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The Procrastinator's Handbook: Mastering the Art of Doing It Now

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Everyone procrastinates. Some of us are more prone to putting things off than others, but procrastination is a common human behavior. So, why a book for procrastinators? Who will read it? The people who really need such a handbook will put off reading it anyway, so what's the point? I began this book with a skeptical attitude.

I read introductions. I often find some interesting gems in those opening pages. It happened with The Procrastinator's Handbook. Did you know that procrastination is a habit? And habits can be broken, changed? Hmmm. Procrastination thinking can significantly alter my performance and get in the way of my success without my even realizing it. I had never thought about procrastination that deeply.

Part One was fascinating. The author explores a variety of types of procrastination. On almost every page I found myself nodding with an attitude of "yes, I can see that." And I'm starting to collect some tips about how to conquer the tendency to put things off. The vignettes are supporting my learning. This book is comfortable, easy to read. It's sort of like a friend telling you things you sort of know, but never really examined. New, acceptable information and insight.

Learning. That's what this book is about. Yeah. And that sense is reinforced by the "extra credit" assignments at the close of each chapter. I remember extra credit work from school; most of the time the tasks were fun and more educational than I would want to admit. Same thing here. I like the quotes at the end of each chapter, too. They sort of underline the message of the chapter.

Author Rita Emmett gives seminars on procrastination and the productive use of time. I felt like I was sitting in one of her seminars-gaining knowledge, insight, and inspiration in every chapter. She was talking to me. The tone of the writing gave me the warm, included feeling of sitting in a small seminar with Rita (see, I'm already talking as if the author is a personal friend who cares about me and my procrastination problem.

Uh, oh. Folding down pages. And I feel myself making commitments to complete some of those unfinished tasks that I conveniently add to my to-do list so I can get them out of my face. Oops. She caught me. How does Rita know so much about what I do? Gotta keep this book at arm's length or this stuff will affect my thinking and even behavior.

Too late. I'm into Part Two: Why We Procrastinate. Boy, does this sound familiar! By the time I get to the chapter entitled, "Help! I'm overwhelmed!", I'm eager for answers. I feel like I've joined Procrastinators Anonymous. I need answers. Solutions. Ideas for changing my behavior.

Part Three: Proven Strategies for Conquering Procrastination. Hungrily, I move through 75 pages of techniques, highlighting, turning pages, making a few notes. Some of this material is not new, though maybe packaged differently. Most of what I'm reading, though, is fresh, focused ideas. This information and advice will help improve my life. I can feel it.

The last paragraph of text in the book tells the story. "You can change your old procrastinating ways. Don't forget Emmett's Law: The dread of doing a task uses up more time and energy than doing the task itself. So go ahead and get started creating the life you want. You deserve a great one!" Works for me! It's time to make a difference in my life.

While holiday shopping in a local bookstore,I was unable to find a book I had come in to buy. The cover of Rita Emmett's book caught my eye - I stopped and browsed through the first few pages. I then put the book down and thought to myself, "Oh, I'll come back and buy it another day". Bells went off in my head! Why am I procrastinating buying this book??? Money? Time? Actually none of the above. It was a behavior - a procrastinating behavior. I bought the book and read it cover to cover. She defines procrastinating behaviors and offers small step activities that will make changes. Instead of beating yourself up over being late or putting things off, you learn how to make changes in behavior that brings long term results. Procrastinating is usually considered a negative thing. Rita shows you why your procrastination is linked to positive behaviors and how to make changes that will bring you positive results. After reading the book, I booked Rita inviting her to be the speaker at an annual event I'm coordinating in New Jersey.

As other reviewers have pointed out, this book is more a pep talk than a program of action. Its proposals for action won't be any surprise (make a list, set a timer and commit to doing a specific thing for an hour) and the little quotes at the end of every chapter run the gamut from truly inspirational to trite. However, everyone knows what they should be doing; the book aims to make you feel that you can actually do it. To that extent, it's very successful. You finish it feeling energized and capable of doing anything. Time will tell whether the feeling lasts, but at the moment I feel empowered and ready to take on a host of new things. Thanks, Rita Emmett!

