REVIEW: "An easy way to stop procrastinating"

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-15 16:39

Do you know what I did when I received this book? I put it on the shelf to read "a little later." is quite an iconic detail, as it is a tabletop guide to dealing with the syndrome of tomorrow. Procrastination is one of the most common problems in the work of not only freelancers, but also office workers. And in practice, "a little later" turns into a few days, or even weeks (so I read the book of Neil Fiore only 2 weeks later, and not 1-2 days, as I originally thought). Is there an "Easy way to stop procrastinating"? Yes and no. But first things first.

About the book

Personally, I like the title in the original more: ("The habit of" now "). After all, we are talking about how to accustom yourself to do small and large tasks "here and now", and not tomorrow / in a month / year / sometime later. The book was published in Russian in 2013, translated by Olga Terentyeva in the Russian publishing house "MIF." In the original, Neil Fiore's book went through 2 reprints: in 1987 and 2007. By the way, Neil Fiore himself is a Doctor of Psychology, who has worked for a long time as a specialist in stress management and psychological health in small businesses and large companies. Therefore, the author knows about everything he writes about in practice. The book is short, written in a fairly simple and accessible language, and the manner of the storytelling is friendly and somewhat reminiscent of dialogue with the reader - in my opinion, this is exactly what many business books about time management and productivity lack.

What we liked

• The book is easy to read and fast enough, and all the advice and questions of the author "hit the mark" if you are a chronic lover of "postponing" your affairs and goals.
• There are a number of situations simulated by the example of specific events and people, as well as more general guidelines, including advice for those living / working with chronic procrastinators.
• The idea that it is impossible to "break oneself over the knee", but you can adjust specific habits and work processes to remove the factors that provoke you to give up tasks and tasks, filling the time with something else to "hide" from responsibility and the unwanted need to finish what you started.

What did not like

Examples with all sorts of abstract James, Jill, John and other characters far from us, whose whole problem lies solely in the fact that they are "afraid of success" (by the way, I still did not understand how this is possible in principle - but apparently there are such people as well).

Useful lessons

• The origins of procrastination and seizures of workaholism are always exclusively in the psychology and thinking of a person, in his attempts to protect himself from stress and create a comfort zone for himself, at least for a short while.
• Creating a reverse calendar and dividing one global deadline into a number of small ones subordinate tasks will help to cope with the "overwhelming" problem.
• Praise from others and from yourself in your own address is a small but important step towards permanent motivation.
• Working day within 1 project should not exceed 5 hours. For 1 task for continuous work, you need to allocate no more than 30 minutes.
• With any workload 1 day a week must be a day off without fail.
• Alternating work and gingerbread for small successes as the tasks are solved - the best motivator.
• Temporary regression / difficulties encountered should not turn into internal conflict and a complete refusal to implement what was conceived (especially important if you are sick, face difficulties in life or misunderstanding on the part of work partners).
• Write down ideas that come up "along the way": It helps to reduce the frequency and severity of side-thoughts as a distraction.
• Visualization and Concentration Exercises Worth Tryingwhich are given in the book.
• Always set foreseeable goals … It is better to set a goal to “run 1 km today” and complete it by the end of the day than to write down the goal of “run a marathon” - and for many years feel like a loser who cannot even run 3 km without losing consciousness.

Whom do I recommend reading

• Chronic procrastinators - to understand that there is no point in “waging war” with oneself, but simply adjust the motivation and structure of tasks and habits in one's daily life.
• For those living with chronic procrastinators in the same apartment / in the same office - to understand how you can "rebuild" these people.
• For freelancers - to better learn how to deal with the "productivity traps."
• Anyone who could not master any of the techniques of "professional" time management and who still lacks hours in a day to implement their plans.