25 Best Books About Overcoming Procrastination in 2024

Have you ever procrastinated something important?

Chances are you have. Most people procrastinate from time-to-time. Often on things that are really important.

The differences between a true procrastinator and the occasional “slip-up” lays somewhere between the frequency of procrastination and the importance of what is procrastinated.

This article showcases the 25 best books on procrastination. These procrastination books will break down exactly what procrastination is (and what it is not). They will also show you how to get the better of procrastination tendencies and get more done in less time.

We procrastinate because we fear failure, feel we have no control, fear success, fear separation, are unsure of parameters or just daunted at the scope of the task.

Procrastination is rarely merely from “laziness”.

Unless you are one of the 1% of the population who never puts off tasks when they should not, there are great procrastination books that will help give you to the tools to accomplish many tasks without procrastination.

Before you dig into the list, check out some of the basic ways to overcome procrastination. Understanding these basics will help make what you read in many of these books more effective at controlling your procrastination.

1. Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy

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Takeaways:

• Prioritize tasks. The book emphasizes the importance of prioritizing tasks and tackling the most important ones first to increase productivity.
• Set clear goals. It highlights the significance of setting clear and specific goals to stay focused and motivated.
• Time management. The book provides practical tips for managing time effectively and avoiding time-wasting activities.
• Overcoming procrastination. It offers strategies for overcoming procrastination and taking action to accomplish tasks.
• Develop good habits. The book encourages developing good habits to enhance efficiency and achieve success in both personal and professional endeavors.

Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time is one of the new classic books on procrastination.

“Eating your Frog” refers to accomplishing your Most Important Tasks during the day instead of trying to accomplish everything on your to-do list.

This is based on an old saying explaining that if you eat a live frog each morning as soon as you wake up, you can start the day knowing that the worst thing is over and you can move on.

This is a metaphor for finishing your most challenging, yet most impactful, tasks first so you can get them out of the way. This book shows the reader how to organize their days to accomplish critical tasks efficiently and effectively.

This procrastination book is both concise and powerful. It presents the reader with simple principles and exercises to help boost productivity and accomplish long-term goals.

A lot of this book includes motivational tactics that are not necessarily revolutionary, but they are written in a fun and interactive way to help the reader be engaged in the process and become motivated to follow in the author's footsteps.

I find this to be one of the most impactful techniques to fight procrastination and is a core strategy I build my own day around. If you have not read this (quick) book on procrastination and are not familiar with the idea. I highly recommend checking out Brian Tracy’s classic procrastination book.

My only critique of Tracy’s book is that it is mainly geared towards people who work in a conventional office. However, procrastination happens everywhere, and how to stop procrastinating at home is not the same as stopping procrastination at work.

2. How to Stop Procrastinating by Steve Scott

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Takeaways:

• Understanding procrastination. The book delves into the root causes of procrastination and offers insights into understanding and addressing this behavior.
• Practical strategies. It provides practical and actionable strategies to overcome procrastination and increase productivity.
• Time management techniques. The book offers various time management techniques and tools to help individuals effectively manage their time and tasks.
• Mindset shift. It emphasizes the importance of shifting one's mindset and adopting a proactive approach to tackle procrastination.
• Building momentum. The book discusses the concept of building momentum and using small steps to make progress, ultimately overcoming procrastination.

​How to Stop Procrastinating is designed to be the ultimate guide to creating good habits to defeat procrastination.

The idea is procrastination often stems having bad systems in place.  Once you take care of creating systems combat different forms of procrastination it becomes highly unlikely to put things off.

This book approaches procrastination all of its different aspects.  Because there is a difference between procrastinating about building a fence in your backyard and completing an important project at work.

This book gives the entire approach to creating anti-procrastination habits. It shows how to design these habits. It shows how to link these anti-procrastination habits to existing habits to make the process stopping progress and if little bit easier.

This procrastination book even helps you to avoid being overwhelmed by too many ideas, by always taking the time to showcase the simplest (and most effective) techniques to combating procrastination.

This book is everything you need to know about procrastination, in a single book. If you want just one book to give you all the tricks and hacks for stopping procrastination, this is the book for you.

3. Solving the Procrastination Puzzle by Timothy A. Pychyl

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Takeaways:

• Understanding procrastination. The book provides a deep understanding of the psychological aspects of procrastination and how it affects behavior and decision-making.
• Embracing emotions. It emphasizes the importance of acknowledging and managing emotions related to tasks and deadlines to overcome procrastination.
• Implementation intentions. The book introduces the concept of implementation intentions, which involves planning specific actions to overcome procrastination triggers.
• Self-compassion. It encourages practicing self-compassion and self-forgiveness as a means to address procrastination and make positive changes.
• Taking small steps. The book advocates for taking small, manageable steps to initiate progress and combat the inertia of procrastination.

