The 60 second procrastinator by Jeff Davidson

"The 60 second procrastinator" by Jeff Davidson - Tips to overcome!

This book is published by Adams Media in 2003 and has 160 pages. 

Book summary

Procrastination is an act of putting off something for a later time by not starting  the task or not finishing once started. 

Author provides Sixty tips to overcome procrastination.  Some of them are: Approach your task in a different way. Face procrastination head-on. Reframe the challenge. Relate the meaning of your task to something larger. Reflect on past successes. Visualise yourself succeeding gracefully. Feel the fear. Get your thoughts down on paper. Replace limiting language (should, must, ought). Practice creative procrastination. Employ appropriate self talk (most of self talk is negative). Review your priorities and supporting goals. Claim ownership of task or goal. Get organized. Arrange your desk for action. Align your desk for decision. Line up your ducks (make preparations). Stay in the zone. Minimize distractions. Isolate yourself. Stop waiting for the perfect time. Tap the power of scents. Listen to motivation CDs. Break free of too much information. Accept that wanting to start a project is different than deciding to. Find someone who can get you started. Don't wait until you are in the mood. Give yourself a preview. Handle the hard stuff first. 

Begin to choose easily. Build time in for reflection. Establish a reward system. Contract with yourself. Strike a dynamic bargain with yourself. Sleep well and eat healthy. Employ the 3 to 5 method. Set short time limits. Stay fit by making it fun. Go cold Turkey (withdraw from dependency). Record yourself. Find a partner. Look to delegate. Do one thing at a time. Record and listen to your excuses for procrastination. Adopt the heavy half mentality (pause well past the halfway mark). Take off your watch. Put money in escrow. Visit a counsellor. Take byte sized steps. Hide the clock (concentrate on work rather than time). Consider the others affected. Have somebody waiting for your work. Harnessing the power of deadlines. Eliminate multitasking. Post your challenge. Minimize break time. Work in day units. 

End of book summary

Everybody procrastinates. Procrastination can be for minor tasks or major. It can be because of laziness, lack of time management, fear, mental block or other reasons. It's important that the essential tasks are not procrastinated. Author's tips to avoid procrastination are practical, however eventually it's up to the individual to effectively implement them. Moreover, he says that you don't have to go through 60 tips, you just have to find the one to that works for you. 

Most important takeaway from the book, apart from the tips, is to never let bouts of procrastination diminish your self worth or self esteem. If you determine the reason behind procrastination you have a better chance of getting past them.

Some of the suggestions are known, tried and tested. Some are correlated and could have been clubbed. Some of the suggestions are interesting (aroma therapy,  contract with yourself,  record and listen to excuses etc.). It would be worth giving them a try. Some of his points are really important e.g. Intuitive decision is not really intuitive, it comes from everything that you have learned so far. 

This book covers time management, conflict management & resolution, problem solving, motivation and to a certain extent even emotional intelligence. Although the title is The 60 second procrastination, the book is about how to overcome procrastination and it had no relation to 60 seconds. Apparently 60 seconds are added to the title because author has a series of books titled 60 seconds. 

Author quotes various other authors to make his point. Jeff Davidson is a premier thought leader in work- life balance and has written about 65 books. He is also a well known professional speaker. 

Why did I read this book? Interesting title.  

What did I like?  Length. Not to long. 

What I didn't like?  Title is a misnomer. 

Worth a read.