Sorry guys, this review has been a long time coming, but I just kept putting off reading this book. ;o)

For real though, I had a serious case of casual procrastination about reading this book that I thoroughly regret.

The More You Do, The Better You Feel by David Parker is a book about beating procrastination, which I’m sure we all struggle with from time to time (I sure do). He splits the book into two sections. In the first, we learn more about procrastination and the traits of a procrastinator. In the second, we learn how to overcome all that.

The book is definitely worth a read if you think you honestly struggle with chronic procrastination. If you’re just occasionally lazy, you might find it’s not really what you’re looking for. Here are several of my thoughts that were triggered by reading it:

“there isn’t enough time” paralysis

This is so odd and accurate to me. As I read it, I thought, that totally happens to me sometimes and the oddest thing about it is that it happened when I have too much time!

I am a machine of efficiency when I’m out on tour, because I have to be – even down to understanding that I’m actually fine if I only get 6 hours of sleep a night for weeks on end. When I’m on vacation or working a less demanding job, I start to panic if I don’t think I’ll get 8 hours of sleep, because who can function that way? And then I start to cut back on activities to make sure it happens and often I wind up watching way too much TV and accomplishing almost nothing (Exhibit A: This Entire Summer).

All because my subconscious is screaming “there isn’t enough time!”

The Psychology of Procrastination

Parker’s book also helped me affirm that I am 100% lazy at times and not generally much of a procrastinator (at worse, I’m what he calls a casual procrastinator at times). It was interesting and horrific to me how self-abuse procrastinators are. They get hung up on their failures and wonder why they’re so lazy or so stupid or incompetent and just fall into this pit of misery that can keep them from acting.

I really never thought of habitual procrastinators that way. I just thought they were super lazy and wondered what was wrong with them. I suppose I’m a little more tolerant of them after reading this, but 100 times more likely to suggest they legit see a therapist. There’s a strong tie between intense procrastinators and depression that’s really alarming.

All or Nothing Attitude

Procrastinators apparently really struggle with breaking a project into smaller sections. They feel like they have to achieve everything in one go – whether it’s a big project at work or cleaning their entire home. Since the project is too big to be tackled in one attempt, they wind up paralyzed and not doing anything. Even if they start to break the project into little bits and do it, they don’t feel like they’re accomplishing anything.

I can see how that would make life really difficult, since my primary way or approaching anything is to break it down into sub-goals and start doing it. I really feel that’s the most effective way to tackle any problem, but especially big ones.

A Note to All the Parents Out There

I have to say I read a lot of the thoughts of the perpetual procrastinator in this book and they just didn’t resonate with me. I thought about it for a while, and honestly, my ability to just buckle down and get stuff done stems from simple choices my parents made when they were raising me – like forcing me to do my homework the second I walked through the door or being forced to practice my trumpet at night before I could turn on the TV.

As I thought about why I don’t get overwhelmed knowing stuff has to get done, I just kept flashing back to those moments. I should probably actually thank them.

What’s been the worst thing to happen to you because of procrastinating?

 

*Please note that I was provided with a copy of this book for free in order to provide this review, but all opinions are my own. And legit. It’s a good read.*