Title: How To be a “Better” Procrastinator: Over 100 strategies to help you Manage your Procrastination Habit
Author: Patrick Sanaghan, Ed.D.
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 1665524987
Pages: 156
Genre: Self-Help
Review by: David Allen
Pacific Book Review
If you or someone you know is a procrastinator – and the chances are overwhelming that you do, since 20% of Americans are procrastinators – then you are well aware of the shape-shifting and deviltry this bane of existence really can be. But wait. Before continuing, I think I’ll take a much-needed break. I’ve got so many other more appealing things to do…Sound familiar? Then don’t wait to dive into this very readable hands-on guide to making sense of and managing the procrastination menace.
The book is written by a world-class procrastinator, for procrastinators. It is divided into instantly accessible sections and chapters, any of which can be read first or in-between, or last. Readers who are immediately put off by the self-help genre – Oh no, not another self-improvement book! – will find their expectations unfounded. Dr. Sanaghan, obviously at home with his material, benefiting from a lifetime of research and management of unnecessary and self-destructive delay, shares his wisdom and experience lavishly and expertly in these pages.
The writing is excellent, the voice is friendly, generous yet consultative and professional. The tips and advice contained in this book are usually only available in higher priced venues, such as the office of expensive time management and motivational consultants. Excellent quotations from a dizzying array of sources are the icing on the delicious cake of this handbook for enjoying greater self-discipline and success.
Chief among the many winning attributes of this slim volume is its “show, don’t tell” format. Dr. Sanaghan presents the best and brightest ways to get the thing done in the best and brightest way: by prioritizing the information given, recognizing the reader’s possible limitations, forgiving them, and by going on and helping to get the thing done anyway. Possibly more space could have been devoted to a discussion of the etiology, the why and wherefore of procrastination. But that would have been a different book. To its greater credit, How to Be A “Better” Procrastinator does not bite off more than it can chew. Instead, it instantly recognizes the reader as a beleaguered fellow traveler, then puts him or her right in the driver’s seat. The counsel given in this book is priceless; as I plan on buying copies of it to send out to friends and family…right away! No delay!
The appendices are just as illuminating as the rest of the book. The author has the courage and authenticity to spell out precisely what daily routines work for him. He lists a number of apps that are available to help with anti-procrastination efforts. He bullet-points specific strategies which have spelled success for him and many others. He backs all this up with citations from credible and rigorously tested research.
So don’t put off buying this book until tomorrow, read this book today – and do it now!
