The Procrastinator's Guide to Success

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.

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.

This book is a must-read for those of you having trouble getting started on projects. Lynn Lively writes in a no-nonsense manner, not in that typical technical jargon that tends to bore readers. Right off the bat she has you ask yourself the "Key Question" (see page 5). And once you answer that question, you're on your way to non-procrastinating success. Lynn offers real-life examples and wonderful encouragement/motivation on each and every page. Take a look at the boxed text on pages 112 and 113 ... that last paragraph is pretty powerful! What are you waiting for? Get up, go online or head to the bookstore to get this book!

Managing Information Overload was a great book, and this one is even better! She gives sound advice and is always fun to read!