If you are serious about ending your procrastination then do not waste MORE of your time reading this book. The author gives plenty of tips, common sense advice, and even famous quotes but in a very disorganized and unstructured manner. The whole book is like a long pep talk, full of good intentions but failing to solve the problem: your procrastination. I'm sure that you've tried most of the tips in this book (writing a To Do List, planning your work, scheduling, etc.) so it does not make sense to buy a book that basically tells you to try them again. Oh, you'll try them for a week or two (again, for the n'th time), and then go back to procrastinating, because that's what we procrastinators do! We start something and then never finish it! In the back cover, Frank McCourt (author of Angela's Ashes) calls it a "light-hearted book", proving that even the editor knows this is not a serious book on procrastination, and uses McCourt's comment to sell the book as easy reading, but definitely not serious content. I recommend Neil Fiore's NOW HABIT. It's deeper, structured and a serious read. Not a "light-hearted handbook".

It's quite disheartening to know that you have a problem, and then buy into a resource which many people swear by, such as this book, only to find out that it is completely useless. For me, this book started out badly in the very introduction and got worse and worse.

In her introduction, Emmett describes procrastination as a "funny subject". What is so funny about having your professional and personal life go down the drain because you can't get it together? When I want to be helped, I want to be taken seriously. I don't want my hindrance to be labeled as "funny".

The case studies seemed exaggerated, silly and a little condescending and one of them is plagarised. I know this because I read the exact same situation in an Ann Landers column about 25 years ago. I will never forget it because I read it out loud to my mom and we still bring up it from time to time -- the precise same words in the exact same order that Emmett uses in her book. This one citation made me wonder how many other case studies were made up.

Then there is the section on making a list of 101 items that you need to get done. Why on earth should I LOOK for things to do if I can barely finish what's on my plate in front of me? This section should not have been Chapter 2, for heaven's sake. Save it for the end, when we've learned how to take care of what's important first.

She mentions that there are some instances in which one should procrastinate, as in the case of writers who take weeks to write and rewrite and edit endlessly. She states that writers are doing themselves a favor by waiting to write closer to the deadline. Has this author never written a serious academic work which requires multiple drafts? Writing for scholarly journals or for publication and acceptance within the academic community is not a walk in the park. An exception should have been made here.

The section on how to accomplish unpleasant tasks suggests doing it to music or finding something about the task that is pleasant. To concentrate fully on writing an important paper to music is reckless, and there is no pleasant part of it. So now what do I do?

When I read a book, I do so with a pencil and paper to jot down ideas but in this case, I was jotting down what I hated about it. This book may be good for those who need to get their house, family and job in order and just basically need to get organized. I would not recommend it to someone like me who's procrastination is a serious disorder -- waiting until the last possible moment to get out of bed in the morning and then arriving late to work, knowing full well that people are waiting for and counting on you. Knowing that there are things to be done that are a matter of life and death for your career and still procrastinating anyway. Not being able to sleep at night thinking of everything you have to do, worrying about how it'll get done, and the next day at work --- continuing to procrastinate and find everything else to do except for work that needs to be done.

I've been reading about The Now Habit by Neil Fiore and I think it may be better suited for me.

It's hard to imagine ANYONE who wouldn't get a lot out of this book...

THE PROCRASTINATOR'S HANDBOOK speaks to the most common attitude, or habit, in the human condition today. With every page I turned, not only did I see myself, but dozens of other folk I've known over the years. It's almost as if the pages were made of tinfoil.. they reflect so much! I've already decided that much of my holiday shopping will be handled by a bulk order of this delightful publication.

Just about everyone I know is, or has been, one of the types of procrastinators Rita Emmett outlines in this book. This includes myself, of course. (Until I heard about this book, I thought all procrastinators were my subjects, and I was their Queen.) As I read, I made a mental list of all the wonderful people I know who would benefit from the clear, self-affirming, logical tips, and "Extra Credit" tasks Rita presents. I also bookmarked the many pages that gave me sound plans for attacking both the physical and mental clutter that generate so much unnecessary stress.

My favorite element of the book is its "just folks" tone. There is never the sense that the author, nor the audience, is immune to the menial, the drudgey or the mundane tasks common to modern life. Rita speaks of scrubbing her kitchen walls, rather than attack a typing task she despised. How many books these days assume their audience to be "above" such real-life chores? How often does one get a suggestion about the least distasteful time for getting laundry folded? It's almost as if Rita is chatting with me over coffee at my kitchen table.. or hers, since my house isn't "ready for company" yet. We're "just folks" together, and she shares with us her experience of real life and how to make it more satisfying.

