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The Procrastinator's Handbook: Mastering the Art of Doing It Now (Paperback)
by Rita Emmett
| Category:
Time management, Productivity, Self improvement |
| Market price: ¥ 128.00
MSL price:
¥ 118.00
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 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
A valuable collection of tips and common sense advice on how to be more effective and efficient in work and life. Don't put off buying the guide. |
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Author: Rita Emmett
Publisher: Walker & Company
Pub. in: September, 2000
ISBN: 0802775985
Pages: 192
Measurements: 6.9 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BA00110
Other information: ISBN-13: 978-0802775986
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- Awards & Credential -
A popular book on time management with more than 150,000 copies sold. |
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- MSL Picks -
Emmett's Law: The dread of doing a task uses up more time and energy than doing the task itself.
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.
(From quoting Roger Merman, USA)
Target readers:
Anyone who hopes to take better control of their lives through attacking procrastination.
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The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play (Paperback)
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Rita Emmett is a professional speaker who leads workshops on clutter and procrastination. Author of The Procrastinator's Handbook (more than 150,000 copies sold) and The Procrastinating Child, Emmett has dispensed advice on NBC’s “Today Show” and in Time, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Family Circle, and Parents. She also publishes a monthly online “anticrastination.”
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From Publisher
Almost everyone procrastinates. For most people, procrastination is a frustrating, troublesome habit they know they should be able to overcome. Rita Emmett will inspire them to get started, with advice drawn from her own experience as a "recovering procrastinator" and that of people she has met at her acclaimed seminars. In Rita Emmett's hands, self-improvement is as entertaining as it is rewarding. Don't put things off. Motivate yourself to begin and finish unpleasant tasks. Organize your time and efforts. Achieve your goals. The Procrastinator's Handbook will increase your productivity and boost your self-esteem.
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Introduction
Do you put off doing things that are really important to you? Do you sometimes feel anxious or guilty because you just can't get yourself to do what you need or want to do? Is your procrastination driving your family, friends, and/or coworkers crazy?
Procrastination can take a surprisingly high toll on your life, causing stress, illness, and low self-esteem. It keeps you from attaining your goals and fulfilling your dreams. If you're a procrastinator, you might answer yes to one or more of the following questions:
- Do you pay fees for bounced checks, late payments of bills, or high-interest credit card balances because you put off routine personal finance chores? As a result, are you paying so much money to "catch up" that you can never get ahead?
- Do you want to start an exercise program, or begin other healthy habits, or set up an appointment with your doctor or dentist, but you never do?
- Are you losing the battle against clutter on you desk, dining room table, counters, closets, or floors? Does the chaos in the space around you seem to create chaos in your mind and your spirit, leaving you feeling overwhelmed, out of control, and exhausted?
Well, there is hope. In this book about the frustrating, fascinating, and-yes-funny subject of procrastination, I will show you how to stop putting off things, become more productive, and develop priorities that reflect your personal goals and values.
As a professional speaker, I give presentations all over the United States, teaching principles and strategies for conquering procrastination. Years ago when I was presenting Time Management seminars, I heard several people saying they didn't sign up for Time Management "because none of that stuff ever works for me." After talking with them, I discovered that they were all procrastinators whose unique needs were not being addressed by time management books and seminars.
People who benefit from time management are like a group that has decided to go on a bicycle journey. They know where they want to go; their bikes are all ready, and time management principles are like the map or directions they need to set off on their adventure.
Then along comes the group of procrastinators meandering down the road. They haven't decided yet where they want to go, and they've forgotten to bring their bikes, which don't work anyway because they haven't gotten around to fixing the flat tire. Maps and directions (time management principles) are of little use to this group. They need something different, so for them I developed my Conquer Procrastination seminars and wrote this book.
When people take my seminars, often the first questions they ask are: "Can a person really stop procrastinating?" "How can people expect to change their basic personalities or characters traits"?
Procrastination is not an inherent part of your personality or character; it is simply a habit, an attitude. Can people change habits? Of course they can! Millions of people have stopped smoking, even though that habit is extremely hard to break. Can people change attitudes? Sure. Do you know anyone who used to think owning a VCR or sending E-mail was unnecessary, yet now - several years later-can't imagine living without either?
I speak about procrastination from personal experience because I used to put off everything. This is the book I wish I'd had when I was struggling to conquer my own procrastinating ways, and when I was designing those early seminars. The only "conquer procrastination" books back then were written for psychologists and tended to be quite dry.
For as long as I can remember, I practiced every delaying, guilt-producing procrastination tactic imaginable. When I was a college student many years ago, I married, got a job, and continued college part-time. But after our son, Robby, was born, I decided to interrupt my studies and my career and become a stay-at-home mom. I had only one semester to complete, so I was certain I could finish my degree fairly quickly as soon as he was older. However, being a confirmed procrastinator, I did not take even one class during the seven years I stayed home to raise Robb and his younger sister, Kerry.
