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Announcing TWO new e-books: #uppingyourgame v2.0 and an Essential Elements of Digital Literacies workbook

Posted on by Doug Belshaw

Update: I abandoned (and refunded) those who bought these ebooks. Instead, I’ve turned #uppingyourgame v2.0 into an audiobook. Check it out here!

TL;DR: In 2015 I’m going to write #uppingyourgame v2.0: a practical guide to personal productivity and The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies: the workbook. You can buy each one for $0.99 + tax (~£0.79) right now and you’ll get every update to v1.0.

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be writing not one, but TWO e-books this year! Many thanks to those who took the time to respond to my call to ‘vote’ on what I should write next. Some people commented on the post, some direct messaged me, and some emailed. The outcome of all this was that, somewhat surprisingly, the Open Badges e-book I’d proposed wasn’t as popular as the other two.

It was neck-and-neck between #uppingyourgame v2.0: a practical guide to personal productivity and The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies: the workbook. So, instead of choosing one, I’ve decided to write both of them concurrently. I’ll spend the most time on that ebook that has the most backers. Whatever happens, I’m planning to finish both of them by the end of the year.

While I’ve been very happy with Gumroad as a platform for selling the finished version of The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies, I’m going to try LeanPub for these two new ebooks. I like to write (and sell) ebooks iteratively as it allows me to get feedback from those invested in the content. For previous books following the OpenBeta process I used a manual, system I strung together myself. I’m hoping LeanPub makes this a lot more streamlined.

You can buy #uppingyourgame v2.0: a practical guide to personal productivity and The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies: the workbook in their current form today. That is to say, you’ll get an indicative overview of what the books will cover for the princely sum of $0.99 + tax (~£0.79). The reason you might want to buy now rather than later is that at each milestone I’ll be increasing the price of the ebooks until they’re finished. You also get to help shape the finished version by giving me feedback.

Click on the images below to be taken to the respective LeanPub landing page for each ebook! Thanks in advance for your support and interest in my work. 🙂

#uppingyourgame v2.0

The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies: the workbook

Image CC BY Robert Couse-Baker

#uppingyourgame: a practical guide to personal productivity is NOW FREE!

Posted on by Doug Belshaw

Last October I published a book entitled #uppingyourgame: a practical guide to personal productivity using a publishing process I devised called OpenBeta. It’s based on the principle of a book being cheaper the earlier you ‘buy into’ into the creative process. I always intended to make it free after a year, but I’ve decided to do so earlier as I’m increasingly referring to it in my interactions with people: I’d like everyone to be able to read it for free!

#uppingyourgame (free!)

It looks great on the iPad. It’s also available as cheap as I could make it on the Amazon Kindle Store (which might take a while to reflect price change) and as a physical book at Lulu.

Do pass the link on and let me know if you find it helpful! 🙂

#uppingyourgame is about personal productivity, not about applying somebody else’s system to your life. It’s about finding what drives you, discovering your ‘well of motivation’ and using this to create an ever-upwards virtuous circle. Above all it’s about doing more of what you enjoy doing and less of what you don’t.

The guidance, ideas and tips contained in #uppingyourgame: a practical guide to personal productivity range from coming up with a philosophy of productivity upon which to base your system right through to helping others become more productive.

#uppingyourgame is helps you develop productivity for life. It’s not just about ‘getting things done’.

PS If you’re looking for a shorter (also free) read, try my #onfire: ignite your productivity

Weeknote #28

Posted on by Doug Belshaw

Weeknote #28This week I have been mostly…

Writing

Well, typing, but we tend to look at the future through the rearview mirror (to slightly misquote Marshall McLuhan). I’m almost finished the draft of my JISC Mobile & Wireless Technologies Review. I’ll share it, of course, when it’s finished! (16,500 words and counting…)

Spending time with my Dad

He goes back to the UAE today, but it’s been good to have my Dad around for a week due to Second Eid.

Buying a Sony Vaio P Series

You know that stuff I sold via #twebay? I used it to fund an 8″ Sony Vaio P Series ultraportable. I found one for £350 on eBay with the extended battery and in immaculate condition. I love the fact that it’s got 3G and it’s lighter than an iPad yet has a keyboard that’s almost full-size. Tip: when deleting things ready for sale, remember to remove your media player history. :-p

Starting some consultancy work

Those who have read my blog for a while – certainly when I was working in schools – will know how I’ve railed against consultants in the past. The trouble was that I’d only come across the shiny-suited types, those that are parachuted in, say nothing much and then you never see again.

Working with consultants on JISC projects couldn’t be more different. They’re often the most dedicated, hard-working and passionate people you’ll ever meet. Which is why I’ve started doing some consulting for a consultant. If you think I might be able to help you in #uppingyourgame (in a productivity-related way or otherwise) click on the Work with Doug link.

Top 10 links I’ve shared this week

The following links were those most clicked on (according to bit.ly Pro‘s stats) when I shared them via   Twitter this week. I don’t include links back to this blog and the numbers this week show that I haven’t been as active on there as usual due to writing #jiscmobilereview!

Links given with number of clicks given in brackets:

  1. Daddy O (187 Lockdown Club Mix) [Spotify] (22)
  2. Interesting North – Doug’s Conference Blog (22)
  3. Skype Education (19)
  4. Justice with Michael Sandel (13)
  5. WordPress theme – Typograph (13)
  6. Pontydysgu – Research on Mobile Learning (10)
  7. Rypple (9)
  8. Telegraph: Fix the workplace, not the workers (9)
  9. New York Times: Building a Better Teacher (7)
  10. J Biebz – U Smile (800% slower) (5)
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