End Procrastination Now!: Get It Done with a Proven Psychological Approach

by William J. Knaus

Never miss another deadline! A proven method that defeats procrastination forever by conquering emotions, not time management Procrastination is a serious and costly problem.  And time management isn't the solution.  Author William Knaus exposes the deep-rooted emotional and cognitive reasons we procrastinate and provides solutions to overcome it. Where other books offer time-management techniques and organizational tips as superficial fixes that don't work in the long run,  End Procrastination Now! goes deeper and shows you a three-pronged approach to get off and to stay off the procrastination treadmill.  End Procrastination Now! provides you with expert advice on how to stay on track, stay focused, and meet deadlines. Psychologist William Knaus outlines a step-by- step plan to get over procrastination by recognizing its causes, building positive feelings towards what needs to get done, and implementing effective solutions that help you cut bad habits to successfully get more done in less time. You'll learn  The natural "causes" for procrastination and how to track and then stop procrastination. New techniques that cut through procrastination barriers that affect work and productivity. To reduce stress caused by procrastination through the unique cognitive, emotional, and behavioral approach. How to build resilience to negative feelings you automatically have towards tasks.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Business, Management

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 8, 2010

About the author

William J. Knaus, EdD, is a licensed psychologist with more than forty-six years of clinical experience working with people suffering from anxiety, depression, and procrastination. He has appeared on numerous regional and national television shows, including The Today Show, and more than 100 radio shows. His ideas have appeared in national magazines such as U.S. News & World Report and Good Housekeeping, and major newspapers such as The Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune. He is one of the original directors of postdoctoral psychotherapy training in rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). Knaus is the author or coauthor of over twenty books, including The Cognitive Behavioral Workbook for Anxiety, The Cognitive Behavioral Workbook for Depression, and The Procrastination Workbook.

Reviews

[Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read about half of this book. The methods and strategies is suggests using are not bad, but the book is highly repetitive. It's as if the author thinks you won't understand what he is saying unless he tells you 7 times. This book could have been half the length and just as good. I got bored of hearing the same things over and over again.

Essentially, learn to do things as they happen in smaller increments instead of letting them pile up to become huge projects that seem insurmountable so that you refuse to tackle them until you absolutely have to so as not to get fired, etc.

There are behavioral, cognitive, and emotional approaches but they all deal with how to do it now instead of later. Pay attention to yourself. Recognize your behavioral, thought, and emotional patterns and actively change them (do your own cognitive-behavioral therapy).

Tada.

[Ashley Marilynne Wong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whilst I concur with most Goodreads reviewers' viewpoint that the book is slightly redundant and wordy, the concurrence does not influence my rating. This is due to the fact that Knaus is a psychologist rather than an English professor. This book is extremely insightful and helpful, as it has led me to find the answers to the two utmost fundamental questions that I have been constantly asking myself and other people who know me, "Have I really procrastinated?" and "What are the things that I've done that are acts of procrastinating?" The book categorises my acts of procrastinating as 'complex procrastination,' a term that I've never heard prior to my perusal of this book. Not only has Knaus helped me to diagnose the issues I'm facing, to understand my procrastination thinking patterns, my reactions and to discover more about myself as a person, his book provides practical methods in battling with 'the most deceitful robber of our success,' procrastination. As a student, I shall strive to apply the methods to reach the greatest academic heights possible. I shall highly recommend this book to those who are facing the similar threat from 'our greatest enemy of all time'.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Timothy Pychyl of the awesome productivity podcast, “iProcrastinate,” often cites William Knaus’ research and conclusions, so I was motivated to check this book out and see if Dr. Knaus had anything new to offer. He structures his prescription for overcoming procrastination into a three-pronged program, using cognitive, emotive, and behavioral approaches. There are lots of charts and journaling exercises to complete as you work your way through the process, so a physical book is probably the most effective form for getting the most out of this program. He stresses evidence-based methods with lots of examples and annotations that make the program very self-help friendly and doable.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like I got the whole story just by reading the introduction. The chapters are so repetitive that I started skimming and kept finding the same concepts over and over again. Also the author is really fond of acrostics, which is OK once or twice but got old really fast.

Figure out why you procrastinate and choose to be different. It may be hard but it is worth it (at least according to the author...not sure I completely agree yet). I've saved you hundreds of pages of reading.

[Julian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poorly organized, but pregnant with useful gems. I didn't expect to get much out of this, but it is, so far, the best book on procrastination I've read, significantly more useful than Steel's much-touted Procrastination Equation.

[Bruce Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of information presented in a rather dry, clinical way, but I found it useful. (My first eBook from the library!)

[Norman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Other than it's somewhat informative context, this book is absolutely trash, at least in my point of view. Firstly, the author tries to hide the fact that the only method that he has is to apparently do the task now, which is the EXACT problem that procrastinators need help with and cannot do it because of their "I will do it later approach". In other words, if the solution is just as easy as "to do it now", there wouldn't be any procrastinators left in the world. Second of all, all the methods that are listed are all the same as well; they are all literally just nothing but extra-stylish to-do lists!!! It may just be me, but this book is just a waste of money for people who actually want to stop procrastinating.

PS I borrowed it from the local library instead of buying it, so please do what I did and don't waste your money on this.

[Aniket Patil · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is Good. Like those in this category. Explains and answers many things which results in procrastination. I believe not a single book can help you to avoid it unless we acted upon it. Overall good experience, I am trying to avoid procrastination with some of the tips. Let us see if it works. will update in a month. :)

[Chris Cook · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good information. A tough read on a Kindle due to all the charts, so I would recommend a physical copy. I learned from this book, though we already know the underlying lessons from the Stoics (which this book cites quite a bit), which is: be mindful of your own thoughts and biorhythms. Buts it's good to be reminded of this in different ways.

[ratherastory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the best read on a Kindle/e-reader, alas, due to all the charts. Tim Pychyl from iProcrastinate often cites Knaus' research, and the book does deliver on that. Overall a good, if slightly repetitive read. I suspect that a paper copy would be more useful for the practical application of the strategies outlined within it.

[MaRiSa]

DNF, I had to rewrite so many bits into a more understandable way that I feel I could rewrite this entire book in simpler sentences. Honestly, it was horrible. Certainly not helping when you have to reread the same sentence ten times to get it, when you're trying to study procrastination...

[Marc]

I have to get myself that book!

Maybe tomorrow.

[E-K · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is somehow informative but not well-organized.

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can never pass up a time management book. I devour them like they will reveal magical powers to make everything better. I often find a good tip or two, but in the end it is still work.

[Richard Balbuena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Repetitive and poorly organized.

[Kalyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had some useful information.

[Caelie · Rating 4 out of 5]

very useful book. love the exercises.