Solving the Procrastination Puzzle: A Concise Guide to Strategies for Change offers a concise explanation and guide to why people procrastinate and what they can do to stop.

With the inclusion of current psychological research and clear strategies to help make a change, this book helps readers stop their self-destructive habits and become more accomplished.

With humor sprinkled throughout this book, it is an easy and entertaining way to learn some practical tips for making a positive change. One of the best things about this book is that it is a quick and easy read, which is helpful for people who are looking to learn how to stop procrastinating in the first place.

Another especially useful thing is that it explains the cognitive and behavioral biases that are behind the habit of procrastination.

While it might not be full of nitty gritty details, it gives a great overview and guide for entrepreneurs, students, parents, or anyone who wants to stop their habit of delaying their work and start living a more productive life.

This procrastination book focuses on the fact that it is not really about procrastination but creating habits to make your life easier.

For example, this may be keeping tools available for recording your thoughts and ideas as soon as they come to mind so you do think about anything besides the task at hand. It also offers techniques for organizing tasks.

4. The Procrastination Equation by Piers Steel

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Takeaways:

• Understanding procrastination factors. The book delves into the psychological, biological, and environmental factors that contribute to procrastination, providing a comprehensive understanding of this behavior.
• Motivation and rewards. It explores the role of motivation and rewards in overcoming procrastination and offers strategies to increase motivation and decrease procrastination.
• Self-regulation techniques. The book provides practical self-regulation techniques to help individuals manage impulses and distractions, ultimately reducing procrastination.
• Goal setting and planning. It emphasizes the importance of setting clear goals and implementing effective planning strategies to combat procrastination.
• Decision-making and procrastination. The book discusses the relationship between decision-making processes and procrastination, offering insights into making better decisions and taking action.

In The Procrastination Equation: How to Stop Putting Things Off and Start Getting Stuff Done, Dr. Piers Steel sets out to free his readers of procrastinating using a mix of psychology, research, biology, and self-help tools.

His tried and true method helps his readers identify and understand their self-destructive habits and live a more productive life. This book will teach you how to stop making excuses and start living your best life by diving into things that are relevant and helpful for you in the long run.

While this book does not come with the magic answer of how to get past a bad habit of procrastination, it provides the reader with tools and motivations to help get them started.

The reader then has to implement these methods in order for the book to be effective. There is a lot of history in this book about procrastination that may take away from the overall message at times, but it still has a lot of really powerful tools for the reader to use.

One of the best messages that is relayed in this book is that procrastination is not about perfectionism, rather it has a lot more to do with being impulsive. With the use of humor, the author writes the book as if he is having a conversation with the reader, which makes it a joy to read.

5. The Now Habit by Dr. Neil Fiore

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Takeaways:

• Overcoming guilt and anxiety. The book addresses the emotional aspects of procrastination, offering strategies to overcome guilt and anxiety associated with tasks.
• Unschedule technique. It introduces the “Unschedule” technique, a scheduling tool that prioritizes guilt-free play and helps individuals manage their time effectively.
• Changing self-talk. It emphasizes the importance of changing negative self-talk and adopting a positive mindset to overcome procrastination.
• Priority on starting. The book encourages prioritizing the start of a task rather than focusing solely on completion, emphasizing the power of initiating action.
• Work-life balance. It promotes a holistic approach to time management, focusing on achieving a healthy work-life balance and integrating leisure activities into daily routines.

The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play is a book that recognizes that work is something you need to accomplish and then move away from.

The main point of the book is not accomplishing 8 billion tasks, but understanding the difference between the tasks that need to be accomplished and those that don’t.

Cut free those tasks that don’t matter. Get the stuff that matters done and then move onto the things in life that you enjoy.

It is as much about reducing stress and anxiety of your day-to-day tasks as it is about giving you a blueprint to decrease procrastination.

Dr. Fiore wants you to take the perfect out of perfectionism and realize that good enough is good enough and move on.

