According to this study from Harvard Business School, that was reported on their newly launched HBS Blog, the more projects one takes on, the less one seems to accomplish.

Here are their suggestions for Time Management:

• Try to bring old projects to some kind of closure before new ones get on the list.
• Make sure to book some time with yourself for those strategic, but non-urgent tasks (like thinking, or writing) that tend to get crowded out by urgent demands. I have one client who has a mythical person named “Joe” – meetings with Joe are for thinking, and it’s understood that they are not to be interrupted.
• Check email only twice a day (promise- it won’t kill you!)
• Try to make the consequences of your tradeoffs clear to those (like a boss or colleague) who may be creating excess work for you.
• Match your strategic priorities with how you spend your time – and question activities that don’t drive those priorities.
• And finally, do question the value of every activity – if it simply didn’t get done, what would happen?

{image courtesy of Hannah Whitaker/New York Magazine}

New York Magazine has a great piece on the independent bookstore, comparing it to your local bar. “Not only does everyone know your name, but they know what you like.” In this article they list the 14 best independent stores in NYC.

The importance of independent bookstores for helping boost authors exposure is immeasurable. We always advise our clients to head out to their local independents, introduce themselves, give copies of their book to the manager or salespeople, build a relationship by having signings and signing stock. These small efforts can sometimes pay off in a big way!

{image courtesy of Paul Cox for New York Times}

The New York Times has selected the 100 Most Notable Books of 2007. Check out the list for yourself and see if there are any interesting books that you may have missed.