The Procrastinator's Guide to Success From McGraw-Hill

Product Description

Everyone procrastinates. The question is, is doing nothing working for you or against you? Author Lynn Lively, a self-confessed (but reformed) procrastinator, will help you get to where you want to go...with no more excuses. With THE PROCRASTINATOR'S GUIDE TO SUCCESS, you can stop losing precious time, break the cycle of self-blame, overcome inertia, and create the life you really want.

Procrastination can be defined as the failure to make things happen. But are you really procrastinating, or simply thinking about a problem to be solved? THE PROCRASTINATOR'S GUIDE TO SUCCESS will show you how to tell the difference!

You will also learn how to: work through "worst-case" scenarios; figure out what's within your control and what isn't; procrastinate strategically; and, finally, practice self-direction! Special sections include: Confessions of a Procrastinator; "Brain-dumps," "Gut-wrenchers," "Busywork Alerts," and other handy lists. Want to be your own biggest fan? Be the hero of your own life by making your own dreams come true. Read THE PROCRASTINATOR'S GUIDE TO SUCCESS and prepare for your life to change.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #1035204 in Books
Published on: 1999-06-28
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
254 pages
Editorial Reviews

Download Description
Lively, a popular speaker on time management and overcoming procrastination, covers the pros (yes, there are some!) and the cons of procrastination, then shows how to handle the situations that relate to it -- including those over which we have little or no control. With specific tips on pushing through "The Risk Zone" (the point at which the individual is ready to take on new risks) and taking action, this is a book no procrastinator will put off buying and reading ... even for a minute.

From the Back Cover
Is there a phone call you dread making? What about that task you can't bring yourself to begin? Are you stuck on a project and at a loss about what to do next? Do you want to procrastinate less and start living life to the fullest now? Then it's time to read this book!

The Procrastinator's Guide to Success is about daring to take the risks necessary to move forward. It's about you; how you can find your own ways to overcome procrastination, create the life you really want, and savor each day to the fullest. Everyone procrastinates. The question is, is doing nothing working for you or against you? Author Lynn Lively, a self-confessed (but reformed) procrastinator, will help you get to where you want to go...with no more excuses.

With the Procrastinator's Guide to Success, you can: work through worst-case scenarios; figure out what's within your control and what isn't; procrastinate strategically! Procrastination can be defined as the failure to make things happen. But are you really procrastinating, or instead wisely considering your options about how to solve a problem?

The Procrastinator's Guide to Success will show you how to tell the difference! You will also learn how to: stop losing precious time; break the cycle of self-blame; create your own success! Want to be your biggest fan? Be the hero of your own life by making your own dreams come true. Read The Procrastinator's Guide to Success and prepare for your life to change.

About the Author
Lynn Lively is cofounder of American Pioneer Sonars, a company founded in 1981 and recognized by the Small Business Administration and former President Bush for excellence in exporting. A popular speaker and writer on procrastination, workplace decisionmaking, and clear-thinking skills, Ms. Lively is the author of Managing Information Overload, and holds two Masters degrees.
Customer Reviews

A waste of time
If you are a true procrastinator, don't waste your time by reading this book. While the author has good suggestions for those who have trouble making decisions, she fails miserably at helping those who know what to do and simply can't take action. If suggestions such as "start sooner" is what you're looking for, then this is the book for you. If you'd be motivated by calling yourself a "smart little snuffle-bunny," as the author suggests, then this is the book for you! However, if you are over the age of 10 and don't appreciate being patronized, I would not suggest wasting your time and money. After I read the book, I was so distraught that I had wasted 10 hours of my time that I could never get back. If you are struggling with procrastination, you'd be better off with another book choice.

A winner with both analysis and strategies
The author has done an excellent job of providing useful tools, as opposed to the platitudes and vague concepts that plague many self-help books. There is a good balance between analyzing the causes of behavior and providing ideas and strategies for changing it. Of particular note is the useful distinction drawn by the author between procrastination and problems with decision-making.

Very useful and motivating self-improvement guide
Ms. Lively is a consultant and speaker on the subjects of procrastination, workplace decision-making and clear-thinking skills. She has also written an eBook called Managing Information Overload.

What makes this book a standout among procrastination books, in my opinion, is its offering of an alternate reason for being stalled in achieving your goals other than procrastination, which the author defines as knowing what to do but not doing it. That other reason for being blocked is that you are clueless about what to do because you lack adequate information or training. For this insight alone, and the accompanying advice for effectively scaling both these types of walls, this book is well worth reading.

Other reasons I gave the book 5 stars include the following:
(1) The author has a lively voice and avoids preaching.
(2) The book has a clear, readable Table of Contents and an Index, making it easy to look up what especially interests you or to go back over particular points in the book at a later time for further inspiration.
(3) While I often get irritated by the "homework" in self-help books, this author is, thankfully, far less cutesy and/or patronizing than most authors in this genre. One caveat: I would recommend that, if you are actually going to give these exercises a try, you get yourself a notebook (either spiral or loose-leaf) to keep your scribblings together. If you just grab up loose pieces of paper as the author suggests, you are going to end up with dozens of messy pieces of paper floating around on your already cluttered desk (procrastinators tend to be very sloppy as well as slow to get going!).
(4) This book isn't primarily geared toward teaching you how to make good choices, set goals, and gain useful problem-solving skills. As the author openly admits, there are many other books on the market specifically aimed at those topics. However, since the author asserts that in order to come out of procrastination, it is crucial to first figure out exactly =why= you are procrastinating, she very appropriately covers these important topics in a solid, basic, understandable way.