6. Procrastinate on Purpose by Rory Vaden

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Takeaways:

• Priority dilution. The book introduces the concept of priority dilution, emphasizing the need to focus on fewer tasks to achieve greater results.
• Multiplying time. It offers innovative strategies to multiply time by leveraging delegation, automation, and other techniques to increase productivity.
• Significance over urgency. The book advocates for prioritizing tasks based on their significance rather than their urgency, leading to more impactful use of time.
• Permission to ignore. It provides the permission to intentionally ignore certain tasks to free up time for more important and meaningful activities.
• Balancing focus and significance. The book emphasizes the balance between focusing on important tasks and ensuring they align with long-term significance, rather than short-term urgency.

Procrastinate on Purpose: 5 Permissions to Multiply Your Time is a simple book that is able to get its message across in a powerful way. The author talks about five permissions that allow us to do our best work without stress and in a timely manner.

The author urges to teach the reader to eliminate, automate, delegate, consolidate and procrastinate properly.

This guide teaches readers how to decrease their stress levels while still accomplishing all of their tasks. This book is written for people who are more advanced in their careers and are able to delegate tasks to other people, but it still has some great insight for people who are just starting off in their career.

It is a great book for people who have a business career, and although some of the points may seem redundant or obvious, they are a great reminder.

It is important to note that this book is written from a Christian perspective, which may not be right for everyone. This is not made clear at the beginning, so it is good to note before starting this book.

7. Deep Work by Cal Newport

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Takeaways:

• Deep work definition. The book defines and emphasizes the importance of “deep work,” which involves focused, undistracted, and cognitively demanding work to produce high-quality results.
• Distraction-free productivity. It provides strategies for creating a distraction-free environment to facilitate deep work and maximize productivity.
• Attention restoration. The book discusses the concept of attention restoration and the benefits of taking breaks from focus to recharge and maintain high levels of productivity.
• Deep work and fulfillment. It explores the connection between deep work and personal fulfillment, highlighting the satisfaction derived from immersing oneself in meaningful, focused work.
• Cultivating deep work habits. It offers practical advice for cultivating deep work habits, including time-blocking, minimizing shallow work, and embracing solitude to achieve peak performance.

The goal of Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World is to teach the reader how to master the art of Deep Work so they can achieve great results.

Deep work refers to the ability to focus on something without any outside distraction. This skill allows you to master complicated tasks and achieve better results in a short amount of time.

In our increasingly competitive society, many people are unable to do Deep Work because of the constant distractions from technology and social media. In this book, Newport turns this concept around to talk about the impact of our connected age.

Rather than saying distraction is bad, he talks about the potential of its opposite.

In this two-part book, the author begins by making the argument that having a Deep Work ethic will produce great benefits. Secondly, he presents a training regimen for transforming your habits to support the skill of Deep Work.

This well-written book is useful from the start. The author wastes no time in supplying the reader with irrelevant information. This might be a great book for you if you find that the distractions in your life are what is keeping you from accomplishing your goals or getting work done in a timely manner.

8. Essentialism by Greg McKeown

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Takeaways:

• Essentialism mindset. The book promotes the essentialist mindset of focusing on what truly matters and eliminating non-essential activities to maximize one's contribution.
• Saying no with grace. It emphasizes the importance of gracefully saying no to non-essential tasks and commitments to protect one's time and energy.
• Trade-offs and priorities. The book delves into the concept of trade-offs and the necessity of making deliberate choices about where to allocate time and resources.
• Clarity of purpose. It advocates for gaining clarity of purpose and aligning daily actions with long-term goals to achieve meaningful results.
• Simplifying decision-making. The book offers strategies for simplifying decision-making by filtering out non-essential options and prioritizing what is truly essential.

Unlike other books, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less does not focus on getting more accomplished in less time. Rather, it’s about only doing the things that matter.

The author offers a systematic discipline for figuring out what is essential and eliminating the things that are not so you can leave all of your brain power for the things that truly matter.

Being able to determine what is essential empowers people to reclaim control of their lives instead of allowing other people to make those choices.

Following the tips and tricks in this book, the reader will walk away being able to eliminate things from their life that do not add to the progress of their final goal.

This is a very useful read for leaders, managers, and people who want to declutter the tasks in their lives so they can focus more on what is important.

This book does not read like a self-help book, as it talks in a clear and straightforward manner urging the reader to simplify their life, thinking, and purpose.

It shows the reader that allowing to give distractions the attention that they are looking for (such as checking email or scrolling down social media pages) they fill up your life for you instead of you making the decision about what is important.

One of the best things about this book is it takes some common-sense ideas and brings them to the reader's attention. While the ideas are easy to understand, they are also easy to forget in our busy lives.

9. Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity by Hugh Macleod

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Takeaways:

• Embrace your uniqueness. The book encourages embracing one's unique perspective and creativity, even if it means going against conventional wisdom.
• Authenticity over approval. It emphasizes the importance of staying true to oneself and creating for personal fulfillment rather than seeking approval from others.
• Persistence and hard work. The book highlights the value of persistence and hard work in fostering creativity, rather than relying solely on inspiration or talent.
• Embracing failure. It advocates for embracing failure as a natural part of the creative process and using it as a learning opportunity.
• Finding your voice. The book encourages individuals to find and develop their own creative voice, rather than imitating others, to produce meaningful work.

Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity is an easy read because it's sectioned, meaning you can read it front to back or pick it up in the middle and read a short section. The author creates a powerful and honest book that makes strong points about creativity and success.

The realistic advice offered in this book is from the author's personal experiences as well as professional expertise.

If you are able to really enjoy doing what you do and focus on your craft without the stress of having to make a lot of money off of it, you are destined for success. One of the main points that the author makes is that stress kills creativity.

This procrastination book is full of fun doodles and witty cartoons, making it an easy and entertaining read. While some of the information may seem obvious, it is an entertaining and motivating book.

10. Getting Things Done by David Allen

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Takeaways:

• Capture everything. The book emphasizes the importance of capturing all tasks, ideas, and commitments into a trusted system to free the mind from the burden of remembering.
• Clarify next actions. It highlights the significance of clarifying the next physical actions required for each task to facilitate efficient execution.
• Organize by context. The book advocates for organizing tasks by context, such as location or tools required, to streamline decision-making and increase productivity.
• Review regularly. It stresses the need for regular reviews of all commitments and tasks to maintain a clear and up-to-date system.
• Engage with trust. The book encourages engaging with tasks based on trust in the system, enabling a stress-free approach to productivity.

David Allen’s book on productivity is not strictly a book about procrastination. Getting Things Done:The Art of Stress-Free Productivity is primarily about systematizing your life and accomplishing as much as possible from your efforts.

This is the core of productivity. But it is also one of the best solutions to procrastination. Often people procrastinate not due to laziness, but because they do not have a firm system in place to tell them how and when to work on specific tasks.

Due to this fact many people will put off the tasks they don’t fully like, understand or feel comfortable about.

So when you use a dispassionate system like David Allen’s GTD system, the instance of procrastination is naturally going to greatly decrease. Without even having to think about procrastination.

See some more books on productivity that will give you some backdoor insight into creating systems that will simply keep you too busy to have time to procrastinate.

11. The Science of Overcoming Procrastination by Patrick King

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Takeaways:

• Psychological insights. The book offers psychological insights into the underlying causes of procrastination, providing a deeper understanding of this behavior.
• Practical strategies. It provides practical and science-backed strategies to overcome procrastination, focusing on actionable steps for change.
• Self-awareness and mindfulness. The book emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and mindfulness in recognizing and addressing procrastination tendencies.
• Habit formation. It delves into the science of habit formation and offers techniques to build positive habits that counteract procrastination.
• Motivation and goal-setting. The book explores effective motivation and goal-setting techniques to combat procrastination and increase productivity.

It is not simply a book about procrastination. It gives lots of great tips for focus, productivity, procrastination and getting things accomplished.

The Science of Overcoming Procrastination aims to teach the reader how to get more done in less time. Self-motivation is a difficult trait to have, so this book offers hacks, systems, tips, and external motivators to encourage success and productivity.

Using information from years of practice and research, the author is able to communicate how to be a high-performer and achieve long-term goals quickly. This short book has many useful tips on how to beat procrastination and increase productivity.

While some parts of the book may seem a bit repetitive and some of the offered tips are tailored to the author himself, there is a lot of room for interpretation for the reader to apply the tips to his or her own situation.

Not every reader will find every single tip in this book to be useful, but there are more than enough great tips to make it a very worthwhile read. Every tip may not be for everyone, but there IS a tip for everyone, that you may not have thought of, whether you are a newcomer to productivity or master.

Learn to cut the unnecessary out of your life and focus on the things that really matter.

12. The Procrastination Cure by Damon Zahariades

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Takeaways:

• Identifying triggers. The book focuses on identifying the triggers and root causes of procrastination to address the behavior effectively.
• Time management tactics. It offers 21 proven time management tactics to help conquer procrastination and boost productivity.
• Mindset shifts. The book emphasizes the importance of making mindset shifts to develop a proactive approach and overcome procrastination tendencies.
• Overcoming perfectionism. It provides strategies for overcoming perfectionism, a common obstacle to getting started on tasks and projects.
• Creating accountability. The book explores methods for creating accountability and establishing support systems to stay on track and combat procrastination.

