The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play

Author Neil Fiore offers the first comprehensive strategy to overcome the causes of procrastination and to eliminate its deleterious effects. His techniques will help any busy person get more things done more quickly, without the anxiety and stress brought on by failure to meet the workplace's pressing deadlines.

This revised, redesigned edition includes a new introduction and a section that provides strategies to understand and deal with the complex role technology plays in procrastination today.

This book *works*. I am one of those people who would procrastinate so badly on a term paper that it would never get turned in, and I would be wracked with guilt over it. My gpa sometimes dipped below 2.0., but for the past three semesters it has averaged 3.5.

One reviewer below recommends the book "Do It Now," because it has a more "mature" view of the problem. Folks, "Do It Now" will tell you that you're insecure and childish, and that all you need is to realize how silly you're being. At first, it sounds familiar, and for that reason you think it will help. But it doesn't. If you want to feel like procrastination is a hopeless problem that you'll always have, buy "Do It Now." Otherwise, "The Now Habit" is the one that will teach you how to overcome the problem *without* any guilt trips.


This book stands out from the crowd   December 4, 1998
Neil Gunton (Medford, OR)
451 out of 459 found this review helpful

I recently bought a total of seven books on procrastination, because I was so sick of constantly putting my life on 'hold'. One by one I started reading them, and one by one they went off on some path that did not seem to connect with me or the way I actually live. They all start off well enough, because it is quite easy to outline all the issues and situations that surround procrastination. However, getting down to business and coming up with real solutions that actually work is much harder. This book is unique as far as I can see in that it comes from a much more human and empathic viewpoint, with some really amazing insights into human nature. It is a supremely optimistic book that explains why we all do it, and what we can do about it. The most important thing is that it delves into what motivates us to procrastinate, revealing the fact that procrastination is actually rewarding; knowing how and why it happens is half the battle. If you've been thinking that this is "just the way you are", this book will save you from yourself. Neil Fiore takes us on a journey into our own minds, which is both fascinating and inspiring. I am a natural cynic and skeptic, and it's been a long time since a book made me sit up, slap my forehead and say "So THAT'S why I do that!". Actually there is a pretty good model for life in general in here. This book should be required reading for all schoolkids and college students, if I'd had this back then I might have enjoyed myself a lot more! Like I said, I tried the other books, and they didn't do anything for me. Save your money, and just get this one. You will not regret it.


The Book That Got Me Into Medical School   January 9, 2004
Shelby R. (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
213 out of 214 found this review helpful

This book just might change your life. It changed mine. I had read every other book on procrastination before finding this book, including the others mentioned in these reviews. This is, quite simply, the BEST book; completely different from the rest. It is quite possibly the best self-help book I have ever read. It may also be one of the best books ever written on anxiety and on achieving one's goals in life - subjects which I have learned are all connected.

Five years ago, I worked at an office job I didn't like much. Since reading Neil Fiore's book, I have written and published two well-reviewed children's books and realized my life-long dream of studying medicine. At the age of 35, I started medical school with no science background or training and in 5 months, I will graduate as an MD. This book allowed me to follow my dreams (thirty minutes at a time) and to acheive them. It can help you do the same.

Do not be fooled by books with flashier covers; it's what's inside that counts. Anyone who procrastinates will recognize themselves in these pages; they will also recognize the feelings of being overwhelmed and paralyzed before even starting a project, and the disappointment in themselves that results from chronic procrastination.

This is a book that actually teaches you to understand yourself, to take care of yourself, and to help yourself develop simple habits that can change your life. This is truly an easy and non-scary program, proving that you don't have to turn your life upside down to turn it around! The words in this book have stayed with me for years, and I carry a little card with reminders from it in my wallet. This program works. Believe me - I learned medicine thirty minutes at a time! And, most importantly, I had lots of time left over for fun.

Stop berating yourself! You don't need more willpower. You don't need a new daytimer. What you need is the NOW HABIT. So scrap that scary to-do list. If you do only one thing this week, make it this: order this excellent book.


If you procrastinate, don't...get this book NOW.   June 10, 2000
104 out of 106 found this review helpful

I read this book several years ago, and it literally changed the way I work and play. I was never much interested in books written by psychologists, and I don't even remember where or why I bought the book. I do know that it identified my problems with procrastination so clearly I was amazed. An long list of the qualities of a "procrastinator" described early in the book described me with unusual accuracy, and that got my attention. I am an educator, I have a Ph.D. in the sciences, and I have used this book to help many students over the past five years. The ideas work, the "unschedule" works, it is actually possible to be as busy as can be, and have more fun and freedom from stress than you can immagine. I think of one example in the book of a Ph.D. student that was "working" on his thesis some 60 hours a week, with dirty laundry and dishes all over the house, in a state of mental stagnation and depression that he seemed unaware of (my description). The author worked with this individual and set out a schedule of playing golf several times a week, and only working on his thesis some 18 hours per week. In the first week of the "unschedule" the student reluctantly went along as ordered by the author. He was amazed. He got more done on his thesis than he had in years. "The Now Habit" book is worth more than 100 times the price to anyone who is "so busy that they can't seem to get things done."


Worth way more than you're paying   April 16, 2006
TXT
89 out of 90 found this review helpful

I have been a severe procrastinator for many years. I am still young in my early twenties, but in my short time, I have managed to procrastinate my life away, literally. When I bought this book, it was because I was tired of putting my life on hold. I was tired of never accomplishing anything and always feeling guilty because of it. I chose this book, as well as The Procrastinator's Handbook because of good reviews. The Procrastinator's Handbook helped me very little, if at all. The Now Habit has literally changed me.

The Now Habit gets rid of a lot of pre-concieved notions about what procrastination is and why we do it. Most books out there try fixing the result of the problem, procrastination. But you can't fix a result without first knowing and fixing the real issue, the problem that created the result.

Fiore makes you re-evaluate yourself and look at what the true problems are. He says "Procrastination is not the cause of our problems,... it is an attempt to resolve... low self-esteem, perfectionism, fear of failure and of success, indecisiveness, an imbalance between work and play, ineffective goal-setting, and negative concepts about work and self." What we are really fighting isn't procrastination, but the things that make us use procrastination as a form of protection for ourselves. He goes on the explain each underlying issue, and how we can overcome those to use the energy we were normally putting in procrastination, into the project itself. He gives you a few tools you can use at your disposal should you ever become stuck and feel like reverting back to your old habits.

I gave this book five stars because it includes all the elements you need to overcome this debilitating habit. It includes proper identification of the problem, explinations on the "why" questions, the effective way of solving the issues, and the tools to do it.