Rating: Summary: Don't waste your money or time Review: As other reviewers have pointed out, this book is more a pep talk than a program of action. Its proposals for action won't be any surprise (make a list, set a timer and commit to doing a specific thing for an hour) and the little quotes at the end of every chapter run the gamut from truly inspirational to trite. However, everyone knows what they should be doing; the book aims to make you feel that you can actually do it. To that extent, it's very successful. You finish it feeling energized and capable of doing anything. Time will tell whether the feeling lasts, but at the moment I feel empowered and ready to take on a host of new things. Thanks, Rita Emmett!
Rating: Summary: The Procrastinator's Handbook Review: Do you think you are a born procrastinator? So did Rita Emmett. Do you think that clutter is a normal part of life? So did Rita Emmett. That's why I like and recommend the book. This isn't written by "Patty or Paul the Perfectionist," but by someone who learned how to conquer procrastination and now shares what she learned with us. I found it very readable: first, because the author's style is comfortable (and spiced with self deprecating humor); second, because it is practical--there are helpful hints for overcoming just about every type of procrastination. The author includes exercises and tons of tips. Most of us struggle with procrastination. This little book is a great resource to help each of us overcome this "dreaded affliction." Keep it on your nightstand and read a chapter a night for a week, take the actions recommended and it will make a difference in your life.
Rating: Summary: This stuff works! Review: Here is my review: "This neat little book helped me overcome my procrastination to write my book."Is there anything greater that the fact that it works? Zev Saftlas, Author of Motivation That Works: How to Get Motivated and Stay Motivated
Rating: Summary: utterly useless Review: I bought this book after reading the high acclaim that it received. The book turned out to be a waste of time and probably exacerbated my proscrastination problem by giving me an excuse to put off working. The book is at least two-thirds cliche quotes and "real-life" examples, but provides little concrete guidance on how to overcome your problems.
Rating: Summary: What's the use? Review: I got it way back in the beginning of high school. Now I'm in college and I still haven't read it. It's almost like a cruel, taunting joke.
Rating: Summary: Awakener. Humiliater. Lifesaver. Review: I've pored over Lord-knows-how-many self-help tomes in my time, furrowed brow, best-intentioned, sincerity blazing. Ms Emmett's is the first that made me go "Ouch!". By the Nine Gods of Clusium, she has my number. 'Hypocritical Procrastination'? Bullseye. That chapter alone does it. Even mid-reading, I was reaching for the phone to call my honey on some daft pretext; rising from my desk to go chatter with colleagues; re-shuffle papers .... I actually slammed the phone down, stayed put, killed the CNN link ... told a colleague "Actually, I *am* busy right now. One hour from now?" This is working for me. Ain't easy - a lifetime of indulgence and the most appalling self-delusion - but I need to folow its lessons and Emmett has the spot-on tone that gets to me. Don't buy it: I have a lot of catching up to do and it might work for you, too, in which case that's one more rival I won't be overtaking. Bless you, Rita E. Right! Enuff of this time-wasting composing of a review; I have filing and ironing and writing to me mum to do, not to mention cold calling that swine of a landlord to fix my fridge. I'm a busy man and there's no perfect time to act; there's only now. Yoda had it right: Do or do not. There is no try.
Rating: Summary: I'll never buy another e-book. Review: If you are serious about ending your procrastination then do not waste MORE of your time reading this book. The author gives plenty of tips, common sense advice, and even famous quotes but in a very disorganized and unstructured manner. The whole book is like a long pep talk, full of good intentions but failing to solve the problem: your procrastination. I'm sure that you've tried most of the tips in this book (writing a To Do List, planning your work, scheduling, etc.) so it does not make sense to buy a book that basically tells you to try them again. Oh, you'll try them for a week or two (again, for the n'th time), and then go back to procrastinating, because that's what we procrastinators do! We start something and then never finish it! In the back cover, Frank McCourt (author of Angela's Ashes) calls it a "light-hearted book", proving that even the editor knows this is not a serious book on procrastination, and uses McCourt's comment to sell the book as easy reading, but definitely not serious content. I recommend Neil Fiore's NOW HABIT. It's deeper, structured and a serious read. Not a "light-hearted handbook".
Rating: Summary: A Great Book for Yourself or as a Gift Review: It's hard to imagine ANYONE who wouldn't get a lot out of this book... THE PROCRASTINATOR'S HANDBOOK speaks to the most common attitude, or habit, in the human condition today. With every page I turned, not only did I see myself, but dozens of other folk I've known over the years. It's almost as if the pages were made of tinfoil.. they reflect so much! I've already decided that much of my holiday shopping will be handled by a bulk order of this delightful publication. Just about everyone I know is, or has been, one of the types of procrastinators Rita Emmett outlines in this book. This includes myself, of course. (Until I heard about this book, I thought all procrastinators were my subjects, and I was their Queen.) As I read, I made a mental list of all the wonderful people I know who would benefit from the clear, self-affirming, logical tips, and "Extra Credit" tasks Rita presents. I also bookmarked the many pages that gave me sound plans for attacking both the physical and mental clutter that generate so much unnecessary stress. My favorite element of the book is its "just folks" tone. There is never the sense that the author, nor the audience, is immune to the menial, the drudgey or the mundane tasks common to modern life. Rita speaks of scrubbing her kitchen walls, rather than attack a typing task she despised. How many books these days assume their audience to be "above" such real-life chores? How often does one get a suggestion about the least distasteful time for getting laundry folded? It's almost as if Rita is chatting with me over coffee at my kitchen table.. or hers, since my house isn't "ready for company" yet. We're "just folks" together, and she shares with us her experience of real life and how to make it more satisfying. Another element of the book that I find most appealing is her refusal to sugar coat the unpleasant truth. She writes that, "Life seems to overflow with" unpleasant tasks, the stuff we just know we won't want to do, but must, if we wish to be considered functional human beings. The tasks are just there, though sometimes we're unable to find anything appealing in the doing of the task. Rita reminds us that we can "change our minds to change the game," and focus on the time AFTER completion of the task, where we're able to simply bask in the glow of a job (well) done. If basking isn't enough for you, Rita gives us a great starter list of rewards we can promise ourselves for gritting our teeth and plowing through those tasks. When you approach things this way, there's really nothing one cannot get oneself to do. In fact, thanks to Rita, I'm going to resume my efforts to get started on graduate school and end ten (well, okay, seventeen) years of putting THAT off. I believe a lot of us in this "modern" generation are pulling away from Mom's Homespun Wisdom, and Rita does a significant service to her audience by bringing some of that back to us, in a most affirming, considerate, noncritical way. She tells us to get the worst stuff out of the way early in the day, so as to eliminate dread, and put a shinier glint on whatever follows. I know MY mom encouraged me to do that as well, but coming from Rita, it's not so hard to hear. So... I say, get your hands on this book right away, make a pot of coffee, grab a highlighter or some bookmarks, and even your holiday shopping list, and sit down to a TERRIFIC read.
Rating: Summary: A real eye-opener. Review: Really good info on how to avoid waiting until tomorow to get your tasks done.
Rating: Summary: Don't waste your money or time Review: This book is a waste of money. 5% advice, 95% fluff you've read in other help books. At least get this book from the library, but don't buy it. It isn't worth the money.
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