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  • The Art of Procrastination: A Guide to Effective Dawdling, Lollygagging and Postponing

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John Perry
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The Art of Procrastination: A Guide to Effective Dawdling, Lollygagging and Postponing Hardcover – January 1, 2012

by John Perry (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars (386)
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At last: Self-help for procrastinators. (The secret: acceptance!) 

Filled with charm, tongue-in-cheek wit, and the insights of a lifelong introspective dawdler, The Art of Procrastination is a philosophical self-help program for every reader who suffers the pangs of being a  procrastinator.

John Perry celebrates this nearly universal character flaw by pointing out how often procrastinators are, paradoxically, doers. They may not be accomplishing everything on their to-do lists, but that doesn't make them slackers. It just indicates a need to rethink the to-do list. He also introduces the philosophical notion of akrasia (the mystery of why we often choose to act against our better judgement), examines the torturous relationship between procrastination and perfectionism, and shows how to give yourself permission to do an imperfect but, in fact, perfectly good job.

These are strategies'task triage, horizontal organization. Underlying causes'right-parenthesis deficit disorder. Anecdotes and ideas. But above all, an attitude of acceptance. Pat yourself on the back for what you manage to get done'but don't stop enjoying that time you waste, too. Who knows where daydreams will lead?
 
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  1. Print length
    92 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Workman Pub Co
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 2012
  5. Dimensions
    5.25 x 0.5 x 7.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0761171673
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0761171676
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Workman Pub Co
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 1, 2012
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ First Edition
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 92 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0761171673
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0761171676
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.5 x 7.25 inches
  • Best Sellers Rank: #1,254,470 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 out of 5 stars (386)

About the author

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John Perry

John Perry

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I taught philosophy regularly for for about fifty years, at UCLA, Stanford, and UC Riverside. Now I teach teach an occasional seminar at Stanford and focus on writing. I have three grown children, and ten grown grandchildren. I live in California, in the Bay Area, with Frenchie, my wife of fifty-eight years. Sites for more about Philosophy Talk, Structured Procrastination, and my work in philosophy:

http://www.philosophytalk.org

http://structuredprocrastination. com

http://john.jperry.net

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
386 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book an absolute delight, with one noting it's particularly helpful for professional procrastinators. Moreover, the book is immensely funny and easy to read, with one customer highlighting its conversational writing style. Additionally, customers appreciate its concise length, with one mentioning it's less than 100 pages long.
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65 customers mention content, 63 positive, 2 negative
Customers find the book interesting and helpful, describing it as an absolute delight.
good book!Read more
...Not much depth - but fun - especially if you want to understand people in your life who are procrastinators.Read more
...That turned out to be no chore at all because it is entertaining, helpful, and ... fairly short.Read more
...Besides being a fun read there are several insights that are quite useful.Read more
28 customers mention humor, 28 positive, 0 negative
Customers find the book humorous, describing it as immensely funny with witty arguments throughout.
Funny and comfortingRead more
Wry humour, witty and easy to relate to. I read some of it before giving it to my daughter for Christmas.Read more
Extremely funny and easy to read and made me feel a lot better about myself. Most importantly, useful. Highly recommend.Read more
...For me is an interesting point of view, that has deep and funny arguments , at the same time to understand why we manage our lives into this type of...Read more
12 customers mention readability, 12 positive, 0 negative
Customers find the book easy and fast to read.
easy read - spot on describing the life of a procrastinator - worth the money - makes you want to buy the shirt to support the authorRead more
...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....Read more
Extremely funny and easy to read and made me feel a lot better about myself. Most importantly, useful. Highly recommend.Read more
Quick read, enjoyable, and even helpful for some of us! If you think you have a problem procrastinating, read this!Read more
10 customers mention length, 9 positive, 1 negative
Customers appreciate the book's length, describing it as a short read, with one customer noting it contains less than 100 pages.
Interesting, short read, with a couple of unheard before advice for procrastinators....Read more
...as you read along. Then go back and read again [it's a VERY short book]...Read more
Chapters are pretty short, it reads good - but there is no magical advice. I do not feel I will re-read it in the future.Read more
...The book is humorous and an easy read (less than 100 pages, and small ones that, I read it in less than 2 hours).Read more
6 customers mention writing style, 6 positive, 0 negative
Customers appreciate the writing style of the book, describing it as well written, with one customer noting it is engaging and conversational, while another mentions it is written by a philosophy professor.
Love the style of writing, laughed out loud so many times....Read more
Humorous and well-written. Lets procrastinators go easy on themselves and realize that their procrastination may lead to all-around productivity....Read more
...You will get this after you read this "short and sweet" volume. It's well written, packed with good advice, and even covers, as an example, the...Read more
This is a very fun book, written by a philosophy professor who is also a self-proclaimed procrastinator....Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Didaskalex
    5.0 out of 5 stars Procrastinating does not mean doing nothing, nor is it the worst flaw a person can have!
    Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2012
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    ***** "Everyone procrastinates sometimes, but 20 percent of people chronically avoid difficult tasks and deliberately look for distractions--which, unfortunately, are increasingly available. Procrastination in large part reflects our perennial struggle with self-control as well as our inability to accurately predict how we'll feel tomorrow, or the next day."--Psychology Today
    *

