glassjoe
06-04-2004, 05:20 PM
If you have more than enough time on your hands and also have your goals reasonably well-defined, yet still find yourself staring at a blank text editor, then you might want to check out this book.
The Procrastinator's Handbook: Mastering the Art of Doing It Now (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0802775985/)
It's an easy read, and there is a lot of information on the psychological games we all can play at times in order to keep putting off doing the things we truly believe we want to do.
Favorite quote from book:
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.
The book discusses a lot of different ways people procrastinate. Some examples are:
Endlessly researching for the absolute best "silver bullet" tool or process.
Waiting around for inspiration.
Refusing to live with imperfection.
Willingly helping other people with their trivial problems, even though you know you don't have time. This can be done both by acting as a "pushover" who doesn't know how to say no to people, or as a "know-it-all" who is always in other people's business.
In addition to going over the different ways people procrastinate, there's also a lot of info on possible causes. Such as:
Fear of failure, judgement
Fear of success, selling-out
Fear of finishing
Fear of too much responsiblity or expectations from others
Being too ambitious
Lack of interest or enjoyment
This is a short book and it's more focused on breadth rather than depth, so there are only a couple pages for each topic. But still, I think it's important to first become aware of these causes and symptoms of procrastination before anything can be done to resolve them.
Hope this helps.
The Procrastinator's Handbook: Mastering the Art of Doing It Now (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0802775985/)
It's an easy read, and there is a lot of information on the psychological games we all can play at times in order to keep putting off doing the things we truly believe we want to do.
Favorite quote from book:
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.
The book discusses a lot of different ways people procrastinate. Some examples are:
Endlessly researching for the absolute best "silver bullet" tool or process.
Waiting around for inspiration.
Refusing to live with imperfection.
Willingly helping other people with their trivial problems, even though you know you don't have time. This can be done both by acting as a "pushover" who doesn't know how to say no to people, or as a "know-it-all" who is always in other people's business.
In addition to going over the different ways people procrastinate, there's also a lot of info on possible causes. Such as:
Fear of failure, judgement
Fear of success, selling-out
Fear of finishing
Fear of too much responsiblity or expectations from others
Being too ambitious
Lack of interest or enjoyment
This is a short book and it's more focused on breadth rather than depth, so there are only a couple pages for each topic. But still, I think it's important to first become aware of these causes and symptoms of procrastination before anything can be done to resolve them.
Hope this helps.