Customer Reviews

Overcoming Procrastination: Or How To Think and Act Rationally in Spite of Life's Inevitable Hassles

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read this a few years back after realizing that procrastination had become an unacceptable and havoc-wreaking way of life for me for far too long (since childhood!) I bought this book with hesitation (honestly, i put it off!) Can reading this little book really help someone overcome such a terrible habit?? Well, the answer is a resounding YES! I began learning about all the reasons someone may procrastinate - everything from perfectionism to low frustration tolerance. In understanding the root of this self-destructive behavior, I was able to instantly transform my habit by considering my motives behing every action more completely. Honestly, it was pretty automatic. What a relief! I give it five stars simply because IT HELPED ME 100%.

As the book repeatedly says though, the battle is not over yet; reading the book merely provides one with the tools and knowledge one needs to overcome this habit that many of us share. The book stresses that overcoming procrastination is a lifelong battle; however, in reading the book, I realised that as a battler of procrastination, I am amongst millions. All of the justification I had ever used for my procrastination was covered in the book; justification equals excuses. On a humorous note: I gave this book to a friend of mine who suffers from procrastination; she still has not found time to open it up! If you can read the book, then, like me, you have realized your problem, and are well on the way to its resolution.

This book is effective because it both (i) identifies the major cause of procrastination and (ii) shows you how to combat it. Since the cause of procrastination lies principally in our thinking, the "rational" techniques work especially well. I also found a number of behavioral tools that worked well for me. Among these are the profit-penalty system, reminders, bits and pieces (which NLP authors term "chunking down"), and the five-minute plan. I've used this book several times over the past few years when I've found myself procrastinating.

If you're procrastinating, I suggest that you buy this book and start using it...now. As you're working with it, you might also augment your procrastination-fighting skills by using David Burns' "The Feeling Good Handbook." (I have found it more useful than its predecessor, "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy," and you can easily use it without reading the latter.) And then, until you realize that you've made the progress you wanted, stop looking elsewhere for more books and more tools. That's just another procrastination pattern!

In this little book, Dr. Albert Ellis gives us tools in order
to deal with procrasination. He instructs us in his A-B-C
system of mental health. We have the Activating event (A),
the Beliefs that we hold (B), and the Consequences of those
beliefs (C). (A) for me is writing this review. (B) is my Belief that it must be a perfect review. (C) is the Consequence
which I experience from that belief. Which is anxiety. When
we procrastinate, according to Ellis, we are holding irrational

(B)eliefs. The more we (D)ispute these beliefs, the more healthy
(E)ffects of mental health we will experience. Ellis also gives
us behavioral tools to help us eliminate our procrastination.
Such as a reward system. Nevertheless, his system depends
on disputing the irrational beliefs. There are two things that you might want to remember before you buy this wonderful book.
First, you have to use REBT (Rational-Emotive-Behavioral-Therapy) all the time. It has to become a powerful philosophy in and of itself. If you counter your procrastination ten minutes daily,
but then whip yourself with irrational thoughts and ideas the rest of the time, it won't work. For this, you might want to go to the REBT website (...) for more information. The second thing is that you might want to employ a Tibetan Buddhist technique to really dispute your irrational beliefs and to burn
in rational ones. To do this, you sit in a chair. Count to ten. And after you have counted to ten without losing your count, you THEN dispute your irrational beliefs. This is how
they burn in rational thoughts in the Gelugpa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Regardless, I hope that you enjoy this little
book. And I wish you all the happiness in the world.

...
To readers familiar with Ellis's R.E.T.(Rational Emotive Therapy)theory(also called REBT), this is already a familiar book, a variation on themes Ellis expounds upon elsewhere, most notably in "A Guide to Rational Living", written back in the 60's, where he lays out the basics of his theory. Readers unfamiliar with Ellis and R.E.T. might see his approach as similiar to television's "Dr Phil"(McGraw), and if you see the latter as something of a scold, you're likely to experience Ellis the same way.
Ellis's approach emphasizes "self-talk", and asking you to question your motives in avoiding anxiety-provoking tasks. He prefers behavior-oriented and pragmatic thinking over "what-happened-way-back-when" depth psychology. If such an approach strikes you as what you're looking for in a book about this topic, then I'd recommend Ellis. He's very straightforward and easy to comprehend.

This book is about using REBT to combat procrastination. REBT (rational emotive behavioral therapy ) was the first type of cognitive therapy invented, some say the most effective type.

The authors of this book seem to write like they speak and it did not seem to help the book. The writing also comes across as a bit caustic. I didn't think the authors described rational emotive behavioral therapy well in this book.

Despite the poor writing there is a significant amount of useful information for overcoming procrastination in this book. It is still worth checking out.

People interested in using REBT as an antidote to procrastination might be better served by another book with the same title by Windy Dryden. Almost all of the same information, but better written, better organized and shorter.