Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

I don't write many reviews on here, but this book has had such a profound impact upon my life that I want to add my voice to those below: The Now Habit is, hands down, the greatest self-help book I have ever read.

Like many of the reviewers below, I've had great success in school and life when I've actually applied myself, but have sold myself short for my entire life by never putting in a consistent effort.

I read The Now Habit about a month ago, and applying its suggestions has literally revolutionized my life. Keep in mind that I've read self-help books and listened to motivational tapes for years: Zig Ziglar, Anthony Robbins, Brian Tracy, Dale Carnegie, Napoleon Hill, Earl Nightingale, etc. These materials were always helpful and made me feel great and motivated, but after reading The Now Habit, I realized that the majority of them told me the same thing: discipline yourself, have a positive mental attitude, and just do it.

That never worked to my satisfaction, though. I found myself having streaks of success and positive thinking, but then I would fall into a rut and get behind on everything in my life through procrastination. I always felt guilty about spending nights out with my wife rather than studying, or would find myself playing computer games for hours, putting other things off, and never TRULY enjoying it. All of my play time was guilty play time. I had tried to adopt the mantra of the salesman Tom Hopkins, "I must do the most productive thing possible at every given moment," and found myself miserable in trying to do so.

This book helped me to realize the importance . . . no, the absolute **necessity** of PLAY TIME. In its words, you have to play hard to work more productively.

At the time I read The Now Habit, I had been procrastinating on applying to dental school for almost a year. After reading it, I applied within a week, and actually enjoyed the process! I've caught up with ease in all of my school classes, and have been enjoying my play time more than ever before. It's been incredibly easy to start on projects early, and I actually look forward to a big chunk of work time, since I get to play after every half hour!

I know what I'm saying sounds sensational, but I'm really quite sincere about it. There is some very powerful psychology in this book. Maybe it won't work for everyone, but it's probably worth $15 to at least give it a shot.

Take the negative reviews below with a grain of salt: this book is well-written and easy to follow. It is written in a very compassionate and understanding voice, and offers stories of fellow procrastinators that give hope.

I was somewhat skeptical at first, but seriously: this book can change your life.

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.

I consider myself a chronic procrastinator, I frequently find myself almost literally paralysed by procrastination and over the years it has cost me a lot in all areas of my life. If you are anything like me you have probably berated yourselves over your procrastination and are exhausted from the weight of unfinished tasks you mentally carry.

I have to say I really enjoyed this book. First it made me understand why I procrastinate, what the psychological drivers are behind it. The techniques are brilliant in their simplicity, so simple you'll wonder why you didn't work it out before. I have got through more work this week than the last month using them. But more importantly I've really enjoyed the time I have had off for the first time in years.

I also have adult ADD and find that procrastination is often the symptom of the larger issues of ADD. For those that are dealing with this debilitating behaviour on a day to day basis I urge you to buy it. A habit like procrastination is not developed overnight and I doubt that it will go away overnight either. The techniques you'll find in the book will immediately get your working on the right path and I for one have really felt for the first time that I can beat this wretched behaviour and really start enjoying life.

Order it now! :-D

I want to say that I've never been inspired to write a review before but this book has really helped me. I've been trying to work on a book-length manuscript for a long time and the principles in this book helped make the entire progress fun. As a top student who always managed to get by on all-nighters, I came across a whole new problem when I tried to tackle a project as big as a book. You just can't churn out a book at the last minute and so I just kept procrastinating. Finally, I read the Now Habit and I have to say, honestly, that I'm averaging 10-17 hours of work on my book a week, it's less painful than it's ever been, I think my work is good and simply, it works for me. I'm speaking as someone who was TOTALLY stuck for years, producing zilch.

I'd like to note that I think the excerpts displayed by Amazon.com here are not the best part of the book; they're pretty generic and unoriginal and when I first looked in the Now Habit on Amazon.com, I skipped over it because it seemed contentless. I bought the Albert Ellis foundation's procrastination book instead because I knew about the RET principles and it seemed scientific. Unfortunately, that book didn't help me at all, it just said -- well, it's irrational to procrastinate so don't do it. Well, I knew that already.

What convinced me to finally get the Now Habit were the customer reviews here and they were right. The book itself is quite fresh; encouraging but with concrete tactics to tackle your own mental blocks. It teaches you to trick yourself into getting your butt in gear again. I can only say that it worked for me.

In The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play, Dr. Neil Fiore writes a concise but complete manual for procrastinators who want to break the habit and become "producers." Dr. Fiore starts in logical fashion to explain why we procrastinate (feeling like a victim, feeling overwhelmed or fear of failure or success) and then sets out a process for us to learn how we procrastinate. Dr. Fiore's novel approach treats procrastination not as a moral failure or character defect, but as learned behaviour that can become unlearned. He goes onto describe a practice of changing our mental paradigm from people who feel confined and compelled into people who are making choices. The emphasis is on starting rather than completing, and on being human rather than being perfect.