In “The Procrastination Cure: 21 Proven Tactics For Conquering Your Inner Procrastinator, Mastering Your Time, And Boosting Your Productivity!” the reader is presented with a complete guide to overcoming procrastination. The author describes operational tactics that can be slowly adopted in order to reach the final goal of getting work done in a timely manner.

One of the most important approaches in this book is to slowly make small steps toward finishing any daunting task.

The author goes over time-based mini-steps to help the reader dissolve any resistance to getting work done and instead, working to continue performing the necessary task. This approach is an important technique in overcoming procrastination.

The advice in this book is legitimate, however, is a bit repetitive at times. It offers useful information stemming from the author's personal experiences though, so it is definitely a helpful book for readers who are looking for a personal and inside perspective on overcoming procrastination.

13. 168 Hours by Laura Vanderkamnp

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Takeaways:

• Time tracking. The book advocates for tracking how time is spent to gain a realistic understanding of where one's time goes.
• Prioritizing meaningful activities. It emphasizes the importance of prioritizing meaningful activities over time-wasting tasks to make the most of available time.
• Balancing work and leisure. The book explores strategies for achieving a balanced approach to work and leisure, ensuring that time is allocated to both professional and personal pursuits.
• Maximizing peak productivity. It provides insights into identifying and leveraging peak productivity hours to optimize time management and task completion.
• Long-term perspective. The book encourages taking a long-term perspective on time management, focusing on sustainable habits and routines for ongoing productivity.

Focusing on time management, 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think describes how everyone has the same amount of time each week and it is how you choose to spend that time that matters.

This book serves as a great motivation to focus your time more wisely so you can do more important things in life.

The author offers great advice and gives some useful examples of people using their time as effectively as possible.

For example, people often discredit the hours after work and weekend hours when thinking about the little amount of time they have to accomplish all of their goals. The author works to disprove this idea and shows the reader how much time is really available and what can be done with it.

The topic material seems to be particularly aimed at women, though the material is interesting for anyone. The author uses data to break down the hours in a day and the normal daily activities that people do to show how time spent often does not advance long term goals.

She includes case studies illustrating people who seemingly have it all and how they manage their time to do it.

This is a useful book for anyone who feels like they don't have enough time to finish everything they want to do and they are looking for some ways to delegate tasks out and use every hour of the day effectively.

14. 18 Minutes by Peter Bregman

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Takeaways:

• Daily planning. The book advocates for setting aside 18 minutes each day for planning and reflection to maintain focus and productivity.
• Prioritizing tasks. It emphasizes the importance of prioritizing the most important tasks and focusing on high-impact activities to achieve meaningful results.
• Managing distractions. The book provides strategies for managing distractions and maintaining concentration to maximize productivity during work hours.
• Embracing imperfection. It encourages embracing imperfection and learning from mistakes as a way to overcome obstacles and achieve success.
• Regular self-assessment. The book promotes regular self-assessment to evaluate progress and make necessary adjustments to goals and priorities.

18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done shows readers how busy people are able to sort through the daily clutter and common distractions to hone in on important things that are the top priorities in life.

The author makes the argument that creating one's own productive distractions can take the place of distracting interruptions that keep people from being productive.

His approach shows the reader how to navigate through constant emails, texts, calls, and meetings that distract our focus from the things that are actually important.

This concise procrastination book stems from years of personal experience from the author as well as well-tested principles. One of the best things about this book is that the advice given can be used right away.

With the use of short stories to help the reader remember the tips that are provided, this is a fun and easy book to read that offers some long-term payoffs.

The reader will walk away from this book realizing that they will likely never get everything done that they want to, which is what makes prioritizing tasks so important. Sometimes it is best to cross things off of your to do list that you know will never get done.

15. The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson

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Takeaways:

• Consistent daily actions. The book emphasizes the power of simple, positive daily disciplines and their compounding effect on achieving success and happiness over time.
• Small changes, big results. It highlights the concept that small, consistent actions, when repeated over time, lead to significant positive outcomes.
• Positive mindset. The book advocates for cultivating a positive mindset and making small, daily choices that align with long-term goals and values.
• Patience and persistence. It encourages patience and persistence, emphasizing that the slight edge is about making small, consistent efforts even when results may not be immediately visible.
• Personal responsibility. The book underscores the importance of taking personal responsibility for one's actions and choices, as they ultimately shape one's success and happiness.

