Procrastination Pays

I just finished reading a great little book -- one that was part of my last book splurge at Hearts and Minds. Entitled The Art of Procrastination, it's a fun little read by John Perry, an emeritus professor of philosophy at Stanford. Yes, I know the two halves of that last sentence don't sound as if they belong together (one of these things is not like the other?), but I'm not making this up. And, as evidence, I submit the subtitle of the book: "A Guide to Effective Dawdling, Lollygagging and Postponing."

Dr. Perry's first chapter began life as an essay -- one that won the 2011 Ig Nobel Prize in Literature. Before purchasing the book, I stood in Hearts and Minds and read a good chunk of that chapter, and that's what sold me on the book. After I brought it home, I set it aside, picking it up now and then to nibble at it a chapter at a time before finishing it all in one big bite this morning. No, I did not put off reading it; I merely savored it.

Dr. Perry doesn't extol the virtues of procrastination, except in a tongue-in-cheek fashion. Throughout the book, he points out that lots of procrastinators accomplish quite a bit, much of it while they're doing something else, (a.k.a something besides what they're supposed to be doing). He intertwines his philosophy on the life of a procrastinator with strategies and, true to his education roots, a disclaimer that he's not recommending procrastination as a lifestyle, merely pointing out that we're not all lazy lollygaggers who put things off to the point that we never accomplish anything.

If you're a procrastinator (especially a "structured procrastinator," as Dr. Perry has dubbed himself), you'll laugh out loud at this book. If you know (or live with) a procrastinator, you'll either chuckle, or grow increasingly annoyed (see chapter nine) as you read this book. Or, perhaps you'll do both.

The timing of my reading is a bit ironic. I read two chapters last night before going to sleep, then finished this book this morning -- after spending much of the day yesterday putting off doing a project at the top of my list. I picked up the book last night in part because it related to the project I was working on, which is also part of what compelled me to finish the book this morning. By the time I finished it, I'd mentally written half of this blog and had begun coming up with new ideas for a class I'm proposing.

And my project? I finished it. Before I finished reading the book.

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Little Books with Big Ideas

A week or so ago, I stopped in at my local independent Christian bookstore (Hearts and Minds, for those of you who live nearby) to see if they'd been able to get my book in stock. They had and it had sold, so they promised to order another copy. Business complete, I moved on to my next serious order of business: browsing.

I'm not being sarcastic. If you've ever been to Hearts and Minds, you know that browsing there is serious business. I have never seen a "first-run" bookstore so completely full of books. Single copies of eclectic titles abound, and you're likely to find something there you've never run across before. A few minutes of your time will barely make a dent in all the store has to offer, which makes it a wonderful place to just browse and soak up all the store has to offer.

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And so I had a dilemma. As an author, I want to support independent book stores, especially when they are kind enough to support me. As a resident of the area, I want to support local businesses. But as a lover of books, I'm already overrun. I have stacks of to-be read books and magazines in various places throughout my house, not to mention on my Kindle and iPad. So while I didn't want to leave empty-handed, I needed to find something that I truly had a chance of reading before my daughter graduates from college.

No problem.

Since the semester was starting, and I had psychology on the brain, I began in the psychology section. Even when my house is overrun with reading material, I can always justify books that qualify -- no matter how loosely -- as teaching resources.

I wasn't disappointed. I found not just one book, but a whole series of books that are interesting, easy reads and can be perused in small chunks of time (this was almost a Friday Freebie post :-) Oh, and one other book just for fun.

The books are part of a series with the subtitle, "A Very Short Introduction." Written by various authors who are experts in a particular area, each small, thin paperback covers a big subject in small segments. Though the books are petite, they're of good quality with a substantial dust jacket-type cover that mimics those found on hard cover books. In addition, and (once again) despite their size, the print is clear and of a decent size on bright, white paper. I rarely pick up anything smaller than a trade book any more because reading tiny, easily smudged print in what we used to call "drugstore paperbacks" is just too much work.

The first book I chose was Psychology: A Very Short Introduction, and I've been reading the chapters that correspond to the topics I'm teaching as I plan each unit. Impressively comprehensive, the short chapters really help me to focus, shaping vast amounts of information into key ideas and concepts, expanding and contracting the ideas in the textbook.

The second book, part of the same series, was also psychology- related (during the semester, 90% of what I read is). Happiness: A Short Introduction promises to be an optimistic and informative read, particularly as I zero in on the topics of stress and, well, happiness with my freshmen.

Inside the cover is a five page list all of the books available in the series -- topics ranging from African History to Fashion. These petite volumes, likely to get lost among the multiple copies of mammoth best-sellers in a more traditional bookstore, were little gems that sparkled on the shelves of a store that has a little bit of everything. Not only were they just what I was looking for, but I can't wait to go back and find a few more.

Oh, and the book that was just for fun? A small, hardcover book by John Perry called The Art of Procrastination.

But more about that later.