Do it Now, by William Knauss
A book Review and Summary
Grown out of some workshops at the Albert Ellis institute in the USA, where William Knauss worked, it was the first book of its kind. It is designed to help you master your time and find the courage to beat procrastination.
The book starts off by explaining what procrastination is and then leading
into the different styles of procrastination. Then he helps us identify the weeds
in our minds that lead to procrastination. The slogan used throughout the book
is, ‘Do it Now’ - the same as the title, meaning if you do what needs to be done
‘now’, you will get over your procrastination.
A lot of procrastination is caused by discomfort, frustration and intolerance.
Here the author helps us to test our metal by dealing with these stressors and
forming a sense of discipline to get things done despite negative feelings
surrounding the task.
If there is a weed in our minds it’s got to be the wheedler of chapter 5
This is where we are taught to identify and challenge procrastination thinking.
In chapter 6 we work on change.
In part two we learn about paradoxes, which are really the most difficult
part of procrastination. For example, happiness is a byproduct of something
else. We delve into perfectionism, gaining control and dealing with discomfort.
Part two is about strategies, right thinking and getting organised.
The book's title ‘Do it Now’ means that if you cut the gordian knot by doing
things straight away you will at the same time cut through your procrastination
habit.
This book can help you to improve yourself, act with integrity and get things
done! Not only that, but there are several side effects of getting things done
that will help you to be happier and better adjusted.
Gordian Knot.
(ancient myth)
Whoever unravels the gordian knot will rule the world.
The ancient Macedonian King Alexander looked at the knot, examined its
complexities then drew his sword and cut it.
To apply the same Gordian knot principle to P/C simply:
- Do what needs to be done, now!
- Do, don’t stew!
Procrastination is pretty common, but there is a pathway to change which
Knauss has spent years researching the procrastination problem and its
solutions. .
Do you need to raise your awareness of the ways that you waste time and
procrastinate - then Knauss has you covered.
Do you need to learn coping skills to deal with reality and get things done,
then you will find it in this book.
Do you want to actualise yourself and learn more about your capabilities as a
person?
Are you looking for some clever slogans to help you to get active and achieve
things?
Do you just want to be more organised and together - beating procrastination
will help you to succeed.
The following pages include quotes and key take-aways from Do it Now.
Part One
Key points from Chapter One
Life finds structure through time.
To everything there is a season
When we use our time wisely, we feel confident and capable,
Procrastination is a universal bane of life, Chronic procrastination
Do it now method – doing reasonable things, in a reasonable way
Chapter 2 is a quiz to help you gauge your procrastination style.
Chapter 3.
“Those who don’t remember the past are condemned to repeat it”
More in chapter 3 teaches us about procrastination styles whether they be
maintenance, health, low-grade or hindrance.
Chapter 4
The seeds of procrastination
Problem habits
Symptoms
Defenses
Overcome habit
Stop the chain of thoughts by challenging irrational ideas.
Commanding your muscles to engage in necessary activities
Rising to challenges
Discomfore dodging.
“Stop fiddling with ideas about how difficult or unpleasant a task
‘Commit to at least one frustrating activity each day that you
Self efficiacy
Don’t brake, accelerate!
Fear of failure can exasperate procrastination.
Chapter 5 Diversionary Ploys.
Action diversions
Mental diversions
Emotional diversions
“In folklore, the wheedler is the cajoler, conniver, bamboozler, flatterer, teaser
and deceiver. This wily part of us is sometimes so skill-full in self-deception
that the credibility of the con is seldom questioned”.
Some things you can try:
Watch for seductive wheedler reasoning such as what is the
Mental diversions include the manana trap, contingency manana,
In chapter 5, ‘Diversionary ploys’ in the section under Recognising and
Dealing with Mental Diversions there are three questions to help you gain
insight into your diversionary ploys. It is a good idea to find this section and
write the questions down to use either as a printable or a template for your
phone or computer.
Name the objective
Recognise that what is tough to start today will be just as tough
Take the first step.
With emotional diversions people want to feel better before they act. But
action is the only thing that will make them feel better.
‘Even in symptoms such as depression (And probably avolition (mine) activity
is one of the best remedies. Trying to get rid of certain emotions by willing
them away is often counter-productive.