The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success and Happiness offers a way of thinking that allows the reader to make decisions every day that will lead to success.

It demonstrates how some people are able to accomplish all of their goals while others spend their lives dreaming of happiness for themselves while building it for other people.

The author describes a way of thinking that can impact one's choices every day and end in success. With lots of good advice and genuine reminders for the reader to achieve goals in every area of life, this book is an easy and encouraging read.

The layout is easy to follow and simple to understand. As the name implies, making only slight choices throughout your day can cause a ripple effect to push you over the edge and lead you to a successful life.

The book is a bit repetitive and long-winded in places, but it definitely drives the point home that success can be achieved by repeating mini disciplines and taking small and increasing steps.

16. Do It Today by Darius Foroux

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Takeaways:

• Taking immediate action. The book advocates for taking immediate action on tasks rather than delaying, to improve productivity and overcome procrastination.
• Simplifying tasks. It emphasizes simplifying tasks and breaking them down into smaller, manageable steps to reduce feelings of overwhelm and increase efficiency.
• Consistent effort. It highlights the importance of consistent effort and discipline in tackling tasks and projects to achieve meaningful results.
• Prioritizing important tasks. The book encourages prioritizing important tasks over urgent but less meaningful ones to make the most of available time and energy.
• Developing a proactive mindset. It promotes developing a proactive mindset to address procrastination and focus on meaningful, impactful activities.

If you’re determined to make great improvements in your productivity and achieve happiness at the same time, Do It Today: Overcome Procrastination, Improve Productivity, and Achieve More Meaningful Things is for you.

Darius Foroux’s tip for living a good life is knowing what you truly want and doing away with other things that you don’t want or need.

This book offers explanations on why people tend to procrastinate and provides strategies for overcoming procrastination. It has useful tips for improving your productivity without sacrificing your health and well-being.

Written in simple language, the book appeals to those who are looking for resources that help improve their lives without being burdened by too much jargon.

The book is divided into three major sections.

Part one covers how to overcome procrastination, take ownership of your life, and begin taking action to produce the changes you want to see.

The second part of the book is about improving productivity through effective time management and other habits that promote self-improvement.

Part three discusses the power of compounding. This section provides strategies on how to stay on the path of productivity by making it a daily habit to do even the smallest things that lead to self-improvement.

These small things eventually add up to big things that will impact all areas of your life in a positive way.

17. The Power of Discipline by Daniel Walter

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Takeaways:

• Self-discipline is crucial for achieving long-term success and reaching personal goals, as it helps individuals stay focused and motivated despite challenges and distractions.
• Developing mental toughness is essential for overcoming obstacles and setbacks, as it enables individuals to persevere through difficult circumstances and maintain a positive mindset.
• The book emphasizes the importance of setting clear and achievable goals, as well as creating a structured plan for reaching them, to effectively harness the power of discipline.
• It provides practical strategies and techniques for improving self-control and managing impulses, such as mindfulness practices and habit formation, to cultivate a disciplined mindset.
• The author highlights the connection between discipline and personal growth, emphasizing how self-control and mental toughness can lead to greater resilience, confidence, and overall success in various areas of life.

Self-discipline is the key that unlocks success in your life.

The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self-Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals discusses the importance of self-discipline and provides strategic principles to help you develop this skill and apply it to blast through any obstacle blocking the way to your dreams.

Walter states that this book will help you achieve your goals through different actions that promote self-discipline. It walks you through the process of building life-changing habits and provides a better understanding of the value of self-discipline.

18. The Willpower Instinct by Kelly McGonigal

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Takeaways:

• The book explores the science behind willpower and self-control, revealing how these abilities are influenced by the brain and can be strengthened through specific strategies and practices.
• It emphasizes the importance of understanding the interplay between the rational and impulsive parts of the brain, and how this awareness can help individuals make better decisions and resist temptations.
• The author provides practical exercises and techniques for boosting willpower, such as mindfulness meditation, reframing thoughts, and managing stress, to help readers develop greater self-control.
• The book delves into the impact of sleep, exercise, and nutrition on willpower, highlighting how taking care of physical well-being can enhance mental resilience and decision-making abilities.
• It emphasizes the idea that willpower is a skill that can be cultivated and improved over time, offering hope to those who struggle with self-control and providing a roadmap for developing greater inner strength.

The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It provides in-depth information to help you succeed by knowing how and why you fail.

