Prior to reading this book, I didn't view procrastination as on Brillant article Nils! It’s the first time I heard about “Unscheduling” and I find the Idea very appealing. I don’t see myself as a procrastinator (though I do procrastinate sometimes), but I can relate with many of the points mentioned in the article like: I did sort of know all of this already but the author's suggestions to overcome the problems didn't really work for me. Telling myself that 'I choose to do something', rather that 'I have to do something' is not useful advice, as I generally don't talk to myself, and just saying those words in my head won't actually make me believe them. In my heart of hearts I would still know I HAVE to go sort out my council tax bill, and that I am not really CHOOSING to do it.

The now habit: a strategic program for overcoming (PDF) The now habit: a strategic program for overcoming

One of the most practical books in the Psychology of Procrastination that I have read. The cliched advice 'Just do it' is not a sustainable adage for procrastinators to live by. Procrastination is not the problem, it is a symptom a deeper underlying issue regarding fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of success or generally feeling overwhelmed by grand plans and pressure. This book uses a combination of great tools like reverse psychology, introducing guilt-free play into one's schedule, meditation to stay centred and growing each day by cultivating the psychology of love rather than fear.

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This last idea makes sense to me since I try to write to the end of a project without editing. Otherwise, if you edit as you go along, you will be older than dirt before it is done. Regarding the Unschedule template, I understand the first part about filling in the “play” time such as gym, lunch, shower etc. The 15 year old high schooler, who still has a chance at preserving her motivation and desire to learn, the 43 year old project manager, who can only accomplish big things by thinking in small parts, and anyone who doesn’t keep a proper grocery shopping list. But that’s exactly the wrong move. Children aren’t innately lazy. No one is. Just because kids don’t consider the things we call “work” to be fun doesn’t mean they’re not motivated to do anything. It’s not necessary to totally eliminate your old patterns or relinquish your old identity to learn a new behavior. In fact, you can use familiar patterns to alert you to the opportunity to exercise the choices you now have. You now know alternative ways of behaving.”

The Now Habit by Neil Fiore [Actionable Summary] The Now Habit by Neil Fiore [Actionable Summary]

Fiore also provides focusing exercises that I found helpful. They take about two minutes to do and leave you feeling invigorated right before you start to work. I recommend THE NOW HABIT to my coaching clients and friends and family members because it provides clear, practical, effective advice for gettingthings done without beating yourself up.” What this does is it basically forces you to do deep work – the kind of work that has been shown to maximize work productivity. If you’re new to the term, here’s how productivity expert Cal Newport explains it in his book, also titled Deep Work: “ Deep Work: Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate. Deep work is necessary to wring every last drop of value out of your current intellectual capacity. We now know from decades of research in both psychology and neuroscience that the state of mental strain that accompanies deep work is also necessary to improve your abilities.” Procrastination is rewarding. It rewards us with temporary relief from stress and from our chores. It’s like a shelter we go to when the pending work feels scary, boring, hard. It’s the go-to place when we fear being judged by others.The key to knowing how you procrastinate is to log your time. Create a journal and write down all the activities that take up your time. Procrastination: “A mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision” Dr. Neil Fiore has even developed his own program to help people implement the strategies from the book.