Instead of asking yourself how to feel better you could ask yourself how to
deal with the real problem (procrastination task) and do something to get it
done’.
Review negative feelings
Note what you want to get done
Take note of external problems
Stop trying to control your feelings and engage in relevant and
Keep in mind that procrastination is based on a decision.
Beating the wheedler means being aware, refusing to make excuses, delay
activities, or get entangled in an emotional game. You have to face up to
yourself, your problem and act with integrity to get stuff done.
A note on Television, Gaming, and Internet Surfing
Although we all need downtime and media entertainment, information and
education from these media devices, too much time spent on them is escapist,
and acts as a diversion from more self-development activities. If you spend
hours a day gaming or watching TV it can add up to thousands of hours over
a life-time that could have been spent on more important activities.
Chapter 6. Patterns of Change.
The 5 steps to change are awareness, action, accommodation, acceptance
and actualisation.
The procrastination log.
Yet another great tool from Knauss. The procrastination log helps us to gain
insight and understand our particular procrastination patterns. Look through
the book for the procrastination log in chapter 6. Write down the steps, perhaps
in your phone or computer and use them as a template for logging your P/C
habits.
The quote below is one of my favourite parts of the book, because it grants
you potential to go further than you thought possible before.
“When you feel actualised, you continually stretch your resources to discover more about what you can
do. As you concentrate on what you are doing you move away from
concentrating on yourself. Paradoxically through this focused process of
learning and contributing, you discover more about yourself and about
what you can do, as an unplanned by-product you feel more authentic,
capable, motivated and alive.
You actualise yourself when you concentrate on actions that make your
dreams and wants attainable. In this nurturing, self-renewing process, you
become both intellectually and concretely absorbed in developing your
resources”
Action planning
Look to the section “Action Planning” in chapter 6 and you will find 7 steps to
help you to move from awareness into actionable, achievable steps. Again, I
encourage you to write these steps down and make them into a template,
either on your phone, computer or as a printable. When you need to take action
just follow these steps.
Stall-stopping
Getting things done and out of the way.
Set priorities
Dealing with frustration
Part 2 – Procrastination Contingencies and wrong solutions. | What they are
and how to recognise them.
Chapter 7 In and Out – Happiness contingency ploys.
“Happiness is a by-product of doing something else first. Control, success,
approval & comfort are mere transitory states that are by products of the
effective things that you do.
Chapter 8 Control: The pathway to and from Procrastination.
Artificial needs for control
Fear of loss of control
Exercises to gain flexibility.
A quiet sense of inner control has its advantages. But he says that
if you impose an autocratic control upon ourselves we will make
ourselves feel like we are in a pressure cooker and procrastinate for
relief. Excessive regulation only makes us feel stiff (and inflexible)
Nor can you control others. They would only resent it.
Gaining Control through Paradoxes.
In order to gain fulfillment, you really must engage & rise to
the challenges that you face.
Experiment with tasks.
Have 5 solutions to a problem
Meditate (mine)
Do random tasks
Write down one personal strength each day.
Fear of Loss of control
Try to find the ability to cope with things.
“The difference between trying to meet the contingency of control and meeting the challenge of productive activity is the difference between self-absorption and absorbing oneself in the concrete activities of living”.
Chapter 9 Perfectionism and fear of failure
Fear of risks
Indecision
Hostility
Fear of risks
Perfection is not achievable. Perfectionism can be caused under
certain conditions, such as - “Various religions who try to induce
guilt in their members”; “Educators who try to control children
into perfectionistic standards, " and “Parents who see a child as an
extension of an ideal that they wish to mold”.
Last but not least the media portrays ‘perfect people 'that it is
unrealistic for us ever to achieve’; resulting in people turning to
fad diets, neurosis, getting more and more plastic surgery, incessantly
buying expensive items and you know the rest.
People grow through mistakes.
If you are not the person you should be, what is wrong with just being yourself?
Decision – procrastination happens when people anguish over
making the right choice. The thing you can do about it is going with
51 percent of being sure.
It is like he is saying not to be afraid of writing a rough draft. You can
fix it afterwards, you’ve got to start somewhere.
