Mark Hurst (1)

What this book has to offer is so desperately needed: sanity in the face of overload! It is especially appropriate if you think an empty inbox is outrageous or impossible AND you are feeling overwhelmed by the flow of tasks that arrive on your screen and desk each day.

I've read Getting Things Done by David Allen. I have practiced the habits described in both books with varying consistency and moderate success. I am a very absent-minded person who loves the structure and efficiency that show more comes from adopting a clever, well-adapted work flow. This book can help those who want to help themselves to a better work-lifestyle.

I acknowledge that some reviewers have dismissed the help offered here because they are not ready for change in their lives. Mark Hurst holds us responsible for our choices: "Your bits are your responsibility." And that message doesn't suit folks who want to succumb to, and to blame, external forces.

Furthermore I don't completely agree where some reviewers have poo-pooed this book as a choir hymnal for the already-converted techno-compulsives. It is a rare individual who already manages all their bits in all the ways that Hurst suggests. I could be considered a techno-compulsive and there were definitely new ideas for me. Best of the bunch: the gootodo web app. I wish Mark Hurst would sell this software or offer it in an open source package!

As an educator and technology specialist, I care a lot about helping other folks, the overwhelmed and non-compulsive types especially, to put technology in it's place in their careers. That place is one of partnership, one where technology is a lever for their talents and not a guillotine. This book can help tremendously in reforming counter-productive responses to an ever-growing stream of digital media and digital task management woes.

It runs a close second to David Allen's book on Getting Things Done. The books are fine complements to each other. I will be coming back to Hurst's ideas often in my work with fellow educators and their students in the burgeoning eLearning community. - Kathy Cannon (kathycannon.com) show less

An intriguing book in some ways, about regaining control of our computer/internet lives, with recommendations to empty inboxes daily, write more efficient emails, reduce sources of news, and organise our files and photos logically.

While it's inevitably rather dated (published in 2007) and makes no mention of social media, there are some useful pointers in this book. I was quite inspired by the chapter about emptying one's email inboxes daily. However most of the rest was rather basic, and show more while I don't disagree with any of the author's suggestions, I follow most of them anyway.

I found the early chapters very wordy, and just skimmed the later ones that explain some computer terminology. But it's quite readable, and anyone feeling overwhelmed by what the author calls 'bits' - stuff on the computer or other electronic devices, basically - it's probably worth downloading the ebook if it remains free.

Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2021/08/bit-literacy-by-mark-hurst.html show less

I’m going to start by talking about the problems with this book.

Wait, no I’m not. I’m going to start by talking about the positives, so you can understand the context of the negatives, and then I’ll go positive again. This book has some good ideas. And it brings several decent tips together into one package.

Now the problems. This feels like a book developed to sell a web program. It feels like a couple of magazine articles in search of a book. It feels like a one-note book that had show more another 10 chapters added so it would be a full book (all done so it wouldn’t seem like an ad campaign, all done so it wouldn’t seem like just an article.) And, now I feel bad. I’m not sure either is true, but it is easy for the reader to leave with that impression. But, because the concepts ring true to me, I’m trying out the web site for the free 30-day trial. The truth be told, the site, matched with the tips, look like they can make e-mail less of a headache for me, and make my work life slightly more organized. For, that is what this article turned into a book is about – getting control over the e-mail influx. And, even deeper now, what else is the purpose of a book like this than to make the readers life easier.

Okay, now that I’ve wandered all over, here’s another beginning to this review. What is this book about? The premise is that the problem everyone has with their computers (primarily, e-mails – as already noted) is we don’t know how to manage the bits we receive. Accordingly, by changing our approach and no longer handling bits the same way we used to handle paper (or by changing the paradigms we’ve developed in response to the barrage of bits), we can find better ways to work with and organize that information so we don’t feel the weight of those bits crushing in on us. (And that makes this all sound a little new-agey, and it isn’t. Again, this is a book of concrete ideas.)

Maybe, I’ll start again, and attempt it more simply. This is a book that provides solid tips on how better to manage e-mail, with additional tips on other aspects of managing computer files.

And one ending. All the above shows the different reactions that can occur from reading this relatively simple book. But, at its core, for $15, it’s worth the plunge show less

Quick Review: Good for a newbie, interesting skim for more savvy user.

Bit Literacy by Mark Hurst is another addition to the long, really long, list of techno-productivity books trying to answer the question; “How do we function effectively in an increasingly fast-paced, information saturated, complex world?” Mark focuses on the methods for managing “the bits”; the documents, pictures, email, and other data we frequently work with. There are hints of bigger problems that need solving show more here and the basic principles of simplicity and data portability are on point, but the target audience of the book seems to be the newbie so overwhelmed by the changing technology that they cannot keep up. Worthy of a very quick skim by those who are already familiar with technology.

Complete review: http://blog.thethoughtcollector.com/?p=13 show less