The thing is, you shouldn’t let that stop you from reading a copy of this book. Even though some of my habits haven’t changed, the book has helped me cope with my procrastinating ways and helped me change several keys areas of my life that lead to procrastination.

I downloaded the book from the R.E.A.D.S. database, and if you have a library card and an internet connection, you might want to give it a shot. If not, then consider buying the book from Amazon. (Don’t procrastinate. Amazon has this book at a bargain price of $2.99 as of today.)

I recommended The Procrastinator’s Handbook because…

The author of The Procrastinator’s Handbook: Mastering the Art of Doing it Now, Rita Emmett, sums up the beauty of this book in her introduction.

People who benefit from time management are like a group that has decided to go on a bicycle journey. They know where they want to go; their bikes are all ready, and time management principles are like the map or directions they need to set off on their adventure.

Then along comes the group of procrastinators meandering down the road. They haven’t decided yet where they want to go, and they’ve forgotten to bring their bikes, which don’t work anyway because they haven’t gotten around to fixing the flat tire. Maps and directions (time management principles) are of little use to this group. They need something different, so for them I developed my Conquer Procrastination seminars and wrote this book.

When people take my seminars, often the first questions they ask are: “Can a person really stop procrastinating?” “How can people expect to change their basic personalities or character traits?”

Procrastination is not an inherent part of your personality or character; it is simply a habit, an attitude. Can people change habits? Of course they can! Millions of people have stopped smoking, even though that habit is extremely hard to break. Can people change attitudes? Sure. Do you know anyone who used to think owning a VCR or sending E-mail was unnecessary, yet now — several years later — can’t imagine living without either?

I speak about procrastination from personal experience because I used to put off everything.

I most enjoyed her sections on identifying what types of procrastinator I am in what situations and then applying her suggestions for changing the patterns that keep me procrastinating.

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Recommended: The Procrastinator’s Handbook

NPR has an interesting piece of audio available for listening.

Why do today what you can do the day after tomorrow? Procrastination expert Timothy Pychyl and self-professed “structured procrastinator” John Perry discuss the latest research on this type of behavior and how to prioritize what’s really important.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91432804

Check out this page and listen to the 36 minutes of audio discussion. There are some useful links that will take you to reading that will give you a more thorough introduction to structured procrastination. I particularly like this method because it allows me to work with my procrastination habits instead of trying to change or cure me. Sure, there are some tips that can make procrastinating less of a problem, but overall it’s a very good method.

Structured Procrastination – http://www.structuredprocrastination.com/index.php

Procrastination and Perfectionism – http://www.structuredprocrastination.com/light/perfectionism.php

Discusses how the “fantasy of perfection” feeds procrastination and talks about a way to limit those fantasies’ impact. Here are a few of my favorite lines from the essay.

“How does the fantasy of perfection feed procrastination? Well, it’s not so easy to do things perfectly. At least I assume that it is not. Perhaps some day I’ll do something perfectly, and then I’ll know for sure.”

“Procrastinating was a way of giving myself permission to do a less than perfect job on a task that didn’t require a perfect job.”

Structured Procrastination: When all else fails – http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/dont-delay/200804/structured-procrastination-when-all-else-fails

Mostly this one is just a succinct summary of the original Structured Procrastination essay (see above link), but if you prefer bullet points to essay, give it a read.

Tags: procrastination, articles, essays, reading, audio, listening

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Structured Procrastination Resources