Art of Procrastination, The: The Art of Effective Dawdling, Dallying, Lollygagging, and Postponing [Hardcover]

This reader must admit that the word "mañana," Spanish for "tomorrow," is a beautiful term. It even has a nice ring to it.

Yet I must agree with author John Perry. As he says in his book The Art of Procrastination: A Guide to Effective Dawdling, Lollygagging and Postponing, there is a fine art to this. In fact, most good dawdlers at least aspire to be structured procrastinators, and Dr. Perry does a good job of explaining this in his book.

The title to this book may sound funny, and much of it is quite witty, but right in the introduction we learn of philosophical concept of "akrasia," which is the state of acting against one's better judgment. Why do people decide to do other than what they think is best for them to do? Both of the great ancient philosophers Plato and Aristotle pondered this, so it's nothing new.

Perry begins his first chapter with a discussion on "Structured Procrastination" and the logic behind the concept. We all do it; we put off doing things that we have to. We may fiddle on the computer, poke around on Facebook, or read Amazon reviews posted by others (like you're doing right now) instead of getting that expense report completed or washing the dishes. We have deadlines, and then find all sorts of diversions to push them back. In fact, my review here is a personal example of lollygagging, but more on that later.

Most of us feel at least somewhat bad about being dawdlers, and in many cases are aware that it can be annoying to others as well. But if you put in a small amount of effort, you can be a structured procrastinator, and once you start feeling awkward or guilty about it, you can actually get a lot done, as the author illustrates in this small but effective book.

"To-Do Lists" is the title of the third chapter, and it offers some interesting food for thought when one starts to look at prioritization and breaking things down to small increments. Dr. Perry shows us his personal list used for the following day before he goes to bed, and one cannot help but smile at it along with his following comments. The he goes on to show his expanded list, which will still make you smile, but it makes a lot of sense, especially in his somewhat comical numbered morning computer tasks.

The chapter entitled "The Computer and the Procrastinator" is one that will ring true with many, and for this reader the ideas presented here were worth the cost of admission. For the many of us who probably do spend an amazing amount of time on the 'Net, the author's points include some excellent ideas well worth considering. And where procrastinators can often be annoying to others, there are solutions for this.

This book is a fast read, yet for this reader it was one where I found more Post-It notes than I might have originally imagined before I started it. When I pulled the bookmarks to the witty passages, that still left about two-thirds of them, because there's some real meat here.

I must admit that my review here is an example of efficient dawdling: I received this book as an advance copy months ago as a result of an inquiry that I made at the Book Expo America Show in New York in June 2012. The publisher shipped the advance copy of this book quickly, yet my own procrastinating has resulted in my posting this review now.

This may seem confusing, as this review shows up here as an Amazon Verified Purchase.

That's because I have purchased another copy here for myself. I've pulled all of my personal bookmarks out of my original advance copy, and am going to make it a second-hand gift to a particular individual that can probably use the advice in the pages here. I would have gifted a new copy, but I'm still waiting for two previously loaned books and a small piece of camera gear to be returned. If that individual reads this and uses the book the way that I hope, then maybe this will be a mild prod, a gentle reminder to not lollygag about returning things. In any case, this one will be gifted to others as well, and not just because of the witty title.

Seize the day... tomorrow will be soon enough.

8/24/2012

As I began to read this book, I was reminded of the Steven Wright observation that I selected for the title of this review. There are practical as well as philosophical advantages to avoiding hasty actions. That is one of several core principles of what John Perry characterizes as "structured procrastination," first in his essay that appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education (February 1996), "How to Procrastinate and Still Get Things Done," and then in his recently published book, The Art of Procrastination (Workman 2012). As Perry explains,

"All procrastinators put off things they have to do. Structured procrastination is the art of making this negative trait work for you. The key idea is that procrastination does not mean doing absolutely nothing. Procrastinators seldom do absolutely nothing; they do marginally useful things such as gardening or sharpening pencils or making a diagram of how they will reorganize their files when they get around to it...The procrastinator can be motivated to difficult, timely, and important tasks, however, as long as these tasks are a way of not doing something more important.

"Structured procrastination means shaping the structure of the tasks one has to do in a way that exploits this fact. In your mind, or perhaps written down somewhere, you have a list if things you want to accomplish, ordered by importance. You might even call this your priority list. Tasks that seem most urgent and important are on top. But there are also worthwhile tasks to perform lower on the list. Doing those tasks becomes a way of not doing the things higher up on the list. With this sort of appropriate task structure the procrastinator be comes a useful citizen. Indeed, the procrastinator can even acquire, as I have, a reputation for getting a lot done."

Throughout his thought-provoking as well as lively and entertaining narrative, Perry addresses subjects and issues such as these:

o The "paradox" of procrastination
o The relationship between procrastination and perfectionism
o To-do lists: Do's and Don'ts
o Computer use and procrastination
o The fringe benefits of procrastination (e.g. "the gift of guilt-free time")
o Why procrastinators need not be annoying

In his book's Appendix ("How to Kick the Habit - Read at Your own Risk"), Perry briefly discusses various sources that are available to those who cannot accept the responsibilities as well as the benefits of structured procrastination. He also includes words of caution: "You can waste a lot of time surfing from site, not doing any of the things you ought to be doing. You might want to try simply accepting yourself as a structured procrastinator for a while before plunging into a search for the perfect tool to help you drop the habit altogether."

For those who are impatient to escape the almost unlimited opportunities that structured procrastination offers, Mark Twain offers this advice: "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow."

We procrastinators tend to be a gloomy lot. So, first read this book through, and you'll find it is very funny. There will be a lot of, "He's right!", as you read along.

Then go back and read again [it's a VERY short book] for some helpful advice from an author who totally understands what you're facing.