Solving the Procrastination Puzzle: Book Overview & Takeaways

A blank book sitting on a desk next to a lamp

Do you put off work that needs to get done? What’s the book Solving the Procrastination Puzzle about? In Solving the Procrastination Puzzle, psychologist Timothy A. Pychyl contends that you aren’t procrastinating because you’re bad at managing your time. Instead, you’re procrastinating because you haven’t learned how to handle your emotions. Read below for a brief Solving the Procrastination Puzzle book overview.

The Benefits of Making Mistakes: 3 Reasons to Embrace Error

a smiling girl looking at a broken eggshell with smiley faces bursting out of it depicts the benefits of making mistakes

How can making mistakes be beneficial? What if being wrong wasn’t necessarily something to fear—but something to embrace? In Being Wrong, Kathryn Schulz explores the surprising benefits of making mistakes. She challenges our conventional wisdom about errors and presents a compelling case for why we should reconsider our relationship with being wrong. Read on to discover the unexpected ways that mistakes can help us survive, find truth, and even inspire joy and wonder.

What Is Self-Leadership? The 3 Ways to Lead Yourself

A woman embracing self-leadership and looking confidently at herself in the mirror

What is self-leadership? How can you lead yourself to greatness? The one thing you can control is yourself, Clay Scroggins says. This is the most essential kind of leadership to embrace, as you’ll always have authority over your own behavior, regardless of your position in an organization. Below, we’ll explore a few types of self-leadership you should embrace.

3 Reasons Why We Procrastinate (+ How to Stop)

A person texting with their laptop open and papers next to them, showing one of the reasons why we procrastinate

Why is it so easy for people to procrastinate? What productive habits can we build to overcome procrastination? Procrastination is frustrating because we know what it is and we can see how it hurts us, but we keep doing it anyway. In Solving the Procrastination Puzzle, Timothy A. Pychyl explores three forces behind procrastination: our desire for rewarding experiences, our trouble making realistic plans, and our lack of preparedness for obstacles and challenges. Let’s look at the reasons why we procrastinate, and what we can do to stop them.

Mindful Decision-Making: 4 Tips for Leading Your Actions

A man surrounded by question marks as he practices mindful decision-making

What are the benefits of mindful decision-making? What are some tips for making good choices in life? Clay Scroggins says that being dutiful and mindful in the small, daily decisions you make is called leading your actions. This consistency shows that you’re ready for the responsibility of leading others in the same way. Check out how to change your life by making decisions that show you’d be a great leader.

How to Overcome Instant Gratification and Stop Procrastinating

A woman holding a present with a pile of papers behind her, failing to show how to overcome instant gratification

Why do future rewards feel less important than current ones? How does instant gratification cause procrastination? One of the reasons why we procrastinate is that we want to have experiences that our brains perceive as rewarding—experiences that feel good rather than bad. According to Timothy A. Pychyl, this tendency explains why we prefer being rewarded now, rather than later. Find out how to overcome instant gratification, which will then help solve procrastination.

Creative Solitude: Why the Lonely Artist Trope Holds Strong

A woman in solitude sitting on a blanket in a forest creative writing in a journal

Is solitude necessary for creativity? What are the possible effects of long-term solitude? According to Wired to Create, there’s some merit to the “lonely artist” trope. This is because the networks of our brain that are active during solitude are different than when we’re in the outside world. Continue reading to learn about the benefits of creative solitude.

Perception in Leadership: 2 Ways to Shape Your Thinking

A female business leader looking through a magnifying glass to embrace perception in leadership

Why is perception in leadership important? How can you look at the bigger picture in a corporation? Leading your perception means taking an active role in shaping how you think about things. This is an important axis of leadership because your perception of a situation influences how you react to it. Below, we’ll discuss the two main ways you can lead your perception: taking a big-picture view and practicing critical thinking.

Procrastination and Time Management: Why We Put Things Off

A man ignoring his chores with a clock behind him, representing the correlation between procrastination and time management

How are procrastination and time management related? Why do people underestimate how long it takes to complete a task? One reason why we procrastinate is that we have trouble with planning. Figuring out how to accomplish everything on your to-do list requires planning, but most of us aren’t very good at these kinds of plans. Learn how bad planning and poor time management puts you on a direct path to procrastination.

How to Develop Mental Flexibility While You Sleep

A bearded man sleeping in a bed, improving his mental flexibility through lucid dreaming

How can practicing lucid dreaming help you develop mental flexibility? Why is mental flexibility valuable? Believe it or not, learning how to lucid dream can improve your life and your future prospects. If you dedicate time to practicing lucid dreaming, then you can literally improve your life in your sleep. Here’s how to develop mental flexibility through lucid dreaming.