Schaffner Media Partners

You keep putting off sales calls to organize your desk or surf the Internet. Or, facing a deadline, you start writing, get nowhere and decide to take a “break.” Or, maybe you’ve completed every aspect of planning a project, except one small detail, and you keep putting it off–until it’s too late.

If any of these hypotheticals resonate, you’re not alone.

According to The Procrastination Equation: How To Stop Putting Things Off and Start Getting Things Done, a new book by Piers Steel, Ph.d., procrastination is rampant, a mixture of human nature and deadlines that create irrational delay. Winner of the Killam Emerging Research Leader award, Steel teaches human resources and organizational dynamics at the Haskayne School of Business/University of Calgary. At least 95% of us procrastinate at least occasionally, Steel writes, citing research, and “about 15-20% of us do it consistently and problematically.” Continue reading….

Tim Ferriss‘ first book, The 4-Hour Workweek, hit the bestseller lists in its first weeks of publication in 2007and has remained an influential and talked-about phenomenon ever since (as has Ferriss’ blog).   Memorably dubbed “part scientist and part adventure hunter,” Ferriss developed his manifesto for productivity and personal freedom from his early success as an entrepreneur,  angel investor, traveler and athlete.

The 4-Hour Work Week exhorts readers to tap into their passions and  establish passive income streams so they escape the 9-5 rat race and live a life full of meaning, pleasure and wealth.  He explains how to take “mini-retirements” and work remotely so you can incorporate a globe-trotting lifestyle into any job.   Continue reading…

Most offices have at least one toxic character in their midst– a vicious gossiper, a micromanaging boss, the idea thief, the scapegoat leader who never goes down with the ship.  Fortunately, help–at least some smart advice on coping strategies–is available.

Here are my two favorite management books on how to handle the toxic co-workers:

The No As***** Rule by the Stanford professor of management science, Robert I. Sutton,  expanded upon his hit 2004 Harvard Business Review article, “More Trouble Than They’re Worth,” and quickly became a best seller in 2007.  That piece, he said, inspired an outpouring of emails, from the manager of a roofing company to the CEO of a money management firm and a researcher for the Supreme Court.   More>>

Schaffner Media Partners, LLC, is a publishing services consultancy offering media relations, online promotion, editorial development, social media, website creation, literary agenting, and brand strategy.  We help authors and thought leaders tell their story effectively and find publishing success through any and all aspects of publishing.

All of our efforts are guided by an in-depth understanding of the evolving state of media and aimed toward connecting our clients to readers, audiences, and followers.   We can develop your book, sell your book, promote your book, build or improve a website, and introduce you and your project to relevant media.  We find effective solutions to tough challenges in the publishing marketplace.

Call or write us now with your publishing and communications challenges, and we’ll give you advice you can use in the first conversation.