Then I was hired for a job that required a college degree. The time to register for my last semester came-and passed. I did nothing. . .except wallow in guilt and make excuses to my boss.
People offered advice. I listened. Still I did nothing.
During this period of my life, I read a time management book, which said that we procrastinate for one of two reasons: because we are overwhelmed, or because the project is unpleasant. But I didn't consider one semester to be overwhelming, and I didn't find college unpleasant. From my own experience, I realized that there are many other reasons we procrastinate, starting with fear.
I was terrified of going back to school. And when I started to explore my fears, I realized I was scared of many things: Failure. Rejection. Looking foolish.
Competing with nineteen-year-old students. Discovering my brain had turned to mush and that I was now stupid. Facing my kids if I received an F in a class.
Having to find time to do my homework. Neglecting my children to make time for my classes and homework, and becoming a rotten mother.
These fears were a huge, unknown force that had the power to immobilize me until I started to identify them. Then I could sort through them, talk about them, face them, wrestle with them, come up with some answers, and ultimately move on with my life. I began to practice all the principles you'll read about in this book (including a whole chapter on fear).
Did it work? You bet! About a year later, I proudly joined my classmates walking across the stage to receive my bachelor of arts degree. Five years after that, in addition to raising a family and working, I earned a master's degree. Once you begin conquering procrastination, the sky's the limit.
Now I'm a recovering procrastinator and have been for decades. When I first started using the principles in this book, my only expectation was that they would help me stop putting off tasks, errands, chores, and maybe a few goals. But as I began to convert from my old procrastinating ways, over the years I started to make more and more substantial changes in my life. Eventually, my whole life turned around.
Yours can, too.
This book will enable you to:
-understand and modify some of your unproductive ways of thinking
-identify the games you play and behavioral styles you use for putting things off
-apply proven anti-procrastination tips
-develop strategies to move forward when you're stuck or reverting to your old procrastination patterns
-design your own personal action plans
You will recognize yourself in the real-life stories of people who worked through their procrastination tendencies. Each chapter also has quotes to inspire and motivate you. When a particular saying seems tailor-made for you, copy it and put it where you can see it often.
The "Extra Credit" section at the end of each chapter helps you take the information you've read and personalize it by applying the book's principles to your life. If you like answering questions and measuring your progress, this section is for you. If you'd rather skip the exercises, you don't need to do them; but at least look at each exercise. You might find them interesting, perhaps even fun.
Whether you procrastinate all the time, most of the time or only occasionally, this is the right book for you and the right time for you to be reading it. You're on the verge of climbing out of the procrastination pit. Let's get started... right now.
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| View all 10 comments |
Larry Hehn (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-26 00:00>
This is not what I expected. When I picked up this book, I was prepared for some generic time management principles surrounded by some motivational hype that would pump me up and then leave me flat a short while later. I'm not quite sure why... I suppose I just thought that procrastination was more of a built-in character flaw than a lifestyle choice.
Am I glad that I was wrong! In the introduction, Rita Emmett explains that procrastination is not part of your character. Rather, it is a habit that can be changed. Using plenty of real-life examples, Emmett helps us identify areas of procrastination in our lives, discover their source, and apply proven strategies to overcome them.
This book helps you get right down to business. The format is very friendly, with quick tips, top ten lists, quotes and illustrations scattered throughout. It even has a few "extra credit" questions and activities to help you start applying what you have learned right away.
I opened this book as a skeptic. After reading it cover to cover, I'm a believer! My basement is the cleanest it has been in over ten years, my kitchen sink has a new fixture, and today I'm going to fix that annoying drip in the upstairs bathroom. What have you been putting off? Follow this handbook and get it done!
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Kyle (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-26 00:00>
Rita Emmett has done a great job of putting together a, I could say THE, book on how to stop procrastinating. As a therapist I recommend the best books I can find to clients and others and this book certainly fills the bill. If you procrastinate, don't put off buying this book to help you solve the problem. When you buy it, don't procrastinate or hesitate in reading it to help you solve the problem. |
A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-26 00:00>
To be honest I thought that this would be a stupid book and a waste of time. But it was a good book for both my wife and I to read. It will not cure you, and it certainly can't replace the therapy that some procrastinator's need. But for the rest of us, it is a very helpful tool for figuring ourselves out. And, helped my wife - who works over 60 hours a week - understand how and why she procrastinates. Really, the book is a helpful tool to figure out what you most want to be doing in your life. In that sense, the book helps you learn not just about "wasting time," but about yourself. |
Don Sanders (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-26 00:00>
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. |
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