A hilarious, easy read which can impact a reader tad too strongly, as our reviewer found out...

I ALMOST did not write this book review. That is not to deny the fact that I had actually volunteered to write it, or that— once I had committed myself to it—I did not want to write it. The truth is I am a procrastinator; and, after reading this book—by a Stanford University professor and acclaimed author, no less—a proud one at that. The book, quite simply, is a step-by-step coming to terms with dragging your feet over supposedly urgent tasks, something like Alcoholics Anonymous’s Twelve Steps. It explores the concept of ‘structured procrastination’—words that would be sweet music to the ears of dawdlers like yours truly. The delightful 92-page book was born from an essay that Professor of Philosophy John Perry wrote to analyse and explain his own delays in dealing with pressing matters that ideally should not occupy the troubled thoughts of a highly ‘productive’ faculty member of an Ivy League university. Without going into a spiel on how procrastinators can help themselves kick the habit, the book encourages them to embrace it, instead, and cultivate it to work to their advantage. Simple self-help tools like making to-do lists are given a makeover to assist the deadline-challenged. You find it difficult to keep up with lists? Then make bitesized ones that make it easy to cross off items at a speed that would make the ‘vertically-organised’ jealous. Sample: Don’t press the snooze button; Get out of bed; Make coffee. There, three items crossed off in the span of five minutes, and all this before breakfast! Do all this to the tune of music that makes you want to shake off the lazies and just get to it. Not only did the book make a chronic procrastinator like me feel part of a wider community of well-meaning, goal-achieving perfectionists, it also helps us dawdlers take a long hard look at the long-suffering colleagues or spouses who have to put up with us. Like the poor editor, who I have been avoiding for the past few days. No amount of mail or SMS reminders help, as, in the words of the author, “the psychology of the structured procrastinator has easily outwitted modern technology”. In the end, I have to admit that apart from the self-affirming nature of Professor Perry’s confessions and those of his readers the book was a surprise in itself. Psycho-philosophical depth apart, it’s a breeze to read, and difficult to put down, even by a classical procrastinator like me. And as you’re currently breezing through this review, you know I am on my way to reforming myself. Or at least I will get to it eventually.