The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play |...

The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play | Neil Fiore | The best self-help book I have ever read.

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The Now Habit: A S...

	The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play Neil Fiore Tarcher, 2007 - 224 pages average customer review:based on 93 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Worth way more than you're paying

I have been a severe procrastinator for many years. I am still young in my early twenties, but in my short time, I have managed to procrastinate my life away, literally. When I bought this book, it was because I was tired of putting my life on hold. I was tired of never accomplishing anything and always feeling guilty because of it. I chose this book, as well as The Procrastinator's Handbook because of good reviews. The Procrastinator's Handbook helped me very little, if at all. The Now Habit has literally changed me.

The Now Habit gets rid of a lot of pre-concieved notions about what procrastination is and why we do it. Most books out there try fixing the result of the problem, procrastination. But you can't fix a result without first knowing and fixing the real issue, the problem that created the result.

Fiore makes you re-evaluate yourself and look at what the true problems are. He says "Procrastination is not the cause of our problems,... it is an attempt to resolve... low self-esteem, perfectionism, fear of failure and of success, indecisiveness, an imbalance between work and play, ineffective goal-setting, and negative concepts about work and self." What we are really fighting isn't procrastination, but the things that make us use procrastination as a form of protection for ourselves. He goes on the explain each underlying issue, and how we can overcome those to use the energy we were normally putting in procrastination, into the project itself. He gives you a few tools you can use at your disposal should you ever become stuck and feel like reverting back to your old habits.

I gave this book five stars because it includes all the elements you need to overcome this debilitating habit. It includes proper identification of the problem, explinations on the "why" questions, the effective way of solving the issues, and the tools to do it.

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The best self-help book I have ever read.

Let me introduce this book by chapters first:

Introduction.

The author gives the definition of procrastination.

Chapter 1. Why we procrastinate.

The authors state the symptom of procrastination. If you don't know whether you are a procrastinator, you need to read this chapter and some simple solution is given.

Chapter 2. How we procrastinate.

It tells you how to record your time log. In addition, it tells you the most important step out of procrastination - creating safety. The hypothetical situation is a must-read.

Chapter 3. How to talk yourself.

Before or during work, you also movitvate your self in a negative way, this chapter tells you how to talk to yourself in a positive way.

Chapter 4. Guilt-free play, quality work.

This chapter tells you how to change your attitude and motivation of work. If you always motivate yourself by using pressure or threat or punish, you need to read this chapter.

Chapter 5. Overcoming blocks to action.

Some tools in overcome the blocks to action.

Chapter 6. The Unschedule.

Nearly all "organised" person will schedule their work, but nearly nobody will schedule their play. This chapter provides a system on how to enjoy guilt free-play.

Chapter 7. Working in the flow state.

Actually, if you have learned hypnosis, you will not find this chapter helpful. The self-talk wording on how to relax yourself is exactly the same as the words used in hypnosis. But, I would like to stress that the method works.

Chapter 8. Fine-tuning your progress.

This chapter address some potential problem when you are practicing the system.

Chapter 9. The procrastinator in your life.

The chapter tells you how to deal with procrastinator in work or daily life. The method on P. 193 is a must read.

In conclusion, I have learned the followings after reading this book:

1. Humans are not lazy in nature.

2. how to movtivate myself.

3. How to talk to myself.

A reviewer just give a 2 stars and say that the book "The procrastinator's handbook" is better. I have heard the audio version of this book and I find that this bk is just not useful.

The book "Getting things done" is good. It provide a tool to organize your daily matters. However, if your mindset on work does not change, no tools can help you. So, read "the now habit" before reading "getting things done".

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This book moved me from my comfort zone

I have read many books on procrastination, but this is the best. In a logical way, Dr. Fiore explains why we procrastinate, what payoffs we gain and how to overcome inertia. He is a master in productivity engineering. I recommend this book highly. I also recommend Optimal Thinking: How to Be Your Best Self to learn how to make the best choices and Getting Things Done to organize yourself and eliminate stress.

YAGR (yet another glowing review)

I found the book powerful and useful. Read it through once start to finish, am now skipping through it a second time, making notes.

His descriptions of how and why we procrastinate worked for me by providing basic theory about the problems I've been solving through procrastination, and behavioral examples of how they're expressed. His descriptions are spot-on accurate for me, too- using procrastination as a source of energy and motivation, using it to make problems and tasks go away, and habitually using language that reinforces the behaviors.

If you're someone that can figure out your own solutions once you understand the problem(s), this book will probably work for you. The first two chapters are key, with chapters three to eight filling in details and providing solution structures.

As an author, Fiore is ever-so-slightly dry and removed from his audience. I found David Allen in Getting Things Done (a great companion book, btw) more enthusiastic and present. This is a minor nit, though. His presentation is otherwise clean and uncluttered, and reasonably but not overly repetitive. I skipped the occasional page here and there, but not entire sections as with other self-help books. As with any book like this, turning some of his language into your own words will make it that much more applicable and palatable.

In comparison to the few negative reviews, I didn't notice much "don't worry, be happy." Fiore focuses more on a strategy of positive thinking and taking a mature, rational, realistic, caring, and fulfilling approach to life. He doesn't sugarcoat anything, and reinforces the value and rewards of being a producer versus a procrastinator.

Of all the books I've read on managing one's life, this one is in the top five.

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Must read!

I think everyone should read this book (Even people who don't actually have a problem getting things done). Because it turns out that a lot of the unpleasantness we associate with work, and the ways we motivate ourselves to get it done are unhealthy and unnecessary. I got this book only yesterday, and already I've started to feel the benefits of rethinking how I look at work and my own destructive habits. My only negative feedback is that I feel I sound overly excited when I talk about this (I usually have a great deal of cynicism when it comes to self-help psychobabble) and some of the things its having me say to myself seem cheesy. (but they work, so I keep saying them, ah! its a vicious cycle!)

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