The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play Paperback – Illustrated, April 5, 2007

No matter what review you read or how you slice this book's content, you will gain enough insight to cover the cost, again - no matter what. Buy it. Don't hesitate - buy it. Or try to find it at the library, even the previous version will do. Steal it from a friend - just get this book asap!At first I hesitated to read the reviews, because "The Now Habit" just sounded so gimmicky to me. I shudder to think that I would have missed out on finally changing something so close to my core that I never realized it was the root of so much anxiety and lower quality of life.After reading reviews, I was well... desperate to buy this book. But being cheap and using the super saver option, I was told it would take 8-10 days to get here. So I immediately looked it up at the library, and they had a copy! So I raced down to the city library and signed it out. I was alarmed at the publish date... in the late 80's! Uggg, I had found the previous version. Weighing the investment of time (in reading a version of a self-help book 23 years old), I figured I should probably just read the older version and compare it to the newer version one it arrived.I was absolutely stunned that this book is perfectly timeless. Reading this previous version just enhanced how potent and accurate the concepts are in this book. I found myself thinking... I could have had a completely different life if I'd found this book all those years ago.When the new version arrived, I actually couldn't find any difference. There were probably some edits in there somewhere, but even the names and references in some of the charting tools were the same. So I (and you) would do perfectly as well finding that older version at the library. Again, I know I'm probably being annoying at this point - find ANY copy of this book!The Now Habit does focuses on the root - it deals with the REASONS we procrastinate. It approaches procrastination for what it is - a symptom of a past experience, an irrational fear, or a variety of other reasons. Finally I've found a book that fixes the real problem. The bad habits just melt away afterwards.I wish I could attach an emotion to my review, to explain how life changing this book was for me. I am a person who deals with concepts and practical wisdom. Dealing with symptoms or gimmicks will never work on me. I need to know what's at the root so that I can change my frame of mind from the ground up.I am so much happier now and enjoy my time. There's so much less anxiety in my life now - I've pretty much done all that I was procrastinating. I've never felt this way before, and I'm 40.If you still aren't convinced to buy, at least check the library. Borrow it, buy it, steal it... get this book!

The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play originally was published in 1989, so perhaps everyone besides me has already read this book ... but I found it incredibly helpful in diagnosing my current procrastination problems with finishing my book and getting done some nagging stuff on my to-do list.Pros:- Practical tools to diagnose your problems (keeping a procrastination log).- The "Unschedule" tool to schedule your fun time, to keep you motivated to get your work done.- Acknowledgment that most of us actually only have 15-20 hours a week for the big projects, once you plan for meetings, email, phone calls, showers, kids, sleeping, and the rest of life.- Great for self-employed people who have wide open but incredibly busy schedules.Cons:- Really, you've heard a fair amount of the stuff in this book (keeping track of your time, setting goals, etc.) but I found it was presented in a way that was helpful to me.- If you are not a self-motivated person, not sure that scheduling "fun" time will get you motivated to do work; especially if you are not sure what you should be working on.- The Now Habit contains a bunch of procrastinator stories that frankly, I speed-read through because reading about other procrastinators make me upset, but those stories may be very helpful if you feel alone in your habits.What I've already used:- Realized that the reason I was procrastinating on finishing my book (it was 98% done) was avoiding delayed failure. In other words, when I finish my book it will be published and I could fail at selling the book, so if I never finish, I can't fail. Nuts.- Used the "unschedule" to figure out I only have 15 hours a week for major projects.- First day I used the "unschedule" I got all my work done by 2:30 PM. I didn't know what to do with all that time -- it was weird and great!