Decision making process
“The principle of self-acceptance implies self-responsibility”
I-anger Is hostility toward the self and others when people don’t live
up to your own subjective commandments. It drains your energy and
makes you unhappy, basically it’s a waste of time.
He then goes on to explain some ways of dealing with the I-anger
for example Identifying your fears or thinking of 5 positive qualities
of your adversary and keep them in mind during interactions,
Lastly in this chapter he explains how to combat the guilt you may
feel about procrastination.
Chapter 10 Approval Seeking and Putting it Off
In this chapter Knauss explains how approval seeking can lead to
procrastination, for example not being able to go anywhere until you
find the perfect companion to go with you.
He then lists exercises to help you with honest self-expression,
including, saying what you mean, standing up for your rights, saying
no, expressing opinions, giving feedback and stepping into the
limelight. Following that and to end this chapter the author discusses
social anxieties and some remedies of such.
Chapter 11 – Discomfort dodging and Procrastination.
Satisfaction - Achieving satisfaction takes effort.
Comfort seeking is avoiding effort and basically being slack!
‘The comfort seeking habit is hard to overcome’
Read this chapter to learn how to deal with discomfort and still
get things done. Some things include:
Solve the problem.
Thinking about some accomplishments you have made:
How can I go further?
What can I do today to begin?
Learn to wait.
Have a can-do attitude.
Be patient
Make an effort.
When anxious, sensing, doom, worried about failure, misfortune,
incapability and such, try to imagine the best opportunities instead.
When you are anxious, you limit yourself. Try to expand your image
of you as doing your best, so that you can grow.
Depression:
You feel hopeless
You are helpless
It’s not fair
The effort to move on is too much
You can’t stand it.
Clinical depression is a psychiatric condition, known as Major
depression. often requiring medication. Both clinical depression and
psychological depression can be improved with various techniques
and interventions, such as cognitive therapies.
Psychological depression can respond successfully to those
interventions. Cognitive therapy may even be superior to clinical
antidepressants in some.
If you have sleeping, eating, suicidal thoughts and such you will need
to get professional help, which is outside the scope of this book review.
The point is that sometimes people procrastinate due to depression and or
other mental illnesses.
Rather than dwelling on negative thoughts, try to identify the problems
you’re having and find solutions to them.
Exercise regularly.
Think of one positive thing about your day.
Try to engage in one pleasant activity.
Use a preview experience – where you succeed in something on
one occasion and use it as a cue for change.
Part 3
Strategies for overcoming Procrastination.
Here the author outlines different styles of procrastination such as
fantasy or drifting.
You can change a procrastination style by replacing it with a do it now
style
Chapter 13. Your Imagination can help you get it done.
Here the author illustrates 10 mental images that you can use to create
a do it now attitude. Some of them being, imagining your ideal self; Avoiding
piling one problem such as worry on top of another – and doing your
tomorrow self the favour of getting things done today.
Chapter 14 – Clear thinking get’s it done
This chapter is about all-ness thinking where the person makes global
judgements of the self rather than focusing on the real problems at
hand.
Substitute the words should, must and ought for prefer, desire and
want. Try not to awfulise things. .
He also explains in this chapter Albert Ellis’s ABCD method. You can
make a template to work on this too.
A = An activating event
B = the belief about the event
C= The emotional and behavioural consequences.
D = Disputation of false assumptions and beliefs
Labels can stick. A label such as it’s too hard’ can be reversed, ‘you know it
that hard, or it's relatively easy. Or it is easier to do rather than think it through
than to think about it for goodness' how long.
Do not tell yourself it doesn’t matter, if you know it is important then do
something to get it done.
Chapter 15 – Getting in touch with your feelings.
Emotions can be high, low or in the middle. Understanding your emotions is
middle way. Clarifying your emotions is the best way to communicate. Putting
yourself into experience means knowing what you are feeling about a given situation, rather than just being neutral.
Openness moves you away from procrastination to exploring your world
through action.
Here you can recognise and accept self-doubts, discomfort-dodging,
diversions etc. You can come to terms that without follow-through,
‘hopes lie fallow’
.
Chapter 16 – Following through by rewarding yourself.
“Getting it done is my reward” - Benjamin Franklin.
Goals – if you don’t have goals, you don’t know where you are going.