By exploring the source of people’s tendency to fail, this book helps you better understand what you can actually do to avoid pitfalls and work towards the successes you aspire to.

McGonigal combines research-backed information from different sources related to economics, medicine, psychology, etc., to help readers understand the importance of willpower, what it is, and how it works.

You are encouraged to take a “Willpower Challenge” when reading this book. The purpose is to test if the ideas discussed really work when applied in real life.

19. 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management by Kevin Kruse

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Takeaways:

• The book emphasizes the importance of prioritizing tasks based on their significance and impact, rather than simply focusing on urgent matters, to maximize productivity and achieve long-term goals.
• It highlights the value of setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals, as well as breaking them down into actionable steps, to effectively manage time and stay on track.
• The author shares insights from successful individuals on the significance of creating daily routines and rituals, such as time blocking and setting aside dedicated focus periods, to optimize productivity and minimize distractions.
• The book stresses the need for continuous learning and personal development, advocating for the practice of investing time in acquiring new skills and knowledge to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.
• It underscores the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance and avoiding burnout, suggesting strategies such as regular breaks, delegation, and boundary-setting to sustain long-term productivity and well-being.

What do successful people do to reach the top?

In 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management: The Productivity Habits of 7 Billionaires, 13 Olympic Athletes, 29 Straight-A Students, and 239 Entrepreneurs, Kevin Kruse sheds light on the success habits of successful and influential people from around the world and all walks of life.

Kruse found that successful people have several crucial habits. One of them is effective time management.

Here are some of the things you’ll discover in this book:

• What successful people use to manage their daily schedules
• An effective strategy for curing procrastination
• Techniques for discovering your true priorities
• Tools for reducing stress in the workplace
• Time-conscious ways of conducting meetings
• Ways to avoid time-sink activities

20. The Productivity Project by Chris Bailey

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Takeaways:

• The book emphasizes the significance of managing time, attention, and energy as interconnected resources, and provides practical strategies for optimizing each to enhance productivity and well-being.
• It delves into the concept of “attention management” as a crucial skill for achieving high performance, offering insights on minimizing distractions and maintaining focus in an increasingly noisy world.
• The author shares his personal experiments and research findings on productivity, providing actionable tips such as prioritizing tasks, minimizing multitasking, and leveraging technology to streamline workflow.
• The book advocates for the practice of setting intentional boundaries and creating habits that support sustainable productivity, highlighting the value of rest, relaxation, and renewal in fostering long-term success.
• It encourages readers to adopt a mindset of continuous improvement and self-discovery, promoting the idea that understanding one's individual productivity style and preferences is key to achieving meaningful progress.

There are many popular trends and strategies for increasing one’s productivity. Chris Bailey embarked on a yearlong experimentation to find out firsthand which ones are effective.

In The Productivity Project: Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention, and Energy, Bailey shares the results of his personal experimentation. He reveals the top 25 practices that worked to improve his productivity.

Interestingly, these practices are often counterintuitive to what we generally believe about improving productivity.

This book offers a lot of insights, not only about productivity, but also about paying attention to what our bodies are telling us about what we truly need in order to accomplish more in life.

As Bailey discovered, pulling an all-nighter while guzzling down copious amounts of caffeinated beverages is not the best way to finish a project.

21. Finish by Jon Acuff

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Takeaways:

• The book highlights the importance of embracing imperfection and overcoming the fear of failure to make meaningful progress towards completing goals and projects.
• It explores the concept of “perfectionism paralysis” and offers practical strategies for overcoming procrastination and self-doubt, empowering readers to take consistent action towards finishing what they start.
• The author emphasizes the value of setting realistic expectations and adjusting one's mindset to focus on progress rather than flawless outcomes, fostering a sense of accomplishment and momentum.
• The book provides insights on leveraging accountability and support systems to stay motivated and committed to finishing tasks, encouraging readers to seek external encouragement and guidance.
• It promotes the idea of celebrating small victories and milestones along the way, reinforcing the positive habits and behaviors that contribute to sustained progress and a sense of fulfillment.

Here is another book that reveals counterintuitive findings about the practices that make people successful.

For Jon Acuff, the breakthrough came after leading an online course on goal setting, where the participants showed more success in the course exercises when they were having fun and there was no pressure.

This led him to the conclusion that perfectionism interferes with success.

Acuff’s Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done encourages readers to embrace their imperfect attempts, celebrate their mistakes, and have fun while doing anything.

