OK, first I'll admit that I picked up this book based entirely on its title. I mean, "effective dawdling" makes it sound like I could get all my homework done by surfing cat videos on YouTube. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Perry's short book (which is really a good length for procrastinators) centers on his theory of "structured procrastination," which starts with a to-do list in which the procrastinator avoids doing the top few things on the list by doing things further down the list. For example, I should be writing a paper/doing some housework/working on layout for the newsletter, but instead I'm writing this blog post. I'm getting something done, even if it's not the most important thing on the list.
It makes sense, but after about 50 pages, it becomes painfully obvious that Perry is trying to justify his own procrastination. His structured procrastination works for the emeritus professor of a philosophy department (which he is), whose to-do list seems to center on reading and reviewing philosophy articles and books. But for people whose to-do list consists of things with more immediate ramifications (paying bills, taking care of kids, doing laundry, even turning in homework assignments), avoiding the most important items at the top of the list doesn't make one's dawdling effective.
When I placed it on hold, I thought this book might be funny. It wasn't. It was just excuses. Perhaps I'm just not as much of a procrastinator as I thought I was.
I think maybe I can return my copy of this book. I already have SO many excuses.
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