deaf ears to those who are scared of technology. He focused a tad too much on the Google suite, although it made perfect sense since he was the CIO at Google until not that long ago. It's almo...more
A dry subject made more interesting because of the writer's style. Douglas Merrill was the chief information officer for Google and he does push Google as a way of keeping organized. He tells entertaining stories with humor, and he uses song phrases in sidebars to illustrate his points.
He explains what "clouds" are. I think I understand it's a way to keep records on the internet where you can access them from any computer, apple or microsoft. I still don't feel secure with the idea, even though...more
He explains what "clouds" are. I think I understand it's a way to keep records on the internet where you can access them from any computer, apple or microsoft. I still don't feel secure with the idea, even though...more
I actually enjoyed reading this book quite a bit. Merrill's casual writing style coupled with organizational challenges in his life make this a very warm and forgiving book to read. He describes how certain tools can be used for certain organizational needs. The main tenet that struck to me was his insistence on NOT maintaining an empty inbox but to search for mail that we needed by placing tags. He offers about 12 organizing principles which challenge the usual assumptions of organization. Havi...more
Maybe I could have used the time actually ORGANIZING something instead of reading a lot of words to give tips - some already well-known, a few interesting insights or phrased in a more compelling way, and some that are already outdated by the constant changes in our internet and Google world.
Could have been much more concise and outlined to be, indeed, helpful.
Interesting guy, but wasn't sure if his humor was worth the time it took to read through.
Maybe he as author and me as reader could have s...more
Could have been much more concise and outlined to be, indeed, helpful.
Interesting guy, but wasn't sure if his humor was worth the time it took to read through.
Maybe he as author and me as reader could have s...more
Eh...not that good. I was intrigued by his neuroscience background and the promise of insight into how to use digital tools/gadgets productively. The book delivered neither. Just very basic tips combined with a lot of stuff about gmail, etc., I already knew. It could be very useful if you don't know much about gmail or aren't used to using many online tools, but if you're the average young-ish person, you likely won't find many life-altering insights. And as far as the promise of cognitive insig...more
I didn't like this book at first, and I still think he could have skipped part one, in which he attempts to describe the ways humans behave. The meat of this book is in learning about the new(ish) digital ways to be organized. Some of them are simple, but you might not have thought of them, like using your email as a filing system. I really liked the section in the back of the book where he talks about products he likes, loves, or dislikes, based on function. This was a really good primer on tak...more
The last 1/3 of this book was the best. How cloud computing is going to make it easier to get better organized and share information. The number one tip is to get it out of your head. Put it on paper store it online, but don't carry around your shopping list in your head. The first 2/3 of the book reminded me a lot of David Allen's Getting Things Done . Great tips on maximizing your Gmail account. Also love the appendix of "Things We Love" software or webware to make life easier. Great book if...more
Douglas Merrill was Google's first CIO, assigned with the task of making Google's technology align with the way our brains work, and of developing it from there. His book is a practical guide to understanding and implementing brain research-based organizational and coping methods in our information overload world.
I should add that, if you are a GTD fan and are already using G-Mail and other high tech organizational tools, such as GTDInbox, Xobni, etc., then you won't find much new in the book.
I should add that, if you are a GTD fan and are already using G-Mail and other high tech organizational tools, such as GTDInbox, Xobni, etc., then you won't find much new in the book.
A quick read. Briefly covers limitations of mind and personality, and then he goes over different things he has learned through his experience to become better organized. I enjoyed how he broke things down in to quick snippets that you can copy and rewrite to meet your own needs. Not ground breaking, but a good starting point to look at your own life and make decisions regarding your best method of organizing your work and life.
Wish it had more about how to work around brain's sticking points instead of product placement for specific technology systems. I guess that's what I was expecting from guy with PhD in cognitive science. I like that he had personal stories to share, but also would have liked more about his methods for dealing with his dyslexia. Not bad as organization books go, but I can't say I really liked it.