When you are okay with being less than perfect, you’ll discover that you’re capable of achieving more, finishing things you’ve started, starting new things you want to try, diving into things that you truly love, and experiencing satisfaction in everything that you do.

22. Stop Procrastinating by Nils Salzgeber

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Takeaways:

• Stop Procrastinating: A Simple Guide to Hacking Laziness, Building Self Discipline, and Overcoming Procrastination emphasizes understanding the root causes of procrastination, such as fear of failure or perfectionism, and provides practical strategies for overcoming these barriers to productivity.
• It delves into the concept of building self-discipline as a key factor in combating procrastination, offering actionable techniques for developing habits and routines that support sustained focus and motivation.
• The author highlights the importance of setting clear, achievable goals and breaking them down into manageable tasks, providing a roadmap for tackling procrastination and making progress.
• The book advocates for the practice of mindfulness and self-awareness to identify procrastination triggers and implement effective coping strategies, such as time management techniques and stress reduction methods.
• It promotes the idea of fostering a growth mindset and reframing setbacks as learning opportunities, empowering readers to cultivate resilience and perseverance in the face of procrastination tendencies.

23. Addiction, Procrastination, and Laziness by Roman Gelperin

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Takeaways:

• Addiction, Procrastination, and Laziness: A Proactive Guide to the Psychology of Motivation delves into the psychological underpinnings of addiction, procrastination, and laziness, offering insights into the underlying motivations and behaviors associated with these challenges.
• It provides practical strategies for cultivating intrinsic motivation and overcoming the cycle of procrastination and laziness, emphasizing the importance of self-awareness and proactive decision-making.
• The author explores the impact of environmental and internal triggers on addictive and procrastinatory behaviors, offering guidance on creating a supportive and conducive setting for positive change.
• The book advocates for the practice of setting meaningful goals and aligning daily actions with long-term aspirations, fostering a sense of purpose and direction to counteract tendencies towards procrastination and addiction.
• It emphasizes the significance of self-compassion and self-forgiveness in the process of overcoming addictive and procrastinatory patterns, promoting a mindset of growth and personal development.

24. How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis LPC

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Takeaways:

• How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing offers a compassionate and understanding approach to cleaning and organizing, acknowledging the challenges faced by individuals who struggle with these tasks.
• It provides practical strategies for breaking down cleaning and organizing into manageable steps, emphasizing the importance of self-care and pacing oneself to avoid feeling overwhelmed.
• The author explores the emotional and psychological aspects of maintaining a tidy living space, offering insights into how personal well-being and environmental surroundings are interconnected.
• The book advocates for creating a supportive and non-judgmental environment for oneself while navigating household tasks, promoting a gentle and forgiving mindset towards the process of tidying up.
• It emphasizes the value of seeking professional help and support when needed, recognizing that individuals may benefit from external guidance and resources in managing household responsibilities.

25. The Effective Executive by Peter F. Drucker

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Takeaways:

• The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done emphasizes the importance of focusing on contribution, urging executives to prioritize tasks that align with their strengths and can make a significant impact on the organization.
• It highlights the value of effective decision-making, advocating for a systematic approach that considers the consequences and implications of choices in the long term.
• The author stresses the significance of time management, encouraging executives to allocate their time to tasks that yield the highest results and to eliminate non-essential activities.
• The book emphasizes the need for continuous learning and self-improvement, promoting the idea that executives should constantly seek to develop their skills and knowledge to enhance their effectiveness.
• It underscores the importance of fostering a culture of teamwork and collaboration, advocating for executives to empower and support their teams to achieve collective success.

Are There Other Procrastination Books Missing from this List?

Or books that should be taken off the list?

Please share your thoughts on dealing with procrastination and how the books on this list can (or cannot) help you to get more done in the comments below.

If you have favorite books about procrastination please share them in the comments below, so that others can get your insight.

If you want to read more great books please take a look at the complete list of some of the best nonfiction books that can make a huge impact on your life: ​

Found the books on procrastination you were looking for?

Don't procrastinate on getting these books. 

And if you want more resources about overcoming procrastination, be sure to check out these blog posts:

• 7 Best TED Talks on Procrastination
• 117 Procrastination Quotes to Stop Being Lazy in Life
• 15 Examples of Procrastination in School, Work, and Life
• 8 Causes of Procrastination: Why Do People Procrastinate?
• Mental Models: 6 Steps to Overcome Procrastination-Causing Thoughts

Finally, if you want to take your goal-setting efforts to the next level, check out this FREE printable worksheet and a step-by-step process that will help you set effective SMART goals.