Piers Steel

When I started, I thought it would be much more useful but I became rather disilluioned. The begining was "Why Are You A Procrastinator?". Answer is "You Are a Bad person.". Really, that was it. Can't set goals, too impulsive, no time management, easily distracted, lazy. Check, check, check. So, it was not easy to take his sections on how to beat procrastination in the light hearted, positive thinking, tone that he chose. The book just depressed me and made me think I will never get over my show more procrastination habits. The few tips that he had that I had tried had just made things worse. But, in the spirit of eternal optimism, I have another book on Solving Procrastination (from a reviewer here) on order at the library. Hope springs eternal. show less

It's embarrassing how long it took me to get through this book, especially given the title! It shows I started about a month ago, but it really was a couple times before that where I'd check out the book and then never get around to actually reading it. But it does have a lot of good insight and ideas on how to stop procrastination. But just like any habit it takes time to get out of the habit of procrastinating - continuing to find ways to do things NOW, in every aspect of your life show more definitely helps. I think that making decisions to NOT do something can be powerful because otherwise it builds up the procrastination muscle - you're putting off the decision to do it or not do it. Just deciding one way or the other, even if it is deciding not to continue, is a great habit to instill in your life! show less

The subtitle is ‘How to stop putting things off and start getting things done’. The author has done research on the field, and acknowledges that he is as prone to putting things off as anyone.

In the first chapter he defines procrastination in a helpful way, saying what it is not as well as what it is. The second chapter has a short questionnaire to determine what kind of procrastination the reader is prone to, if any.

The rest of the book looks into what makes people procrastinate, show more relating to value, expectancy and time. It also looks at the physical makeup of our brains, and why people (particularly children) are prone to putting off important things even when they know they may regret it. Towards the end it gives suggestions for helping people to overcome procrastinating tendencies.

Overall I thought it very readable, written for non-academics but without any hint of talking down to lay people. I would recommend it highly to anyone interested in the topic... even though, rather ironically, it has taken me four days to get around to reviewing this after finishing it! show less

This book is a great example of what an author does when he has a unique idea that can be succinctly explained in 10-20 pages but needs to multiply that by a factor of 10 to make money writing a book. Pretty high amount of fluff (chapters 5 and 6 especially seem like they were included just to fill pages). Lots of pop-sci style references that conflate informal surveys, or even myths, with real meta-analyses. Some explanations rely heavily on bunk evolutionary psychology.

If you're able to show more look over these downsides, I think that the core equation itself is a great mental model for investigating why you're putting off certain projects or tasks. If I were to come back and re-read this book, I would just read chapters 7-10, and I'd recommend first-time readers do the same thing. Indeed, even the author knows that this is where the meat of the book lies; he introduces the section with "the rest of the book is dedicated to actionable intelligence that puts putting off in its place."

3 stars because Steel wastes half the book with filler before getting to the good stuff. show less