As you probably know, your goals need to be specific and clearly defined.
Giving yourself rewards for getting things done can reinforce your
anti-procrastination plan. You can reward yourself with high probability
activities such as reading, watching tv or having a cup of tea or even retail
shopping.
In chapter 16, you can find your Cognitive behavioural self-regulation plan.
Again it is a good idea to make a template, hard copy or printable that you can
work on as needed.
You can use your project management skills to plan and monitor progress on
your goals. .
Chapter 17 – planning to end procrastination
Label your goals, list your criteria
Break things into steps.
Identify the problem, (What motivates the procrastination)?
Define the advantages of change.
Make a plan of action.
Effective people do 7 things:
Analyse the current and anticipated situations
Make concrete goals
Follow positive values to guide their actions
Plan a course of action
Organise their persona; and material resources to support the
They put the plan into action
They adjust their sails accordingly.
Chapter 18 – Get Yourself Organised and Follow Through.
“People who are behaviourally and mentally organised normally experience
more of a sense of well-being over their lives”
Try to be aware of gliding into substitute activities or bad decisions, like
choosing Macca’s over Sushi, even though you know the sushi is healthier.
Nowadays we have the blessings of technology to speed up certain processes
but might also have time traps in them.
Blessings are: instantaneous mail, spreadsheets, word-processing and such.
Traps are: obsessively posting on Instagram or hours of Facebook and such.
(Mine). Also, there is a time commitment to master certain software.
If you need to keep receipts for taxation purposes you can print and file them
as soon as you purchase things. This would be a small hassle compared to
pulling your hair out every July, right.
Everything has its place and there is a place for everything. If all your stuff is
put away the place is tidier and it’s easier to function in a clean and organised
environment. Getting dressed is nicer when you have clean and neatly folded
clothes.
Efficient use of time:
Identify your priorities and work on them
Set aside a block of time for working on priorities.
Use an electronic or hard copy filing system
Do things as soon as you can.
If you can, lay out your current project in the evening, ready to
Don’t put off ‘till tomorrow, what you can do today.
Organisation – organise.
Effective organising is an art more than a constricting series of procedures.
Organisational hints.
Set aside a certain time of the day or the week to manage
correspondence.
Use in, out boxes, card files and schedule books – or apps.
Delegate
Have specific times to do recurring chores.
Pick one priority task per day – if you complete it then: Success!
Keep phone numbers, addresses and computer passwords in
Avoid over-scheduling yourself and also over-expending yourself
Declutter. (Be careful, don't be too ruthless). Weigh up what to
Keep items you regularly use handy.
Read on the train.
Do your grocery shopping online. Add things to your virtual trolley
as soon as you think of them, or when they run out.
Order some things online. It might end up being cheaper and
Use your smart-phones calendar, to-do lists, schedules, reminders etc. (Or use hard copy diaries, if you prefer)
Practical strategies for following through
Just do it for 5 minutes
Use a bits and pieces approach
Visualise that you will set-go
Make yourself accountable to somebody
Move your body
Do something else for 5 minutes, then start.
Do things straight away.
Make sure that when you go out to do errands that you piggy back all of the errands you need to do at the same time. You can even buy gifts in advance.
Doing get’s it done!
Time Hogs
Time hogs can include:
DIY tasks
Over-organisation
To avoid it:
Self-analyse that which is hogging your time
Identify the practices
Define your priorities and set deadlines.
Have realistic schedules
Abandon trivial tasks
Have one day or half day when you usually schedule
You can divide your work into 3 categories: Catch up, keep up, and get
ahead. Use a cross-out sheet, block off timework on the project, tackle
the tasks in a bits and pieces format-anything to whittle-down the list.
Now that you’ve learnt all these skills you can be a ‘doer’ instead of a
‘procrastinator. When you increase your Do it Now percentage you will
probably feel greater emotional freedom. With this freedom comes a
stronger urge and confidence to follow your curiosities and to test your
abilities so as to discover the person you really are, by following your
natural inclinations
I highly recommend this book for students, teachers, hoarders, people
with depression and other mental illnesses, as well as people who
generally want or need to get organised and get more done. Basically you
have reserves available for motivating yourself but you have been looking
in the wrong places for it. You need to look outwards.
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