The first and last sections weren't that interesting to me, but the middle section is what makes this book worth it. Even though I've been using most of the techniques anyway, it was good to see an almost systematic way of using the new tools available online for organizing and productivity. And there were a few ideas in there that I knew about but just didn't know how important they were. So overall, good stuff.
This is a book that I might buy. It's a handbook for using online organizational tools, but more than that. The author has a PhD in cognitive psychology and was the CIO of Google. The first part of the book talks about our brains and how we think and how we want to organize things, which is not in keeping with all the ways we've been forced to organize things. No wonder we have so much difficulty with it. No wonder there are so many books on how to get organized. He doesn't tell the reader what...more
Decent book but nothing ground breaking. The most interesting part was his personal stories. Some good websites but nothing again that can't be found elsewhere. If you are looking for a great book on organization then get "Getting Things Done" by David Allen. Sorry Doug
looks cheesy. I expect I will already know a lot this.
Okay, not cheesy. This guy was really successful.
But his suggestions lack good explanations to make them easily applicable. Suggestions are quite general.
His Tips and Tricks are too specific. Technology will make them not useful.
File information so you can retrieve it quickly. Use Gmail and Google Documents.
-use filters in Gmail to sort info
Highlight different categories of information.
-On paper: many highlighters
-Gmail: filters and labels
RE...more
Okay, not cheesy. This guy was really successful.
But his suggestions lack good explanations to make them easily applicable. Suggestions are quite general.
His Tips and Tricks are too specific. Technology will make them not useful.
File information so you can retrieve it quickly. Use Gmail and Google Documents.
-use filters in Gmail to sort info
Highlight different categories of information.
-On paper: many highlighters
-Gmail: filters and labels
RE...more
I really wanted to like this book, but it just doesn't do it for me. The author's thoughts are not as clearly organized as you'd hope for considering this is a book about organization. The tips for organizing your life digitally are not much help if you already use email, online calendars, searching, and cloud storage for at least some of your organization. It is written with a pleasant, easy-to-read style, so it wasn't a difficult read. I felt it lacked the substance of other organizing books o...more
The interview that got me interested in had Doug Merrill asserting that multi-tasking is a crock. Hmm. I think I suspected this, but it's probably good to be released from the idea that we need to be doing many things well at once. Just getting into it.
Wonderful book on why it is difficult to be organized with summaries on process improvements; versus procedure improvements typically given. The tips on how to use Google, and similar software, more effectively to find material instead of filing it!
Wow, this guy used to work for Google and still loves it. He was disorganized but figured out ways to get organized that most of us figured out in second grade. But still, if you still have not figured it out, he could be helpful.
The content provides some very useful reminders and acts as an introduction to multiple technologies to assist in organizing calendars, contacts, and information. This is a text that I will refer back to from time to time.
Merrill takes a different approach to getting things done using a lot of brain science and psychology. Lots of great ideas and new ways to think about saving and access information in an era where we're overrun with data.
This was just an impulse borrow from the library as I walked by it and totally not worth it. Complete shill for Google. A couple of good tips for integrating technology into your life. Luckily, a brief, easy read.
Aug 05, 2011
Natalie
added it
Douglas Merrill combines scientific ideas about memory with practical technological fixes. Some of the ideas seem simplistic, and it is already slightly dated, but I still found some nice tidbits.
Interesting book about using Gmail for everything. Author makes a good case for keeping most of your information in the "cloud." Provides some good tips and reviews of online apps.
This book talks about how to organize everything in the cloud computing era. The core thing is to make everything accessible and searchable in anywhere and anytime.
This is a great how-to book for using all the Google products: gmail/Docs/RSS.
Highly recommended if you want to understand web 2.0 better. A quick read.
Highly recommended if you want to understand web 2.0 better. A quick read.
The book started off promising a more scientific and theoretical look at organisation, then "changes context" to sharing tips on using gmail and other google tools. Overall, it didn't go as deep intellectually as i had expected, neither did it offer a breakthrough in personal organisation. A tad disappointing, I have to admit.
Some good tips, but I wish I could have gotten them from someone who was less annoying. Go straight to the appendices and get the info you need.
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Jul 29, 2011 01:49pm