    Procrastination is the act of willfully delaying the doing of something that should be done, and in some people it is a habitual way of handling any task. As kids we were asked not to postpone until tomorrow what can be done today, inscribed on school homework books. The avoidance of doing a task which needs to be done, or procrastination not only affects a person's work, but may probably involves guilt feelings. Trying to disguise our avoidance by looking busy doing things that may be interesting, would not contribute towards the goal, rather than filing our tax return, for example, before the mid April deadline!

    Searching Amazon.com for books on Procrastination, you may retrieve a thousand, but John Perry is the only author who calls it, an art. The versatile philosopher and creative thinker, who has earned the hearts as well as the minds of his readers and students, is the winner of Ig Nobel Prize in literature, described as, "first makes people laugh and then makes people think." And as a master procrastinator, since I was 7 years old, I was waiting for this book popularizing on his essay which earned him this American parody.

    Celebrating a distinguishing feature of human character flaw, The Art of Procrastination is a charming, challenging, engaging book, slim but full with funny arguments and bright ideas. "Most procrastinators are nice folks who get a lot done, albeit by not doing other things they should be doing," Perry says. "You may be a procrastinator, but you aren't a serial killer or a child-molester or someone who steals food from hungry nuns." What is procrastination's greatest gift? It is the chance to accomplish surprising, wonderful things by not sticking to a rigid schedule.

    Dr. Timothy Pychyl elaborates on what prof. Perry referred to, writing,"people diagnosed with ADHD are characterized as 'having difficulties completing tasks on time, organizing work,...'. Quite a few readers ... have discussed their own ADHD in relation to procrastination. ... What surprises them and me is how little formal research has been conducted exploring the relation of ADHD to procrastination."--Psychology Today. Indeed, the eminent scholar offers innovative strategies, effective tactics and funny advise to abate the consequences of dawdling, lollygagging and postponing syndromes!
    21 people found this helpful
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  • samelove
    4.0 out of 5 stars Certainly Worth a Read, But Don't Expect Too Much
    Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2013
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    I ordered this book after hearing a segment on NPR with the author John Perry. Perry is clearly a very brilliant man, and offers some pretty interesting thoughts and perspectives. This book is by no means a self-help book - the theme centers around how we frame the notion of completing tasks. If you can identify with feeling like you are always procrastinating things you need to get done, yet others marvel at how much you manage to accomplish - this book is for you. Through a series of short chapters, Perry discusses what he has learned about his own procrastination. It's a short read - and if anything you'll find yourself saying "wow me too !" more so than actually learning about how to procrastinate effectively.

    To be honest, the genius of the book is how it is constructed in short, divided chapters, that makes it easy for a structured procrastinator to read. You feel good after finishing every chapter.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • John Williamson
    5.0 out of 5 stars Seize the day... tomorrow.
    Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2012
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    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
    74 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Batista
    5.0 out of 5 stars Livro
    Reviewed in Brazil on October 14, 2019
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    Livro muito bom e de leitura interessante. valeu a pena adquirir.
    Report
  • Laura
    5.0 out of 5 stars A must for all procrastinators
    Reviewed in Italy on March 4, 2014
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    Are you struggling (and losing) with your tendency to procrastination? Do you feel guilty and lost? This book will show you that you are not alone in a world of timely people, and that even a genius (because this is what John Perry is) can share your attitude. You will also learn how to stop struggling AGAINST procrastination and to turn it to Structured Procrastination. A funny, witty, useful little book.
    Report
  • Lian
    5.0 out of 5 stars I am happy to get to know about John Perry:)
    Reviewed in Japan on June 17, 2014
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    nice little book which is inspiring and fun!
    Report
  • cdyard
    5.0 out of 5 stars La procrastination enfin reconnue!
    Reviewed in France on September 9, 2012
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Procrastineuse de catégorie olympique, j'ai été ravie de la parution de ce livre. Un auteur qui reconnaît être un procrastineur; qui, surtout, sait faire la distinction entre procrastination et simple paresse, John Perry manie l'humour avec aisance. Il met en lumière les qualités propres aux procrastineurs ainsi que les avantages spécifiques de la procrastination avec brio. Il donne quelques conseils pour non pas lutter contre la procrastination mais pour apprendre à l'utiliser à bon escient.
    Un livre qui déculpabilise sans justifier: une merveille!
    Report
  • Prasad
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in India on July 24, 2015
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    One good book that gels with my nature
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