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The Art of Procrastination: A Guide to Effective Dawdling, Lollygagging and Postponing Hardcover – August 28, 2012

by John Perry (Author)

94 customer reviews

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This is not a book for Bill Gates. Or Hillary Clinton, or Steven Spielberg. Clearly they have no trouble getting stuff done. For the great majority of us, though, what a comfort to discover that we’re not wastrels and slackers, but doers . . . in our own way. It may sound counterintuitive, but according to philosopher John Perry, you can accomplish a lot by putting things off. He calls it “structured procrastination”:

In 1995, while not working on some project I should have been working on, I began to feel rotten about myself. But then I noticed something. On the whole, I had a reputation as a person who got a lot done and made a reasonable contribution. . . . A paradox. Rather than getting to work on my important projects, I began to think about this conundrum. I realized that
I was what I call a structured procrastinator: a person who gets a lot done by not doing other things.

Celebrating a nearly universal character flaw, The Art of Procrastination is a wise, charming, compulsively readable book—really, a tongue-in-cheek argument of ideas. Perry offers ingenious strategies, like the defensive to-do list (“1. Learn Chinese . . .”) and task triage. He discusses the double-edged relationship between the computer and procrastination—on the one hand, it allows the procrastinator to fire off a letter or paper at the last possible minute; on the other, it’s a dangerous time suck (Perry counters this by never surfing until he’s already hungry for lunch). Or what may be procrastination’s greatest gift: the chance to accomplish surprising, wonderful things by not sticking to a rigid schedule. For example, Perry wrote this book by avoiding the work he was supposed to be doing—grading papers and evaluating dissertation ideas. How lucky for us.

The Art of Procrastination: A Guide to Effective Dawdling, Lollygagging and Postponing

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Editorial Reviews

Review

A splendid way to avoid one s work.

Ben Schott, author of "Schott s Original Miscellany"

Do not put off reading this charming guide to more effective procrastination. Dr. Perry is the Fabius Cunctator in our war against the Hannibal of the undone. Be gone, elephants of nagging duty.

P. J. O Rourke, author of "Holidays in Hell"

Insightful, sensible, and amusing.

Harry G. Frankfurt, author of "On Bullshit"

John Perry is the wittiest philosopher since Marx (Groucho), and he brings to this book a delightful combination of wisdom and humor.

Thomas Cathcart, coauthor of "Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar . . ."

"The Art of Procrastination" is a gem its practical wisdom as spot-on as its humor. Now that I ve devoured this hilarious and insightful tome, I not only know that I m a structured procrastinator, but I ve also picked up some invaluable tips on how to fool myself into being more productive, which to put to use someday.

Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of "36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction"

What are you waiting for? Read this book!

Patricia Marx, author of "Starting from Happy"

John Perry s book is lively, funny, engaging and wise. And fortunately for procrastinators short. It s just the thing for a moment or two away from the task at hand!

Timothy A. Pychyl, PhD, author of "The Procrastinator s Digest"

I intend to write a rave about "The Art of Procrastination" just as soon as I ve cleared my desk this afternoon or at least by first thing tomorrow because reading this straight-talking, badly needed book has changed my life.

Bruce McCall, writer and illustrator for "The New Yorker"

There are lessons both deep and funny to be found in our capacity to put things off, and Perry is the ideal guide a writer of superlative wisdom and wit. Forget whatever you were supposed to do next, and read this book.

Mark Kingwell, PhD, coauthor of The "I

About the Author

John Perry is an emeritus professor of philosophy at Stanford University and currently teaches at UC Riverside.
He is the co-host of the nationally syndicated public radio program Philosophy Talk, and winner, in 2011, of an Ig Nobel Prize in Literature for the essay “Structured Procrastination.” He lives with his wife in Palo Alto, California.

Hardcover: 112 pages
Publisher: Workman Publishing Company; 1st Edition edition (August 28, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0761171673
ISBN-13: 978-0761171676
Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.5 x 7.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 94 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #208,054 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #312 in Books > Business & Money > Skills > Time Management
- #355 in Books > Self-Help > Time Management
- #775 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Psychology & Counseling > Personality

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Procrastinating does not mean doing nothing, nor is it the worst flaw a person can have!

September 9, 2012

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

***** "Everyone procrastinates sometimes, but 20 percent of people chronically avoid difficult tasks and deliberately look for distractions--which, unfortunately, are increasingly available. Procrastination in large part reflects our perennial struggle with self-control as well as our inability to accurately predict how we'll feel tomorrow, or the next day."--Psychology Today
*

Procrastination is the act of willfully delaying the doing of something that should be done, and in some people it is a habitual way of handling any task. As kids we were asked not to postpone until tomorrow what can be done today, inscribed on school homework books. The avoidance of doing a task which needs to be done, or procrastination not only affects a person's work, but may probably involves guilt feelings. Trying to disguise our avoidance by looking busy doing things that may be interesting, would not contribute towards the goal, rather than filing our tax return, for example, before the mid April deadline!

