Customer Reviews

The Procrastination Workbook: Your Personalized Program for Breaking Free from the Patterns That Hold You Back

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In page after page I find myself gasping as William Knaus explains the different ways I have developed to procrastinate my life away. Knaus describes procrastination as a complex mixture of discomfort, self-doubts, perfectionism, fear of failure, anxiety, rebellion and depression developed over a lifetime. He explains how heaping blame on yourself only drives you to procrastinate more and he has created thought questions to help you develop the skills you need to pause, resist, reflect and respond.

A life changing weapon against the graveyard of missed opportunities, I highly recommend it!

Since there are only two reviews (well just one, really) I thought I should give my perspective to fill the picture out a bit. Remember, this is just my personal view.

I take it that the author is strongly influenced by Albert Ellis's REBT system. I don't know very much about it, but I would also guess that if you like Ellis' work, you'll probably enjoy Knaus' as well.

I on the other hand was turned off by the way the author presents his ideas. He seems to use complicated lingo--not always clinical, but usually obscure--to say things that could be expressed more clearly. For instance, towards the beginning we find that we'll diminish procrastination through "self regulation training". "Self efficacy is the belief that you have the power to organize, regulate, and direct your actions to achieve mastery. With high self efficacy, you'll predictably procrastinate less. With low self efficacy, you are likely to procrastinate more. Among the self regulation methods, the PURRRR acronym describes a six step--pause, utilize, reflect, reason, respond, and revise--process to keep your 'do it now' engine purring." And it goes on like that. While I don't disagree with what he says, I find that his writing style gets very little across. But I quoted him so that you can form your own opinion.

No matter how challenging this affliction can be for someone who is a confirmed procrastinator, dealing with it is not rocket science, and there's no need to obscure the matter.

I participated in a study group of this book. I met the other study group members through Clutterers Anonymous.

This book is very thought provoking. There are descriptions of research about procrastination as well as examples. I liked the clear writing with definitions and examples of concepts. This is not a simple flip-through the book and skim-read; the material does require serious concentration. The font is large which makes easy to read. The layout is nicely divided with subject headings and clear connections from chapter to chapter.

Responding to the questions at the end of each chapter helped me to be clear on understanding each chapter before progressing to the next chapter. I would recommend this book to anyone who is brave enough to self-assess for why procrastination is such a part of their life's journey pattern.

"The Procrastination Workbook"! Wow, what a great way to get free....free from procrastination that is. This workbook has practical solutions, to free you from the enslaving habit of procrastination. Only complete this workbook if you want to change your life.

I bought this book four years ago, but haven't got around to reading it yet. I thumbed through it though. I think it will be helpful if I force myself to read it.

Just reading the excerpt I spotted a mistake. Who edits books nowadays? The word procrastinate comes from Latin: pro - for or toward / cras - tomorrow / tinere to hold, hold off.