Another element of the book that I find most appealing is her refusal to sugar coat the unpleasant truth. She writes that, "Life seems to overflow with" unpleasant tasks, the stuff we just know we won't want to do, but must, if we wish to be considered functional human beings. The tasks are just there, though sometimes we're unable to find anything appealing in the doing of the task. Rita reminds us that we can "change our minds to change the game," and focus on the time AFTER completion of the task, where we're able to simply bask in the glow of a job (well) done. If basking isn't enough for you, Rita gives us a great starter list of rewards we can promise ourselves for gritting our teeth and plowing through those tasks. When you approach things this way, there's really nothing one cannot get oneself to do. In fact, thanks to Rita, I'm going to resume my efforts to get started on graduate school and end ten (well, okay, seventeen) years of putting THAT off.

I believe a lot of us in this "modern" generation are pulling away from Mom's Homespun Wisdom, and Rita does a significant service to her audience by bringing some of that back to us, in a most affirming, considerate, noncritical way. She tells us to get the worst stuff out of the way early in the day, so as to eliminate dread, and put a shinier glint on whatever follows. I know MY mom encouraged me to do that as well, but coming from Rita, it's not so hard to hear.

So... I say, get your hands on this book right away, make a pot of coffee, grab a highlighter or some bookmarks, and even your holiday shopping list, and sit down to a TERRIFIC read.

Rita Emmett when you die you will get your angel wings because this book is a gift from God and I am so thankful. See... I am a well meaning person who has goals. The problem is I get sidetracked and that means I am a procrastinator. Personally I think the higher the IQ the more a person will fit this label.

The book is small and just over 200 pages long and it is the only book I have ever read that deals with learning as the sub-title says "Mastering the Art of DOing It Now" that I have found really works. The book is in a three part Play layout. The First part is about Getting a Grip on Procrastination 1. Tacking the Dread 2 What's Your Excuse 3 The Games People Play

Part Two is Why We procrastinate 4. The Fears That Stop You Cold 5. I Wanna Do It All 6 Help! I'm Overwhelmed

Part Three is Proven Strategies for Conquering Procrastination 7. Plan Time to Plan 8. Clutter Busting 9. Dollars and Sense 10 What Dreams Are Made Of

At the end of each section you get questions and a place to write down what she asks you to answer. She also has a website at www.ritaemmett.com The part on Clutter Busting will prove to be a help to every reader. The Plan Time to Plan points out that you have to have a basic plan, because people who just jump into a task, can find they lack the proper tools or that the task requires more time than they thought which in turn can end up being a discouragement and simply another task set aside that never gets done yet adds to ones depression.

I believe we all procrastinate about something. Some of that isn't all that bad. This book, however, is helpful for the times we are blocked from living and loving fully. There is something for everyone. For me I now have a spiral book by the phone with ALL my "to do's" listed in one place instead of slips of paper all over the place. The chapter on blocks was most helpful. Once I named and faced the fear that holds me back I went to the phone and made a call that I had been putting off for months. It felt so good.

...now what does that tell you? Much of this useless book is spent trying to console the procrastinator in question ("don't worry, you're not alone--everyone procrastinates"). Like a horoscope guide, practically 80% of this book is devoted to personality-typing, i.e. "what kind of procrastinator are you?". The author feels that each type is unique, and not each one responds to "treatment" equally. What may work for procrastinator A, may not work for procrastinator B.

Although amusing and somewhat entertaining (it details the many habits and mannerisms of every subspecies of procrastinators which you may identify with), this book doesn't deliver hard-hitting solutions or treatments for hardcore procrastinators (such as myself). It's more for laugh and sympathy.

Filled with first-person accounts of former procrastinators and lots of anecdotes, the book is light reading which may seem inspiring at first, but doesnt "cure" any procrastinating habits. It really should be renamed "The Procrastinator's Support Group." Hey--it took me 9 months to write this review because I kept putting it off.

Do you think you are a born procrastinator? So did Rita Emmett. Do you think that clutter is a normal part of life? So did Rita Emmett. That's why I like and recommend the book. This isn't written by "Patty or Paul the Perfectionist," but by someone who learned how to conquer procrastination and now shares what she learned with us. I found it very readable: first, because the author's style is comfortable (and spiced with self deprecating humor); second, because it is practical--there are helpful hints for overcoming just about every type of procrastination. The author includes exercises and tons of tips. Most of us struggle with procrastination. This little book is a great resource to help each of us overcome this "dreaded affliction." Keep it on your nightstand and read a chapter a night for a week, take the actions recommended and it will make a difference in your life.