Searching Amazon.com for books on Procrastination, you may retrieve a thousand, but John Perry is the only author who calls it, an art. The versatile philosopher and creative thinker, who has earned the hearts as well as the minds of his readers and students, is the winner of Ig Nobel Prize in literature, described as, "first makes people laugh and then makes people think." And as a master procrastinator, since I was 7 years old, I was waiting for this book popularizing on his essay which earned him this American parody.

Celebrating a distinguishing feature of human character flaw, The Art of Procrastination is a charming, challenging, engaging book, slim but full with funny arguments and bright ideas. "Most procrastinators are nice folks who get a lot done, albeit by not doing other things they should be doing," Perry says. "You may be a procrastinator, but you aren't a serial killer or a child-molester or someone who steals food from hungry nuns." What is procrastination's greatest gift? It is the chance to accomplish surprising, wonderful things by not sticking to a rigid schedule.

Dr. Timothy Pychyl elaborates on what prof. Perry referred to, writing,"people diagnosed with ADHD are characterized as 'having difficulties completing tasks on time, organizing work,...'. Quite a few readers ... have discussed their own ADHD in relation to procrastination. ... What surprises them and me is how little formal research has been conducted exploring the relation of ADHD to procrastination."--Psychology Today. Indeed, the eminent scholar offers innovative strategies, effective tactics and funny advise to abate the consequences of dawdling, lollygagging and postponing syndromes!

0Comment 15 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

J. Michael

Pithy, funny, effective

October 1, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

The author likely wrote this book instead of doing something else. I read it instead of doing something else. That’s pretty much the moral of the story.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?

Yes

trinachka

Bill Gates *could* appreciate this

September 23, 2012

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Contrary to the book description, Bill Gates probably *could* use this book or at least appreciate the humor in it, as he talks in the PBS documentary "Buffett and Gates Go Back to School" that procrastination was "a really bad habit" of his, particularly when he was at Harvard. He was always waiting to do things at the last minute, and it took him two years in business to get over that.

Anyway, first read Perry's "Structured Procrastination" essay when Stanford posted a link to it on its Facebook page and chuckled with recognition...so pleased to see he wrote a book from it.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

Judymn

Absolutely delightful!

April 28, 2013

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

For those of us who blame ourselves for putting off tasks, John Perry shows how to do it intentionally, blamelessly and effectively--so we actually get more done with less stress.

0Comment 6 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

Horacio Villarreal

Learn how to be an effective procrastinator

January 15, 2014

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

The main point of the book was to embrace procrastinating. It is a tool that can be used to successful in meeting deadlines. The author John Perry states that he is able to accomplish many significant lesser tasks by avoiding a very large task. He also encourages keeping a to do list which can be really helpful. If you want to learn the art of procrastination read this short easy book.

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Cacophony

Excellent

September 25, 2012

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

If you consider yourself a procrastinator (or even if you only suspect you might be one), buy and read this book. It's very smart and immensely funny.
Well, in fact, read this book even if you always do everything on time and the very idea of procrastination seems abhorrent to you. Read it for the laughs and for a chance at understanding the procrastinating part of humanity.

0Comment 3 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

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Paul Sunde

Very intriguing ideas about procrastination!

August 11, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I find this whole concept fascinating, that we might be more effective if we have another thing on our agendas that we don't do but ought to do!

The author claims that procrastinators can work extremely hard on no.2-XX on their to-do lists as long as a (perceived) more important task is left undone.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

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The Gracchi

We knew that procrastinators are bad people

January 8, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

We now know, thanks to Dr. Perry's self-anthropology, that they are not malicious people. They are more like rabid dogs who (or which) bite by not biting and can even be made quite productive when armed with a simple and inexpensive self-deception toolkit.

To put it simply: Good bad dog. You may now go lie down on your bed.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

Most recent customer reviews

Tessara Dudley

Funny and encouraging

This book is quite funny. Having read the original essay online some time ago, I've been meaning to read this book for a while and, true to form, have now done so as a way of...Read more

Published 6 months ago

Alexandre

Great fun book

Because Amazon wants me to write 20 words to rate this title with 5 stars. Five. For. Three. Two. One.

Published 10 months ago

Michael Gaines

Fun Read But No Real Value

We're all procrastinators. Rarely do we find ourselves in moments of high productivity, especially centered on the tasks most pressing at the time.Read more

Published 11 months ago

Annie

Guilt-Free Procrastination!

Wry humour, witty and easy to relate to. I read some of it before giving it to my daughter for Christmas.

Published 1 year ago

Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Is perfect to understand and start to think about solutions for procrastination.

Published 1 year ago

Karl Dahlfred

Structured Procrastination!

I know that procrastination is one of my weaknesses and I want to improve my ability to focus on what I should be doing, so I was intrigued by the whimsical title of this book...Read more

Published 1 year ago

George Baumgartner

Four Stars

I'll write about this book tomorrow.

Published 1 year ago

critterlover

Five Stars

Great book! Perfect for me and very helpful!!

Published 1 year ago

Extremely funny and easy to read and made me feel a ...

Extremely funny and easy to read and made me feel a lot better about myself. Most importantly, useful. Highly recommend.

Published 1 year ago

Amazon Customer

Five Stars

I'll write a review later.

Published 1 year ago

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