The Procrastination Equation: How to Stop Putting Things Off and Start Getting Stuff Done - Hardcover

Steel PhD, Piers

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0061703613 ISBN 13: 9780061703614

Publisher: Harper, 2010

Synopsis

“The Procrastination Equation will teach you how to bust the excuses that are preventing you from doing your best work and living your best life….So don’t put it off any longer. Read this book. Today.”
 —Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive and A Whole New Mind

“Illuminating….Piers Steel shows us the secrets of procrastination, how it affects us and how we will, one day, be able to prevail.”
—Dan Ariely, author of The Upside of Irrationality and Predictably Irrational

Using a mix of psychology, evolutionary biology, self-help, and more than a decade of research, Dr. Piers Steel, the world’s foremost authority on procrastination, offers a tried and true method helping us to identify, understand, and break free of our self-destructive bad habits and create more positive lives for ourselves.

About this title

About the Author

Piers Steel, PhD, one of the world’s foremost researchers and speakers on the science of motivation and procrastination, is the winner of the Killam Emerging Research Leader Award. Dr. Steel’s research has appeared in numerous outlets around the world, ranging from Psychology Today and New Scientist to Good Housekeeping and The New Yorker. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, with his wife and two sons.

From the Back Cover

Using a mix of psychology, science, self-help, and a decade of groundbreaking research, Dr. Piers Steel, internationally recognized as the foremost authority on procrastination, explains why procrastination is dangerously on the rise and tells us how to overcome the destructive patterns that affect our health and happiness to create more positive lives.

If you think you are not one of the 95 percent of those of us who procrastinate, take Dr. Steel's test in The Procrastination Equation. Or if you think you procrastinate because you're a perfectionist—you're wrong. So, why do we surf the Web instead of finishing overdue projects? Why do we say we'll start that diet—tomorrow? Why do we stay up late watching television instead of going to bed? And how do we overcome these bad habits that we know work against our best intentions? Based on more than a decade of research, and written with humor, humanity, and solid science, The Procrastination Equation explains why we do what we do—or, in this case, don't—offering answers to such questions as:

• Are we biologically hardwired to procrastinate? If so, why?
• How does procrastination cost us?
• What tricks do we play on ourselves when we procrastinate at work, school, and home?
• If visualizing our dreams isn't enough to make them real, then what steps must we take?

Along the way, Dr. Steel dispels the myths and misunderstandings of motivation and procrastination, replacing them with a clear explanation of why we put off until tomorrow what we should be doing today. He then offers specific techniques we can use to tame and prevent the bad habits that adversely affect our health, happiness, and careers, all the while celebrating the very human foibles that make us who we are. The Procrastination Equation is the definitive and accessible guide for anyone who struggles with this age-old dilemma.

Reviews

According to Steel, an expert on procrastination, about 95 percent of us procrastinate. About a quarter of us are chronic procrastinators, having finely honed the art of putting things off. But why do we do it? It’s not like we don’t know there are things we should be doing and things we shouldn’t. So why do we spend time doing the wrong things? Steel’s explanation, which should come as a relief to some, is that procrastination is an evolutionary feature, a sort of biological imperative. Drawing on research from a variety of sources, Steel takes us through the history of procrastination, showing how it has become, in modern times, a serious problem that leads to increased health troubles, loss of productivity, and unnecessary poverty or depression. Fortunately, he also suggests ways we can stop procrastinating and get ourselves on track. A useful, eye-opening book. Now, if only the people who most need to read it could find the time to do so. --David Pitt

Edition details

• Publisher: Harper
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0061703613
• ISBN 13: 9780061703614
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320