One of my recent newsletters discussed a misguided essay (and now, regrettably, book) by a prominent philosophy professor on his notion of "constructive procrastination. I'm happy now to refer you to this essay, I'm With Stupid, by a writer who is not, to my knowledge, a prominent professor, but who ...

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article extolling the benefits of what the author calls "structured procrastination." In "How to Be a Better Procrastinator" John Perry, an emeritus professor of philosophy at Stanford University, says: "But are procrastinators truly unproductive? In most cases, the exact opposite is true. They ...

The wonderful and much-missed writer and writing teacher John Gardner wrote in On Becoming A Novelist: “If children can build sand castles without getting sand-castle block, and if ministers can pray over the sick without getting holiness block, the writer who enjoys his work and takes measured pride in it ...

This week, Beth Teitell at the Boston Globe wrote an outstanding article summarizing a study that showed vividly how a lifestyle grounded in consumerism and time poverty makes people disconnected and miserable. Her article is here and below is my letter to the editor summarizing my viewpoints on the topics ...

My friend, free software activist, Ciaran McHale and his wife, Bianca, recently had a baby--the gorgeous Toby. And they did something  completely cool, which was to ask friends concerned with social justice to write letters to Toby, which they would publish in a book. The book Letters to Toby is ...

I'm really proud of it - it suggests parents treat obsessive video game playing and similar nonproductive activities as a form of procrastination. You'll find it here. Excerpt: "If your kid is receptive, have a nonjudgmental conversation about what procrastination is, and the reasons people do it, and why he ...

My friend, free software activist, Ciaran McHale and his wife, Bianca, recently had a baby--the gorgeous Toby. And they did something  completely cool, which was to ask friends concerned with social justice to write letters to Toby, which they would publish in a book. The book Letters to Toby is ...

Here's what the process of overcoming perfectionism and procrastination looks like: 1. You start from a place where you hate doing your work and avoid doing it at all costs. 2. Then you move to a place where you dislike it, but start showing up and doing it sometimes. 3. ...