Background

Neil Fiore, Ph.D., is a psychologist and career counselor at U.C. Berkely.  He wrote the book, The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play, which clearly addresses the fundamental reasons people procrastinate, and offers a set of solutions to overcome not only the action of procrastination, but the underlying causes.  The book is available in paperback as well as in an audio format. 

While it was originally published in 1998, the principles discussed are timeless so the message is well adapted to life in 2008. 

Doug’s Comments 0n Procrastination

I’d like to start this commentary asking the question ‘Do you procrastinate?’.  Dr. Fiore does a good job of explaining a simple truth - we all procrastinate with some things in our life and we are all timely with other things in life.  Many of us procrastinate when it comes to the homework assignment, the project at work that is going to be a bear to start, getting our physical exams, and the list of what we procrastinate with goes on and on.  On the other hand, few of us procrastinate when it comes to getting out the door to go to the local NBA game, for meeting with friends for dinner, or going shopping for a new item that is well deserved.  Clearly, procrastination is relative to the action taking place.

Its important that if you’ve been labeling yourself as a procrastinator that you take a close look at the language you use.  YOU are not a procrastinator - we can find many examples where you are not.  There are simply some actions you’ve chosen to delay because you find them less enjoyable than others.  This is a reflection of your choice, not who you are.  The act of procrastination leads to problems when the person choosing to delay a project identifies themselves with those delays (and potentially the outcomes from those delays) and in doing so this affects their personal self image and impacts self worth.  When this happens, people labeling themselves as procrastinators feel an overwhelming burden constantly looming over their heads and it becomes difficult to enjoy themselves even when they are not working on the cumbersome project.  Temporary escapes from the activity become necessary, but are seldom fulfilling and typically build more stress as the timelines extend out longer and longer. 

The paragraphs above are my personal commentary on procrastination, but I’ve got a sense Dr. Fiore would agree wholly on the preamble provided above.

Doug’s Review & Commentary

In The Now Habit, Dr. Fiore discusses strategies rooted in positive psychology rather than the classical approach to psychology of identifying and resolving mental/emotional illness and problems.  He discusses the underlying causes of procrastination, he provides examples of how people were able to change their approach and in doing so change their lives, and gives a set of tools and methodologies that have been applied by numerous people in breaking a procrastination cycle. 

In my opinion, the most interesting component that he addressed was a study of Ph.D. candidates whom took a short period (1-2 years), versus a long period (3-10+ years) to complete their thesis.  Incredibly, a common trait that candidates completing their thesis relatively quickly was their insistence upon scheduling ‘fun’ time into their week - dedicated to enjoyment external to the project they were working on.  This may seem counter intuitive as it is taking time ‘out’ of their schedule!  I personally love this concept because I know that I was not allowing fun time in my life when I went through my MBA 5+ years ago.  I felt the pressure of too many demands on tight time schedules and the mentality with which I completed the program was nothing short of unhealthy. 

Dr. Fiore spends a lot of time with a principle I’ve never heard of called “the un-schedule”.  Its an interesting concept - the point of the schedule is to identify and create productive time rather than simply ‘time’ to work on a project.  The Ph.D. Candidates that completed their thesis in 1-2 years were masters of productivity, not masters of spending a lot of hours on a project.  The un-schedule uses a reward structure which again is in alignment with concepts of positive psychology to excite you about completing short periods of highly productive time. 

Dr. Fiore also looks closely at the language used during procrastination.  Have to’s, should’s, need to’s and the like have an incredible capacity to drain the energy out of a room.  If you don’t believe me, say one of your have to’s out loud.  For example, I have to go to the gym today.  Compare that with I am going to the gym today, or I want to go to the gym today - its a completely different energy.  If you notice yourself using this language - change it.  Creating this change is an act of awareness and consciousness.  Simply speaking differently can affect our entire outlook at the moment that we impress our language on the activity that is going to take place. 

While Dr. Fiore is not a life coach, as a psychologist practicing a non-traditional model, he certainly coaches clients on ways to have better self efficacy in terms of procrastination.  I am very pleased that he chose to outline this model for the masses to get at.  While there’s nothing like another person to coach, motivate, and support you - the self motivated (not always associated with procrastinators - good thing that we now know there is no such thing) could do wonders with the principles explained through this book. 

Who is this for?

This book is for people that are struggling to take action towards a specific project (or perhaps have seen this tendency in the  past) and they are looking for ways they can move forward.  Its also a good book for a coach or counselor to get ideas on how to support clients in moving beyond a cycle of ‘not doing’ what they say they want to do - specifically because the day gets so filled with activity that they do not complete their primary objective 

• Paper Format: The Now Habit (Paperback)
• Audio Format: The Now Habit (Audio CD)

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Written by Doug Nau, The Wellness Coach, i-grow.net