The author introduces and explains a number of novel and freeing concepts such as guilt-free play and the "unschedule" which can be used to make the transition from procrastinator to producer. He also provides some helpful suggestions for overcoming common obstacles and how to work toward a "flow state" in which we are "in the zone" of our assigned tasks. He provides some helpful ideas on being flexible in becoming more productive and concludes with a very helpful chapter about how we can peacefully coexist with procrastinating colleagues, co-workers and partners.

I found the principles and ideas provided in this book to be very helpful. They are adaptable to every walk of life, including the creative and the professional. If you have issues with procrastination, the time it takes to complete these easily read 200 pages may pay dividends for your career and your peace of mind.

Motivating! Understanding the why gives insight into how to do something about procrastination. An excellent purchase for a problem procrastinator.

This is the first 'self-help' book I've read. Admittedly, I dont put a lot of stock into them, especially when they're more 'coaching' than 'system'. This was book was in between. Some of Fiore's ideas could help a person, but he could have distilled them a lot easier. At the end of the day, it's be confident in your abilities, think positive about yourself, know hard work is always rewarded and take small steps with everything. Practicing all that is what takes time and belief.

This is the best self-help book I have ever read. I've found it profoundly useful and life-changing and practical. I wasn't going to post another review, since nearly every review here is a positive one. But a recent reviewer (with a Phd in Psychology to make herself sound important) suggests that Neil Fiore is an unoriginal author who derived many of his concepts from an earlier book entitled "Procrastination," by Burka and Yuen. I happen to own a copy of this earlier book and please take note --the authors of the earlier book give Neil Fiore credit for having invented one of the most useful concepts in their book! Fellow readers, do not be misled by an utterly inaccurate negative review (written by a psychologist who may be jealous of Dr. Fiore's work). "The Now Habit" is a remarkable book.

Rarely ever do I give a review of a book until I know it's for real. I love self-help books, and was drawn to this after reading ALL the Amazon reviews for books on overcoming procrastination. If you want a book that says to buckle down and "Just Do It", this book isn't for you. But don't you tell yourself that enough? This book cuts at the root of procrastination. In my case, perfectionism is a big reason. I totally identified with the woman in the sample pages. I've loaned this book out and recommended it to many people I know. I was tired of procrastinating, then being wonder-woman at the deadline. IE. Staying up all night at school to finish a project everyone else finished already. Getting F's one semester than making up for it the next. Without disclosing too much personal information, I've been on academic probation almost every other semester in college! That's no way to live. (beneath my abilities) If you are reading this, buy this book. I read others, and this has a different approach. Thank me later.

I have been a world-class procrastinator ever since the first grade when my teacher gave me a packet of math worksheets to do "at my own pace" and I ended up never doing them at all. Since then it has only gotten worse. I was recently faced with the daunting task of writing my Senior paper, the last step before receiving my B.A. in French. I had made it that far in my educational career only by the skin of my teeth--despite regularly scoring in the 99th percentile in standardized tests, I barely graduated high school and have a college transcript that was once described, in a particularly humiliating encounter with a crusty Oxford-educated prof, as "rather spotty".

My senior paper was the biggest, scariest project I had ever had to deal with and I had no idea how I was ever going to get it done. By the end of the semester, when the paper was due, I hadn't even really started it. I began to be terrified that I wouldn't graduate, but I still couldn't make myself write that paper.

Then I came across a review for this book on Amazon.com. I rushed out right that evening and bought it (one area where I usually don't procrastinate is on buying things!) I was amazed at what I read.

The author has deep understanding of the causes of procrastination, and also of how very difficult it can be for procrastinators to change their bad habits. If it were possible for procrastinators to change just by making resolutions or exhorting themselves to simply "do it now", then believe me, I would have changed a long time ago. Procrastination is more complex than that, AND, procrastination does have its rewards, which is one of the first things the author goes into. (If it didn't have any rewards, we wouldn't do it).

The techniques Neil Fiore gives for overcoming procrastination worked better than anything I have ever tried. It all centers around guilt-free play and doing your work in half-hour increments. Your play is scheduled, your work is not. This may sound gimmicky, but read the book and it will make sense. I wish I could give more detail, but I gave my copy away to someone who needed it worse than I did.

Using Fiore's "Unschedule", I was able to get my senior paper done, one half-hour at a time. If not for this book, I would not have graduated. I only wish I had found it at the beginning of my academic career instead of at the end.